Microsoft just released a couple of new Microsoft certifications focused on security. Of course, these exams are on my list to take, so that is why I want to share my SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Certification Exam Study Guide for 2021 with you. To learn and prepare for the exam, I usually use a couple of online resources, mainly Microsoft Docs and Microsoft Learn, which I am going to share with you. You can find more information about how I prepare for a Microsoft Certification exam on my blog post: How to prepare and pass Microsoft Certification Exam.
Also, check out other Microsoft Azure Certification Exam Study Guides:
- Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-204: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-303: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-304: Microsoft Azure Architect Design Certification Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-305: Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Certification Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-600: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure Stack Hub Exam Study Guide
- Exam AZ-700: Microsoft Azure Network Engineer Exam Study Guide
- Exam SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Exam Study Guide
- Exam DP-300: Azure Database Administrator Exam Study Guide
If you want to learn more about how to get started with Azure, I recommend my blog post: How to get started learning Microsoft Azure and Cloud Computing
Here is my SC-900Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Certification Exam Study Guide
It is essential to get familiar with the exam objectives and skills measured first. That is why I recommend reading the description of the exam and the skills measured.
Exam SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
This certification is targeted to those looking to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals of security, compliance, and identity (SCI) across cloud-based and related Microsoft services.This is a broad audience that may include business stakeholders, new or existing IT professionals, or students who have an interest in Microsoft security, compliance, and identity solutions.
Candidates should be familiar with Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 and want to understand how Microsoft security, compliance, and identity solutions can span across these solution areas to provide a holistic and end-to-end solution.
Microsoft Learn
The high-level view of the skills measured in the exam:
- Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity (5-10%)
- Describe the capabilities of Microsoft identity and access management solutions (25-30%)
- Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions (30-35%)
- Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions (25-30%)
You can find more information on the exam website.
Free Online Microsoft Learn SC-900 Exam Study Guide resources
Free Online Microsoft Learn AZ-900 Exam Study Guide resources
I personally believe if you are going through the Azure Fundamentals learning path on Microsoft Learn, you should be able to pass the exam. Microsoft Learn provides you with free online training and learning paths for different Microsoft technologies. They not just offer reading material, but also control questions and free online labs. Here are some relevant Microsoft Learn modules and learning paths for the SC-900 Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Certification Exam. Microsoft Learn is an important part of my SC-900 exam study guide.
- SC-900 part 1: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity
- SC-900 part 2: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Identity and access management solutions
- SC-900 part 3: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions
- SC-900 part 4: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions
Free Azure Account
I also highly recommend that you create a free Azure account to try out the Azure services and get familiar with the Azure platform.
If you don’t have an Azure account yet, you can sign up today for your free Azure account and receive 12 months of free popular services, $200 free credit, and 25+ always free services.
Microsoft Docs SC-900 study guide resources
One thing I always used to prepare for my Microsoft exams is Microsoft Docs. Here are the relevant Microsoft Docs which I used to prepare and study for the SC-900 exam.
