SC-401 Sample Questions Answers

Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management flags high-impact users based on various risk factors, including role, access to confidential data, and influence within an organization. Let's analyze each user:

User1 (Regional Manager, assigned Reader role, manages department managers)

Risk Factors:

● Holds a managerial position (regional manager).

● Manages multiple department managers, indicating organizational influence.

● Access to critical business information.

Flagged? -Yes (Managerial role and access to confidential data).

User2 (HR department manager, no Microsoft Entra roles, manages HR department users)

Risk Factors:

● Manages HR department users, meaning they likely handle sensitive employee data.

● HR roles are often considered high-risk due to access to personal and payroll data.

Flagged? -Yes (HR role and access to sensitive employee data).

User3 (Developer, reports to User2, only user in compliance, assigned Compliance Administrator role)

Risk Factors:

● Compliance Administrator role grants access to sensitive security and regulatory data.

● Only person in the compliance department, meaning they hold a critical role.

● Potentially high impact on compliance and security settings.

Flagged? -Yes (Privileged Compliance Administrator role).

User4 (Assistant to User1, no Entra roles, handles confidential data on behalf of User1)

Risk Factors:

● Handles a high volume of confidential data on behalf of a regional manager.

● Assistants with access to sensitive data are considered insider risk candidates.

Flagged? -Yes (High access to sensitive information).

Since all four users fit high-impact criteria (managerial roles, privileged compliance access, handling sensitive data), Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management will flag all of them.

The content search uses the KQL editor with the query -Author:USER1. In eDiscovery/Content search, the minus sign denotes NOT and KQL is case-insensitive for property values. Therefore, this query returns items whose Author is not ‘User1’.

File1.docx → Author = User1 → excluded

File2.docx → Author = User2 → included

File3.docx → Author = USER1 (same as User1, case-insensitive) → excluded

Result: File2.docx only.

The question asks about creating a Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (MCAS / MDA) policy that will detect Data Loss Prevention (DLP) violations.

Understanding the policy types in Defender for Cloud Apps:

File Policy

Used for monitoring and controlling files stored in cloud apps (e.g., SharePoint, OneDrive, Box, Google Drive).

Can detect sensitive information types (like credit cards, SSNs, SWIFT codes) and flag DLP violations.

Can apply governance actions (e.g., quarantine, remove sharing, notify user).

Correct for DLP violation detection.

Activity Policy

Monitors user activities (e.g., login attempts, mass downloads, suspicious behavior).

Not for file content DLP.

Session Policy

Applied through Conditional Access App Control for real-time monitoring/control during a user session.

Used for controlling actions (download, cut/paste) but not for broad DLP scanning of stored files.

Access Policy

Controls access to apps based on conditions (e.g., unmanaged device access).

Not designed for DLP content inspection.

Why File Policy is correct

Since the requirement is:

"detect DLP violations"

That means scanning file content for sensitive information. This is only possible with a File Policy in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps.

To prevent the contents of files stored in Channel1 from being included in Microsoft 365 Copilot responses and ensure unauthorized users cannot access them, you should use Microsoft Purview Sensitivity Labels.

Sensitivity labels allow you to classify, protect, and restrict access to sensitive files. You can configure label-based encryption and access control policies to ensure that only authorized users can access or interact with the files in Channel1. Microsoft 365 Copilot respects sensitivity labels, meaning if a file is labeled with restricted permissions, Copilot will not use it in generated responses for unauthorized users.

The issue where users sometimes can upload files to cloud services and sometimes cannot suggests inconsistent enforcement of Endpoint DLP policies. This can be caused by the unallowed browsers in the Microsoft 365 Endpoint DLP settings are NOT configured. Also, there are file path exclusions in the Microsoft 365 Endpoint DLP settings.

Endpoint DLP can block uploads only when using unallowed browsers. If unallowed browsers are not configured, users might be able to bypass restrictions by switching to a different browser. This could explain why uploads sometimes work and sometimes don’t, depending on which browser is used.

