Microsoft Microsoft Security Operations Analyst SC-200 Exam Dumps: Updated Questions & Answers (May 2026)

In Microsoft Sentinel, Hunting queries are used to proactively search for threats and anomalies across collected security data. The requirement states that HuntingQuery1 must run auto matically when the Hunting page of Microsoft Sentinel is accessed. According to Microsoft’s official Sentinel documentation, this behavior is achieved by adding the hunting query to “Favorites.”

When a query is marked as a favorite in the Sentinel Hunting blade, Sentinel automatically runs it every time the Hunting page is opened. This provides updated results without the need for manual execution, ensuring analysts always see the most current data for that query. This configuration also adheres to the orga nization’s requirement to minimize administrative effort , since it eliminates the need for scheduling, automation, or manual refresh actions.

Other options do not meet this functional requirement:

A. Add to a livestream is used to monitor near-real-time da ta streams, not to auto-run queries upon accessing the Hunting page.

B. Create a watchlist is used for referencing static external data sets (like IPs, users, or devices) inside KQL queries, not for automating hunting query execution.

C. Create an automati on rule applies to incident management workflows, not hunting query execution.

Therefore, as per Microsoft Sentinel’s hunting documentation and best practices, the correct and verified answer is:

D. Add HuntingQuery1 to favorites .

The Defender for Cloud requirement states:

“The members of Group1 must be able to enable Defender for Cloud plans and apply regulatory compliance initiatives.”

According t o Microsoft Defender for Cloud’s RBAC documentation, the Security Assessment Contributor role provides permissions to:

Enable and configure Defender plans,

Manage security policies and initiatives,

View and edit recommendations and compliance results.

This role gives enough permissions to perform Defender configuration tasks but follows the principle of least privilege , unlike broader roles like Owner or Contributor, which grant excessive rights.

✅ Answer for Question 9: C. Security Assessment Contributor

The case s tudy requires:

“Ensure that the Group1 members can create and edit playbooks.”

In Microsoft Sentinel, the ability to create, edit, and assign playbooks is granted by the Microsoft Sentinel Automation Contributor role.

This role allows users to:

Create and manage automation rules,

Create and edit playbooks (Logic Apps) in the connected subscription,

Associate playbooks with Sentinel incidents or alerts.

By contrast:

Logic App Contributor allows Logic App creation but doesn’t include Sentinel-level integration permissions.

Automation Operator can run playbooks but not edit or create them.

Sentinel Playbook Operator can execute playbooks but cannot modify or assign them.

✅ Answer for Question 11: A. Microsoft Sentinel Automation Contributor

For a near-real-time (NRT) analytics rule that detects sign-ins by a designated break-glass account, the most direct and performant pattern is to filter SigninLogs by joining to a Microsoft Sentinel watchlist that contains the protected account(s). Sentinel exposes watchlists to KQL through the helper function _GetWatc hlist( ' < watchlist-name > ' ) , which returns a table with standard columns (including SearchKey ) plus any custom columns you imported. Using join kind=inner ensures the result set includes only those SigninLogs rows whose UserPrincipalName matches an entry in the watchlist—ideal for alerting on a high-value account without post-filtering.

The completed query is:

SigninLogs | join kind=inner (_GetWatchlist( ' breakglass_account ' )) on $left.UserPrincipalName == $right.SearchKey

This approach satisfies the requireme nt to implement an NRT rule for the break-glass account because:

NRT rules support KQL with joins and watchlists and are optimized for rapid evaluation over fresh data.

Using a watchlist lets SecOps adjust monitored accounts without editing the rule—minimi zing administrative effort and aligning with least-privilege operations (no extra permissions beyond watchlist management).

The inner join pattern reduces noise by returning only matched events, which are then turned into alerts/incidents by the NRT rule.

Thus, select join and GetWatchlist , and join UserPrincipalName to the watchlist’s SearchKey .

The requirement is to enable Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 2 on all Azure VMs while excluding Server2 from agentless scanning . Defender for Cloud provides a built-in mechanism to exclude specific machines from agentless scanning based on resource tags . The process is: assign a distinct tag name:value to the VM you want to exclude (Server2), and then, in Defender for Cloud’s Agentless scanning for machines settings, specify that tag pair under exclusions . Defender’s continuous discovery honors these exclusions and skips any VM that matches the configured tag. This approach aligns with the business requirement of least privilege and minimal administrative effort : it avoids broad configuration changes, requires no extensions on the VM, and is reversible by simply removing or changing the tag. The Microsoft Antimalware extension and Automanage configuration are unrelated to agentless scanning behavior, and a resource lock would only prevent modifications/deletions, not scanning. Therefore, to meet the Defender for Cloud requirement precisely, configure an Azure resource tag on Server2 and reference that tag in the agentless scanning exclusion settings.

