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Study guide for Exam SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals

Purpose of this document

This study guide should help you understand what to expect on the exam and includes a summary of the topics the exam might cover and links to additional resources. The information and materials in this document should help you focus your studies as you prepare for the exam.

Useful links Description
How to earn the certification Some certifications only require passing one exam, while others require passing multiple exams.
Your Microsoft Learn profile Connecting your certification profile to Microsoft Learn allows you to schedule and renew exams and share and print certificates.
Exam scoring and score reports A score of 700 or greater is required to pass.
Exam sandbox You can explore the exam environment by visiting our exam sandbox.
Request accommodations If you use assistive devices, require extra time, or need modification to any part of the exam experience, you can request an accommodation.
Take a free Practice Assessment Test your skills with practice questions to help you prepare for the exam.

Updates to the exam

Our exams are updated periodically to reflect skills that are required to perform a role. We have included two versions of the Skills Measured objectives depending on when you are taking the exam.

We always update the English language version of the exam first. Some exams are localized into other languages, and those are updated approximately eight weeks after the English version is updated. While Microsoft makes every effort to update localized versions as noted, there may be times when the localized versions of an exam are not updated on this schedule. Other available languages are listed in the Schedule Exam section of the Exam Details webpage. If the exam isn't available in your preferred language, you can request an additional 30 minutes to complete the exam.

Note

The bullets that follow each of the skills measured are intended to illustrate how we are assessing that skill. Related topics may be covered in the exam.

Note

Most questions cover features that are general availability (GA). The exam may contain questions on Preview features if those features are commonly used.

Skills measured as of July 18, 2025

Audience profile

This exam is targeted to you, if you’re looking to familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of security, compliance, and identity (SCI) across cloud-based and related Microsoft services.

If you have an interest in Microsoft SCI solutions, this exam is for you, whether you’re a:

  • Business stakeholder

  • New or existing IT professional

  • Student

You should be familiar with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 and want to understand how Microsoft SCI solutions can span across these solution areas to provide a holistic and end-to-end solution.

Skills at a glance

  • Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity (10–15%)

  • Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra (25–30%)

  • Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions (35–40%)

  • Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions (20–25%)

Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity (10–15%)

Describe security and compliance concepts

  • Describe the shared responsibility model

  • Describe defense-in-depth

  • Describe the Zero Trust model

  • Describe encryption and hashing

  • Describe Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) concepts

Define identity concepts

  • Define identity as the primary security perimeter

  • Define authentication

  • Define authorization

  • Describe identity providers

  • Describe the concept of directory services and Active Directory

  • Describe the concept of federation

Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra (25–30%)

Describe function and identity types of Microsoft Entra ID

  • Describe Microsoft Entra ID

  • Describe types of identities

  • Describe hybrid identity

Describe authentication capabilities of Microsoft Entra ID

  • Describe the authentication methods

  • Describe multi-factor authentication (MFA)

  • Describe password protection and management capabilities

Describe access management capabilities of Microsoft Entra ID

  • Describe Conditional Access

  • Describe Microsoft Entra roles and role-based access control (RBAC)

Describe identity protection and governance capabilities of Microsoft Entra

  • Describe Microsoft Entra ID Governance

  • Describe access reviews

  • Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management

  • Describe Microsoft Entra ID Protection

Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions (35–40%)

Describe core infrastructure security services in Azure

  • Describe Azure distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) Protection

  • Describe Azure Firewall

  • Describe Web Application Firewall (WAF)

  • Describe network segmentation with Azure virtual networks

  • Describe network security groups (NSGs)

  • Describe Azure Bastion

  • Describe Azure Key Vault

Describe security management capabilities of Azure

  • Describe Microsoft Defender for Cloud

  • Describe Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)

  • Describe how security policies and initiatives improve the cloud security posture

  • Describe enhanced security features provided by cloud workload protection

Describe capabilities of Microsoft Sentinel

  • Define the concepts of security information and event management (SIEM) and security orchestration automated response (SOAR)

  • Describe threat detection and mitigation capabilities in Microsoft Sentinel

Describe threat protection with Microsoft Defender XDR

  • Describe Microsoft Defender XDR services

  • Describe Microsoft Defender for Office 365

  • Describe Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

  • Describe Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

  • Describe Microsoft Defender for Identity

  • Describe Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

  • Describe Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence (Defender TI)

  • Describe the Microsoft Defender portal

Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions (20–25%)

Describe Microsoft Service Trust Portal and privacy principles

  • Describe the Service Trust Portal offerings

  • Describe the privacy principles of Microsoft

  • Describe Microsoft Priva

Describe compliance management capabilities of Microsoft Purview

  • Describe the Microsoft Purview portal

  • Describe Compliance Manager

  • Describe the uses and benefits of compliance score

Describe information protection, data lifecycle management, and data governance capabilities of Microsoft Purview

  • Describe the data classification capabilities

  • Describe the benefits of Content explorer and Activity explorer

  • Describe sensitivity labels and sensitivity label policies

  • Describe data loss prevention (DLP)

  • Describe records management

  • Describe retention policies, retention labels, and retention label policies

Describe insider risk, eDiscovery, and audit capabilities in Microsoft Purview

  • Describe insider risk management

  • Describe eDiscovery solutions in Microsoft Purview

  • Describe audit solutions in Microsoft Purview

Study resources

We recommend that you train and get hands-on experience before you take the exam. We offer self-study options and classroom training as well as links to documentation, community sites, and videos.

Study resources Links to learning and documentation
Get trained Choose from self-paced learning paths and modules or take an instructor-led course
Find documentation Microsoft security documentation
Azure security documentation
Microsoft Entra ID documentation
Microsoft Sentinel documentation
Microsoft 365 Defender documentation
Microsoft Purview
Get started with the Microsoft Service Trust Portal
Ask a question Microsoft Q&A | Microsoft Docs
Get community support Security, compliance, and identity community hub
Follow Microsoft Learn Microsoft Learn - Microsoft Tech Community
Find a video Exam Readiness Zone
Microsoft Learn Shows

Change log

The table below summarizes the changes between the current and previous version of the skills measured. The functional groups are in bold typeface followed by the objectives within each group. The table is a comparison between the previous and current version of the exam skills measured and the third column describes the extent of the changes.

Skill area prior to July 18, 2025 Skill area as of July 18, 2025 Change
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra No change
Describe identity protection and governance capabilities of Microsoft Entra Describe identity protection and governance capabilities of Microsoft Entra Minor
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions No change
Describe compliance management capabilities of Microsoft Purview Describe compliance management capabilities of Microsoft Purview Minor
Describe information protection, data lifecycle management, and data governance capabilities in Microsoft Purview Describe information protection, data lifecycle management, and data governance capabilities in Microsoft Purview Minor