File path exclusions allow certain files or folders to be exempt from DLP restrictions. If a specific file location is excluded, files stored there won’t trigger DLP policies, leading to inconsistent behavior. This could result in some uploads being blocked while others are allowed.

The requirement is:

You need to provide a user with the ability to view DLP alerts in the Microsoft Purview portal. The solution must use the principle of least privilege.

Step 1 – Understanding the roles

Compliance Administrator → Full access to compliance features, including creating/editing policies. This is more than needed (not least privilege).

Compliance Data Administrator → Can manage compliance features and data governance, but still more permissions than required.

Security Operator → Can view and respond to active security incidents and alerts, which is more than just viewing DLP alerts.

Security Reader → Read-only access to security-related features, including viewing DLP alerts, Microsoft Purview alerts, incidents, reports, and recommendations. This matches the requirement precisely.

Step 2 – Microsoft Documentation

Microsoft Learn states:

Security Reader role:

“Can view and investigate security events, reports, and alerts without the ability to make changes.”

???? Reference: Microsoft Entra built-in roles - Security Reader

Step 3 – Apply the principle of least privilege

Since the user only needs to view DLP alerts (not create or manage policies), the Security Reader role is the minimal role with sufficient permissions.

Since you need to automatically apply a sensitivity label to resumes based on their content and structure (work experience, education, accomplishments), a trainable classifier is the best choice.

Trainable classifiers use machine learning to identify unstructured data, such as resumes, contracts, or legal documents. Instead of relying on predefined patterns (like keywords or regular expressions), a trainable classifier learns from sample documents and can accurately identify resumes even if they are formatted differently.

Final Approach:

● Train a trainable classifier using sample resumes.

● Deploy the classifier in Microsoft Purview.

● Configure a sensitivity label to be automatically applied when a document matches the classifier.

To create a trainable classifier that can be used in an auto-apply retention label policy, you need to follow these key steps:

1. Create the trainable classifier

This is the first step where you define the classifier, specifying the types of content it should identify.

2. Test the trainable classifier

Before using the classifier in production, you need to validate its accuracy by testing it against sample documents to ensure it correctly classifies the intended data.

3. Publish the trainable classifier

Once testing is successful, you must publish the classifier so that it can be used in policies like auto-apply retention labels in Microsoft Purview.

The Endpoint DLP “configuration package” approach was required before Microsoft fully integrated Endpoint DLP with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

Currently, the supported and required method is to onboard devices to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Deploying just a configuration package will not ensure Endpoint DLP policy enforcement.

Step 1 – Review the configuration

Sensitivity label name: Contoso Confidential

Scope: Files and emails

Access control:

Encrypts documents/emails.

Permissions assigned to AuthenticatedUsers with Co-Author rights.

Offline access allowed only for 7 days.

Auto-labeling = None (not configured).

Content marking: Footer applied.

Step 2 – Analyze each statement

Statement 1: If a user account is disabled, the user will be immediately prevented from opening a file protected by Contoso Confidential.

Sensitivity labels with encryption enforce Azure AD authentication every time a user tries to access a file.

If the account is disabled in Azure AD, access is blocked immediately.

Answer: Yes

Statement 2: Guest users will be able to open documents protected by Contoso Confidential.

Access control was configured only for AuthenticatedUsers (internal users).

Guest or external users are not included in this group.

Therefore, guest users cannot open the protected documents.

Answer: No

Statement 3: Contoso Confidential will be applied automatically to the files stored in Microsoft SharePoint Online.

Auto-labeling for files and emails = None.

That means labeling must be applied manually by users, not automatically.

Answer: No

Final Verified Answers

If a user account is disabled, the user will be immediately prevented from opening a file protected by Contoso Confidential → Yes

Guest users will be able to open documents protected by Contoso Confidential → No

Contoso Confidential will be applied automatically to the files stored in Microsoft SharePoint Online → No

Goal: maximize signin security for users who will test the AIP client (User1), install/configure the Microsoft Rights Management connector (User2), and act as the AIP scanner service account (User3).

