Free SC-900 Purpose and usage of Microsoft Secure Score Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary function of Microsoft Secure Score?
- To assign a compliance score based on regulations like GDPR or ISO 27001.
- To provide a numerical representation of security posture and offer improvement recommendations. (Correct answer)
- To automatically remediate all identified security vulnerabilities without admin intervention.
- To calculate the real-time financial risk of a potential data breach.
Correct answer: To provide a numerical representation of security posture and offer improvement recommendations.
Microsoft Secure Score serves as a centralized dashboard and measurement of an organization's security posture. It provides visibility into security gaps and offers guided recommendations, known as improvement actions, to help organizations prioritize and reduce their attack surface.
Question 2: In the context of Microsoft Secure Score, what is an 'improvement action'?
- A mandatory security update that must be applied immediately.
- A list of third-party security products recommended for purchase.
- A recommended configuration task that will improve the security score when completed. (Correct answer)
- A penalty applied to the score for failing an automated security check.
Correct answer: A recommended configuration task that will improve the security score when completed.
Improvement actions are the specific, actionable recommendations provided by Secure Score. Each action is tailored to the organization's environment and explains the threat it mitigates, the user impact, and the steps needed for implementation to improve the score.
Question 3: An administrator enables multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all admin roles as recommended by an improvement action. When should they expect to see the Secure Score increase?
- Immediately after the change is saved.
- The administrator must manually report the change to update the score.
- The score will update automatically, typically within 24-48 hours. (Correct answer)
- The score only updates at the beginning of each month.
Correct answer: The score will update automatically, typically within 24-48 hours.
After an improvement action is implemented, Microsoft's services need time to detect and verify the configuration change. The Secure Score is not updated in real-time; it typically reflects the new, improved security posture within 24 to 48 hours.
Question 4: Microsoft Secure Score provides a holistic view by providing recommendations across which set of categories?
- Only Azure virtual machines and storage accounts.
- Only on-premises Active Directory and file servers.
- Identity, Devices, and Apps. (Correct answer)
- Only Microsoft Office desktop application settings.
Correct answer: Identity, Devices, and Apps.
Secure Score is comprehensive and provides a view of security posture across multiple domains. It includes scores and recommendations for Identity (Azure AD), Devices (Microsoft Defender for Endpoint), and Apps (such as Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps).
Question 5: Your organization uses a third-party tool to enforce a specific security control that is also listed as an improvement action in Secure Score. How should you handle this situation to ensure the score is accurate?
- The score cannot be changed and will remain lower.
- Mark the improvement action as 'Resolved through third party'. (Correct answer)
- Open a support ticket with Microsoft to request a manual score adjustment.
- The score will automatically detect the third-party solution and update.
Correct answer: Mark the improvement action as 'Resolved through third party'.
Secure Score cannot always detect non-Microsoft compensating controls. To address this, it allows administrators to manually update the status of an improvement action to 'Resolved through third party' or 'Risk Accepted', ensuring the score more accurately reflects the true security posture.
Question 6: How does the 'History' tab and benchmark comparison feature in Secure Score help security administrators?
- By automatically generating compliance reports for external auditors.
- By tracking score changes over time and comparing against similar organizations. (Correct answer)
- By providing a direct integration with the company's financial budgeting software.
- By creating and assigning remediation tasks as tickets to IT staff.
Correct answer: By tracking score changes over time and comparing against similar organizations.
The history and benchmarking features are key for reporting and planning. Tracking the score over time demonstrates security improvement to leadership, while comparing the score against organizations of a similar size provides context and helps justify security investments.
What is the primary function of Microsoft Secure Score?