Study guide for Exam SC-200: Microsoft Security Operations Analyst
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.
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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 October 21, 2024
Audience profile
As a candidate for this exam, you’re a Microsoft security operations analyst who reduces organizational risk by:
Rapidly remediating active attacks in cloud and on-premises environments.
Advising on improvements to threat protection practices.
Identifying violations of organizational policies.
As a security operations analyst, you:
Perform triage.
Respond to incidents.
Mitigate risk by using exposure management.
Hunt for threats by using threat intelligence.
Use KQL for reporting, detections, and investigations
You also monitor, identify, investigate, and respond to threats in cloud and on-premises environments by using:
Microsoft Defender XDR
Copilot for Security
Microsoft Sentinel
Microsoft Defender for Cloud workload protections
Third-party security solutions
You collaborate with business and security leadership to define security standards for the organization. You work with other roles across the digital enterprise to implement the standards, to enhance the security posture of an organization, and to raise security awareness.
As a candidate, you should be familiar with:
Microsoft 365
Azure cloud services
Windows, Linux, and mobile operating systems
Skills at a glance
Manage a security operations environment (20–25%)
Configure protections and detections (15–20%)
Manage incident response (25–30%)
Manage security threats (15–20%)
Manage a security operations environment
Configure settings in Microsoft Defender XDR
Configure alert and vulnerability notification rules
Configure Microsoft Defender for Endpoint advanced features
Configure endpoint rules settings
Manage automated investigation and response capabilities in Microsoft Defender XDR
Configure automatic attack disruption in Microsoft Defender XDR
Manage assets and environments
Configure and manage device groups, permissions, and automation levels in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Identify unmanaged devices in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Discover unprotected resources by using Defender for Cloud
Identify and remediate devices at risk by using Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management
Mitigate risk by using Exposure Management in Microsoft Defender XDR
Design and configure a Microsoft Sentinel workspace
Plan a Microsoft Sentinel workspace
Configure Microsoft Sentinel roles
Specify Azure RBAC roles for Microsoft Sentinel configuration
Design and configure Microsoft Sentinel data storage, including log types and log retention
Ingest data sources in Microsoft Sentinel
Identify data sources to be ingested for Microsoft Sentinel
Implement and use Content hub solutions
Configure and use Microsoft connectors for Azure resources, including Azure Policy and diagnostic settings
Plan and configure Syslog and Common Event Format (CEF) event collections
Plan and configure collection of Windows Security events by using data collection rules, including Windows Event Forwarding (WEF)
Create custom log tables in the workspace to store ingested data
Monitor and optimize data ingestion
Configure protections and detections
Configure protections in Microsoft Defender security technologies
Configure policies for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Configure policies for Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Configure security policies for Microsoft Defender for Endpoints, including attack surface reduction (ASR) rules
Configure cloud workload protections in Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Configure detections in Microsoft Defender XDR
Configure and manage custom detection rules
Manage alerts, including tuning, suppression, and correlation
Configure deception rules in Microsoft Defender XDR
Configure detections in Microsoft Sentinel
Classify and analyze data by using entities
Configure and manage analytics rules
Query Microsoft Sentinel data by using ASIM parsers
Implement behavioral analytics
Manage incident response
Respond to alerts and incidents in the Microsoft Defender portal
Investigate and remediate threats by using Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Investigate and remediate ransomware and business email compromise incidents identified by automatic attack disruption
Investigate and remediate compromised entities identified by Microsoft Purview data loss prevention (DLP) policies
Investigate and remediate threats identified by Microsoft Purview insider risk policies
Investigate and remediate alerts and incidents identified by Microsoft Defender for Cloud workload protections
Investigate and remediate security risks identified by Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Investigate and remediate compromised identities that are identified by Microsoft Entra ID
Investigate and remediate security alerts from Microsoft Defender for Identity
Respond to alerts and incidents identified by Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Investigate device timelines
Perform actions on the device, including live response and collecting investigation packages
Perform evidence and entity investigation
Investigate Microsoft 365 activities
Investigate threats by using the unified audit log
Investigate threats by using Content Search
Investigate threats by using Microsoft Graph activity logs
Respond to incidents in Microsoft Sentinel
Investigate and remediate incidents in Microsoft Sentinel
Create and configure automation rules
Create and configure Microsoft Sentinel playbooks
Run playbooks on on-premises resources
Implement and use Copilot for Security
Create and use promptbooks
Manage sources for Copilot for Security, including plugins and files
Integrate Copilot for Security by implementing connectors
Manage permissions and roles in Copilot for Security
Monitor Copilot for Security capacity and cost
Identify threats and risks by using Copilot for Security
Investigate incidents by using Copilot for Security
Manage security threats
Hunt for threats by using Microsoft Defender XDR
Identify threats by using Kusto Query Language (KQL)
Interpret threat analytics in the Microsoft Defender portal
Create custom hunting queries by using KQL
Hunt for threats by using Microsoft Sentinel
Analyze attack vector coverage by using the MITRE ATT&CK matrix
Manage and use threat indicators
Create and manage hunts
Create and monitor hunting queries
Use hunting bookmarks for data investigations
Retrieve and manage archived log data
Create and manage search jobs
Create and configure Microsoft Sentinel workbooks
Activate and customize workbook templates
Create custom workbooks that include KQL
Configure visualizations
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 Microsoft 365 Defender documentation Microsoft Defender for Cloud documentation Microsoft Sentinel documentation |
| 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 Browse other 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 October 21, 2024 | Skill area as of October 21, 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Audience profile | No change | |
| Manage a security operations environment | Manage a security operations environment | No change |
| Configure settings in Microsoft Defender XDR | Configure settings in Microsoft Defender XDR | Minor |
| Manage assets and environments | Manage assets and environments | Major |
| Design and configure a Microsoft Sentinel workspace | Design and configure a Microsoft Sentinel workspace | Minor |
| Ingest data sources in Microsoft Sentinel | Ingest data sources in Microsoft Sentinel | Major |
| Configure protections and detections | Configure protections and detections | No change |
| Configure protections in Microsoft Defender security technologies | Configure protections in Microsoft Defender security technologies | Minor |
| Configure detection in Microsoft Defender XDR | Configure detections in Microsoft Defender XDR | Minor |
| Configure detections in Microsoft Sentinel | Configure detections in Microsoft Sentinel | Major |
| Manage incident response | Manage incident response | % of the exam decreased |
| Respond to alerts and incidents in Microsoft Defender XDR | Respond to alerts and incidents in the Microsoft Defender portal | Major |
| Respond to alerts and incidents identified by Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Respond to alerts and incidents identified by Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Minor |
| Enrich investigations by using other Microsoft tools | Investigate Microsoft 365 activities | Major |
| Manage incidents in Microsoft Sentinel | Respond to incidents in Microsoft Sentinel | No change |
| Configure security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) in Microsoft Sentinel | Removed | |
| Implement and use Copilot for Security | New | |
| Perform threat hunting | Manage security threats | % of the exam increased |
| Hunt for threats by using KQL | Hunt for threats by using Microsoft Defender XDR | Minor |
| Hunt for threats by using Microsoft Sentinel | Hunt for threats by using Microsoft Sentinel | Minor |
| Analyze and interpret data by using workbooks | Create and configure Microsoft Sentinel workbooks | Minor |