Excluding users from MFA lowers security and is not recommended.

Passwordless with FIDO2 security keys (passkeys) provides strong phishingresistant authentication and is fully supported for Azure AD signins, including admin tasks and service scenarios that require interactive signin during setup.

Therefore, enabling all three for FIDO2 passkey authentication best meets the “maximize security” requirement.

Step 1 – Review what’s configured

Labels: Public, General, Confidential, Internal, External.

Also shown in policy: Confidential/Internal and Confidential/External.

Policy setting: Users must provide justification to remove a label or lower its classification.

Confidential/External → encrypts content when applied.

Step 2 – Analyze each statement

Statement 1: The Internal sensitivity label inherits all the settings from the Confidential label.

Sub-labels (e.g., Confidential/Internal, Confidential/External) do not inherit settings from the parent.

They are independent labels grouped under a parent for organization, but each sub-label must have its own protection settings defined.

Answer: No

Statement 2: Users must provide justification if they change the label of content from Confidential/Internal to Confidential/External.

The policy requires justification only when removing a label or downgrading classification (lowering).

Changing between two sub-labels of the same parent (Confidential/Internal → Confidential/External) is considered a lateral move (not a downgrade).

Answer: No

Statement 3: Content that has the Confidential/External label applied will retain the encryption settings if the sensitivity label is removed from the label policy.

If a label is removed from a published policy, content already labeled retains its protection settings (such as encryption).

The label metadata stays applied to the file/email, even if unpublished.

Answer: Yes

You are creating a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policy in Microsoft 365 with advanced rules. Advanced DLP rules provide more granular conditions and actions than standard DLP rules.

Conditions available in advanced DLP

According to Microsoft Docs on Conditions in DLP policies:

✅ Content contains → Used to detect sensitive information types, keywords, or exact data matches. This is one of the most common and fundamental DLP conditions.

✅ Content is shared from Microsoft 365 → Used to detect whether content has been shared externally or with specific domains/users. This is a modern advanced DLP condition.

Why the others are not correct:

A. Document property is → This condition applies to information governance retention policies/labels (not DLP). Not available in DLP rules.

B. Attachment's file extension is → This is supported in Exchange mail flow rules (transport rules) but not in advanced DLP rules.

C. Document size equals or is greater than → Also applies in Exchange transport rules and certain SharePoint restrictions, but not available as a DLP rule condition.

Create: → A sensitive info type

Element: → Keyword dictionary

You want to classify documents in SharePoint Online based on a list of customer names stored in Customer.csv (1,000 entries).

In Microsoft Purview, there are several options for custom classification:

Sensitive info type (SIT):

Designed to detect predefined or custom patterns such as credit cards, IDs, or custom lists.

You can build a custom SIT using elements like keyword dictionary, regular expressions, and functions.

In this case, since you have a large CSV with 1,000 customer names, you upload that list as a keyword dictionary element.

Trainable classifier:

Used when you want AI to classify documents by training on examples of positive/negative samples (like contracts, resumes).

Not relevant here because you already have a structured list of customer names rather than needing machine learning classification.

Adaptive scope:

Determines where (users, groups, sites) policies apply, not what content is classified.

Not relevant here.

Correct pairing:

Create: A sensitive info type (SIT).

Element: Keyword dictionary (upload the Customer.csv file).

DLP policy tips are shown across all supported Outlook clients: Outlook on the web (OWA), Outlook desktop (Win32), and Outlook mobile apps (iOS and Android). This ensures users are informed when sending sensitive information across any supported client.

Comprehensive Detailed Explanation with References

The command Set-AuditConfig -Workload Exchange is related to configuring auditing for workloads but does not enable mailbox auditing.

To capture and view who is accessing User1’s mailbox, mailbox auditing must be enabled at the mailbox level in Exchange Online.

