This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the capabilities of microsoft security solutions. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Your organization wants to use Microsoft Defender for Cloud to secure Azure virtual machines. Which feature should they enable to get vulnerability assessment without additional agents?
File integrity monitoring
Why wrong: Monitors changes, not vulnerabilities.
Just-in-time VM access
Why wrong: Reduces attack surface, doesn't assess vulnerabilities.
Adaptive application controls
Why wrong: Controls allowed apps, not vulnerability scanning.
Vulnerability assessment
Agentless scanning for VMs.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Vulnerability assessment
Microsoft Defender for Cloud includes a built-in vulnerability assessment solution for Azure virtual machines that does not require any additional agents. When enabled, it uses the Qualys scanner integrated directly into the platform to continuously scan for vulnerabilities, providing findings without the need to deploy or manage separate agents on the VMs.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
File integrity monitoring
Why it's wrong here
Monitors changes, not vulnerabilities.
Just-in-time VM access
Why it's wrong here
Reduces attack surface, doesn't assess vulnerabilities.
Adaptive application controls
Why it's wrong here
Controls allowed apps, not vulnerability scanning.
Vulnerability assessment
Why this is correct
Agentless scanning for VMs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may confuse 'vulnerability assessment' with other security controls like file integrity monitoring or adaptive application controls, not realizing that Defender for Cloud offers a dedicated, agentless vulnerability scanning capability specifically for VMs.
Detailed technical explanation
The built-in vulnerability assessment in Defender for Cloud leverages the Qualys vulnerability management engine, which runs as an extension on the VM but is considered agentless from the user's perspective because it is automatically deployed and managed by the platform. It performs authenticated scans using the VM's OS credentials and reports Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) with severity ratings, remediation steps, and integration with Microsoft Secure Score. In a real-world scenario, enabling this feature allows security teams to continuously monitor for missing patches and misconfigurations without the operational overhead of maintaining separate vulnerability scanners.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
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FAQ
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions — This question tests Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Vulnerability assessment — Microsoft Defender for Cloud includes a built-in vulnerability assessment solution for Azure virtual machines that does not require any additional agents. When enabled, it uses the Qualys scanner integrated directly into the platform to continuously scan for vulnerabilities, providing findings without the need to deploy or manage separate agents on the VMs.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
This SC-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SC-900 exam.
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