To monitor and detect higher-than-normal volumes of password resets, you need to gather password reset event data both from Azure Active Directory (cloud identities) and from on-premises Active Directory (domain accounts) . Microsoft’s official Defender XDR and Sentinel integrat ion guidance describes that:

Azure AD Password Protection enforces and monitors password policies in both cloud and hybrid environments. It can detect weak, commonly used, or compromised passwords and logs related password change/reset activities. Deployin g Azure AD Password Protection extends password reset visibility to on-premises domain controllers through the Password Protection proxy and DC agent. This makes it the correct choice for implementing monitoring at the identity environment level.

In Microsoft Sentinel , to ingest and analyze password reset activities from on-premises servers (e.g., domain controllers), you must use the Windows Security Events via AMA connector . This connector collects Event ID 4723 (password change) , 4724 (password res et) , and related security logs directly from Windows Servers into the Sentinel Log Analytics workspace through the Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) . Once the events are available in Sentinel, they can be correlated with other identity or behavioral analytics to d etect abnormal reset volumes or potential compromise attempts.

The other options are not suitable:

Microsoft Defender for Identity focuses on identity compromise detection, not specifically on password reset volume monitoring.

Smart lockout protects agains t brute-force sign-in attempts but doesn’t generate detailed reset event telemetry.

Microsoft security rule and UEBA are higher-level analytic configurations, not data ingestion mechanisms.

Therefore, to meet the Sentinel requirements for monitoring passwo rd reset anomalies:

✅ Implement in the identity environment: Azure AD Password Protection

✅ Configure in Microsoft Sentinel: The Windows Security Events via AMA connector

In Microsoft Sentinel (built on Azure Monitor Logs), analytics and hunting queries are executed within a Log Analytics workspace . To run Sentinel queries for Fabrikam, the tenant must have at least one workspace (with Sentinel enabled) in its subscription to host rules, incidents, hunting queries, and workbooks. Sentinel’ s cross-workspace/tenant capability is provided by cross-resource queries in Kusto Query Language (KQL). The key construct for reaching outside the current workspace is the workspace() function, which lets you reference another Log Analytics workspace by name or resource ID—even across subscriptions or tenants when proper permissions (often via Azure Lighthouse or guest access) are in place.

Typical correlation looks like:

union workspace( ' Fabrikam-WS ' ).SecurityEvent, workspace( ' Contoso-WS ' ).SecurityEvent | …

Here, workspace() is the required element to bring together data sets from multiple tenants; operators like extend and project only shape columns and do not establish cross-tenant scope. Therefore, to meet the requirements with minimal overhead: Fabrik am needs one workspace to host its Sentinel content, and you use workspace() in your KQL to correlate Contoso and Fabrikam data.

 Internal threat: Modify the access policy settings for the key vault.

 External threat: Modify the Key Vault firewall s ettings.

For internal threats involving a potential compromise of Fabrikam’s own Azure AD applications, the most direct and least disruptive remediation is to modify the Key Vault access policies (or RBAC assignments, if RBAC for Key Vault data-plane is in use) to immediately remove or reduce the compromised service principal’s permissions (Get/List/Decrypt/Sign/Wrap). Microsoft guidance for Key Vault access emphasizes least privilege and promptly revoking credentials or app permissions when compromise i s suspected. Access policies (or data-plane RBAC) govern which identities can access secrets, keys, and certificates; adjusting these stops further data-plane actions by the compromised app. “Resource locks” protect against deletion or configuration change s at the management plane, but they do not remove a compromised identity’s ability to read or use vault objects, so they are not an appropriate first response for this scenario.

For external threats , Microsoft recommends hardening Key Vault firewall and networking : restrict public network access, allow only required IPs, use virtual network rules, and prefer private endpoints. Key Vault includes a built-in firewall for IP and VNet ACLs; tuning these controls reduces exposure to the public internet and blo cks unauthorized traffic. NSGs apply to IaaS subnets/nics and don’t directly secure the public Key Vault endpoint. Azure Firewall can add perimeter control, but it is not necessary for remediating a specific Key Vault Defender alert; the most effective and immediate remediation is tightening the Key Vault firewall settings to limit external access pathways.

To monitor Windows Security events from Server1 using the Windows Security Events via AMA connector, the first object you must create is a Data Collection Rule (DCR) . With the Azure Monitor Agent (AMA) model used by Microsoft Sentinel, data flow is controlled by DCRs, not by the legacy MMA/OMS workspace settings. A DCR defines what to collect (e.g., the Security event log, specific event IDs or XPath queries), from where (the target machines or machine groups), and where to send it (the Sentinel/Log Analytics workspace). After creating the DCR, you associate it with Server1 (Arc-enabled), and the connector will begin streaming Security events to your Sentinel workspace. Creating a Sentinel sch eduled rule or an automation rule does not enable collection; those features act after data is already ingested. Event Grid topics are unrelated to Windows event collection. Therefore, the correct first step for meeting the Sentinel requirement to monitor Server1’s Security log via AMA is to create a DCR , then assign it to Server1 and the Sentinel workspace.