Correct solution would be:

Set-Mailbox -Identity User1 -AuditEnabled $true

Mailbox auditing is enabled by default for all mailboxes in Microsoft 365 now, but if it is disabled, enabling auditing at the mailbox level is required. Running Set-AuditConfig -Workload Exchange alone does not accomplish this.

Understanding DLP Policy Impact on File Access

The DLP policy (DLPpolicy1) applies to Site2 and restricts access when:

● Content contains SWIFT Codes.

● Instance count is 2 or more.

File Analysis (Based on SWIFT Codes Count)

Files that remain accessible (not restricted by DLP):

● File1.docx (Contains only 1 SWIFT Code → Below restriction threshold)

User access after DLP policy is applied:

User1 (Site Owner):

● Has higher privileges and can override DLP restrictions (through admin intervention).

● Can access 2 files (File1.docx + override access to another file).

User2 (Site Visitor):

● Has read-only access but DLP blocks access to restricted files.

● Can only access 1 file (File1.docx), since all others are restricted.

The goal is to automatically label documents in Site1 that contain credit card numbers. To achieve this, we need a sensitivity label with an auto-labeling policy based on a sensitive info type that detects credit card numbers.

Step 1: Create a Sensitive Info Type

● A sensitive info type is needed to detect credit card numbers in documents.

● Microsoft Purview includes built-in sensitive info types for credit card numbers, but we can also create a custom one if necessary.

Step 2: Create a Sensitivity Label

● A sensitivity label is required to classify and protect documents containing sensitive information.

● This label can apply encryption, watermarking, or access controls to credit card data.

Step 3: Create an Auto-Labeling Policy

● An auto-labeling policy ensures that the sensitivity label is applied automatically when credit card numbers are detected in Site1.

● This policy is configured to scan files and automatically apply the correct sensitivity label.

To detect and protect confidential documents, we need a custom rule to identify project codes that start with 999 (since they are classified as confidential).

Box 1: A Sensitive Info Type (SIT) allows Microsoft Purview DLP policies to recognize structured data (e.g., project codes). DLP policies require a sensitive info type to detect content based on patterns, keywords, or dictionary terms. A sensitivity label alone does not define detection logic—it is used for classification and protection after content is identified.

Box 2: Since project codes follow a structured 10-digit pattern, we should use a Regular Expression (Regex) to match project codes that start with 999.

Example Regex pattern:

999\d{7}

This pattern detects a 10-digit number starting with "999".

Understanding Site4's Retention Policies:

● Site4RetentionPolicy1 deletes items older than 2 years from creation. If a file was created on January 1, 2021, it would be deleted after January 1, 2023.

● Site4RetentionPolicy2 retains files for 4 years from creation. If a file was created on January 1, 2021, it will be kept until January 1, 2025, but not deleted after that (policy states "Do nothing").

Statement 1 - Yes, because Site4RetentionPolicy2 ensures files are retained for 4 years.

Statement 2 - Yes, because Site4RetentionPolicy2 retains the file for 4 years (until January 1, 2025).

Statement 3 - No, because retention is only for 4 years (until January 1, 2025). After that, the policy does "nothing," meaning the file is no longer recoverable after that period.

To meet the requirement that all administrative users must be able to create Microsoft 365 sensitivity labels, we need to assign the Sensitivity Label Administrator role to the correct users.

Sensitivity Label Administrator Role Responsibilities

This role allows users to:

● Create and manage sensitivity labels in Microsoft Purview.

● Publish and configure auto-labeling policies.

● Modify label encryption and content marking settings.

Review of Admin Roles from the Table:

Users that must be assigned the Sensitivity Label Administrator role:

● Admin2 (Compliance Data Administrator)

● Admin3 (Compliance Administrator)

● Admin1 (Global Reader) (should be assigned this role to fulfill the requirement that all admins can create labels).

The requirement states that all Microsoft 365 data for users must be retained for at least one year. In Microsoft 365, retention policies must be configured for each type of data storage.