Describe the Concepts of Security, Compliance, and Identity (5-10%)
Describe security methodologies
- describe the Zero-Trust methodology
- describe the shared responsibility model
- define defense in depth
Describe security concepts
- describe common threats
- describe encryption
Describe Microsoft Security and compliance principles
- describe Microsoft’s privacy principles
- describe the offerings of the service trust portal
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Identity and Access Management Solutions (25-30%)
Define identity principles/concepts
- define identity as the primary security perimeter
- define authentication
- define authorization
- describe what identity providers are
- describe what Active Directory is
- describe the concept of Federated services
- define common Identity Attacks
Describe the basic identity services and identity types of Azure AD
- describe what Azure Active Directory is
- describe Azure AD identities (users, devices, groups, service principals/applications)
- describe what hybrid identity is
- describe the different external identity types (Guest Users)
Describe the authentication capabilities of Azure AD
- describe the different authentication methods
- describe self-service password reset
- describe password protection and management capabilities
- describe Multi-factor Authentication
- describe Windows Hello for Business
Describe access management capabilities of Azure AD
- describe what conditional access is
- describe uses and benefits of conditional access
- describe the benefits of Azure AD roles
Describe the identity protection & governance capabilities of Azure AD
- describe what identity governance is
- describe what entitlement management and access reviews is
- describe the capabilities of PIM
- describe Azure AD Identity Protection
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Security Solutions (30-35%)
Describe basic security capabilities in Azure
- describe Azure Network Security groups
- describe Azure DDoS protection
- describe what Azure Firewall is
- describe what Azure Bastion is
- describe what Web Application Firewall is
- describe ways Azure encrypts data
Describe security management capabilities of Azure
- describe the Azure Security center
- describe Azure Secure score
- describe the benefit and use cases of Azure Defender – previously the cloud workload protection platform (CWPP)
- describe Cloud security posture management (CSPM)
- describe security baselines for Azure
Describe security capabilities of Azure Sentinel
- define the concepts of SIEM, SOAR, XDR
- describe the role and value of Azure Sentinel to provide integrated threat protection
Describe threat protection with Microsoft 365 Defender (formerly Microsoft Threat Protection)
- describe Microsoft 365 Defender services
- describe Microsoft Defender for Identity (formerly Azure ATP)
- describe Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (formerly Office 365 ATP)
- describe Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly Microsoft Defender ATP)
- describe Microsoft Cloud App Security
Describe security management capabilities of Microsoft 365
- describe the Microsoft 365 Security Center
- describe how to use Microsoft Secure Score
- describe security reports and dashboards
- describe incidents and incident management capabilities
Describe endpoint security with Microsoft Intune
- describe what Intune is
- describe endpoint security with Intune
- describe the endpoint security with the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center
Describe the Capabilities of Microsoft Compliance Solutions (25-30%)
Describe the compliance management capabilities in Microsoft
- describe the compliance center
- describe compliance manager
- describe use and benefits of compliance score
Describe information protection and governance capabilities of Microsoft 365
- describe data classification capabilities
- describe the value of content and activity explorer
- describe sensitivity labels
- describe Retention Policies and Retention Labels
- describe Records Management
- describe Data Loss Prevention
Describe insider risk capabilities in Microsoft 365
- describe Insider risk management solution
- describe communication compliance
- describe information barriers
- describe privileged access management
- describe customer lockbox
Describe the eDiscovery capabilities of Microsoft 365
- describe the purpose of eDiscovery
- describe the capabilities of the content search tool
- describe the core eDiscovery workflow
- describe the advanced eDisovery workflow
Describe the audit capabilities in Microsoft 365
- describe the core audit capabilities of M365
- describe purpose and value of Advanced Auditing
Describe resource governance capabilities in Azure
- describe the use of Azure Resource locks
- Lock resources to prevent unexpected changes
- Azure Resource Locks (thomasmaurer.ch)
- describe what Azure Blueprints is
- define Azure Policy and describe its use cases
- What is Azure Policy?
- Azure Policy (thomasmaurer.ch)
- describe cloud adoption framework
SC-900 Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Study Guide Tips and Resources
I hope this SC-900 Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Certification Exam Study Guide helps you pass the exam and get other Microsoft Security certifications. I also recommend that you open a free Azure account if you don’t have one yet. You can create your free Azure account here. Also, check out my blog posts about Microsoft Azure Certification:
- Why you should become Microsoft Azure certified
- How to pick the right Azure exam certification path
- How to prepare and pass a Microsoft Azure exam
- Learn Microsoft Azure in 2021
I hope you enjoyed my SC-900 Study Guide and it helps you with exam prep. Did I miss any link, or do you have any recommended SC-900 Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals Certification Exam Study resources? Let me know in the comments.
Tags: Azure, Certification, Cloud, Compliance, Exam, Exam Study Guide, Fundamentals, Identity, Microsoft, SC-900, Security, Study Guide Last modified: October 13, 2021