Step 1: Identifying Where Data is Stored

From the case study, users store data in the following locations:

● SharePoint Online sites

● OneDrive accounts

● Exchange email

● Exchange public folders

● Teams chats

● Teams channel messages

Since these locations fall under two broad categories:

● Microsoft Exchange data (Emails, Public folders)

● SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams data

Step 2: Required Retention Policies

1️. A single retention policy can cover:

● SharePoint Online

● OneDrive

● Microsoft Teams

2. A second retention policy is required for:

● Exchange (Emails & Public Folders)

Thus, the minimum number of retention policies required to meet the requirement is 2.

Microsoft 365 retention policies can be applied broadly across multiple services with just two policies:

● One for Exchange & Public Folders

● One for SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams

There's no need for separate policies for each individual workload unless different retention durations are required, which is not stated in the requirement.

Policy tips in DLP: Policy tips are messages shown to users when their action (such as sending sensitive content via email) conflicts with a DLP policy.

For Exchange email location, policy tips are supported in the following apps:

Outlook for Microsoft 365 (desktop client) ✅

Outlook on the web (OWA) ✅

Outlook Mobile (iOS/Android) ❌ Policy tips are not shown in mobile apps. Instead, DLP actions (block/restrict/send incident report) still apply, but the user does not see a policy tip notification.

Therefore:

Supported: Outlook for Microsoft 365, Outlook on the web.

Not supported: Outlook Mobile apps.

The issue: Users cannot upload documents with U.S. passport numbers to a legitimate travel management website because Endpoint DLP is blocking it.

Solution: Configure Service domains in Endpoint DLP → this allows defining specific trusted domains where uploads of sensitive information are permitted while still blocking uploads to other, non-approved domains.

Why not others?

Unallowed browsers: Restricts/blocklists browsers, not the issue here.

File path exclusions: Excludes local folders/paths from monitoring, irrelevant to web uploads.

Unallowed apps: Restricts desktop apps, not browser-based sites.

Let’s break it down:

File1.docx → DLP action = None

No DLP restrictions, so it is fully accessible to both User1 (owner) and User2 (member).

File2.docx → DLP action = Matched by DLP

“Matched” means the DLP policy detected sensitive content but has not blocked access. Instead, it may generate an alert or policy tip.

Both User1 and User2 can still open this file.

File3.docx → DLP action = Blocked by DLP

“Blocked” means the DLP policy actively restricts access or sharing of the file.

User2 (member) cannot open this file.

However, User1 (site owner) can open it because site collection admins and owners always retain full control over content, even if a DLP rule applies.

Ref: Microsoft Purview DLP policy tips and enforcement

→ DLP policies do not prevent SharePoint/OneDrive site collection admins (owners) from accessing content.

✅ Final Answer Table:

User1 (Site Owner): File1.docx, File2.docx, File3.docx

User2 (Site Member): File1.docx, File2.docx

Captures clips of key security-related user activities

This requirement refers to recording and surfacing evidence of risky user behavior (e.g., copying sensitive files to USB, uploading to cloud storage, or exfiltrating data).

In Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management, this is achieved through Forensic evidence, which allows capturing screenshots/clips of user activities on endpoints when a policy is triggered.

Ref: Microsoft Learn – Insider risk forensic evidence

Integrates DLP capabilities with insider risk management

Microsoft introduced Adaptive Protection as part of Purview Insider Risk.

Adaptive Protection uses insider risk signals and DLP together, dynamically adjusting DLP controls (block, restrict, monitor) based on the user’s risk level.

This integration reduces false positives and ensures risky users are monitored more strictly while low-risk users are less impacted.

Ref: Microsoft Learn – Adaptive Protection in Microsoft Purview

Other options ruled out:

Adaptive scopes: Used for defining policy targeting groups dynamically, not capturing activities.

Classifiers/Trainable classifiers: Used for content classification, not exfiltration capture or DLP integration.

eDiscovery (Premium): For legal investigations, not insider risk + DLP integration.

Records management: Lifecycle retention, not related to insider risk.