Microsoft SC-401 Administering Information Security in Microsoft 365 Exam Practice Test

Box 1: Since you are looking for a specific pattern (PA followed by eight digits, e.g., PA 12345678), the best classification method is Sensitive Info Type. Sensitive Info Types allow pattern-based matching to identify structured data. Exact Data Match (EDM) is not needed because you're not comparing against a fixed dataset. Trainable classifier is not appropriate because this is a structured pattern, not an unstructured document classification.

Box 2: Since PA 12345678 follows a structured pattern, the most effective method is Regular Expression (Regex). A Regular Expression (Regex) can be written to match "PA" followed by exactly eight digits (e.g., PA\s\d{8}). Keyword dictionary is not ideal because it works for predefined words, not number patterns. Function is unnecessary because there is no need for checksum validation or predefined validation rules.

Step 1 – Understanding the requirement

The task is about applying Microsoft Purview Information Protection sensitivity labels to sensitive images and documents using the Azure Information Protection (AIP) unified labeling client.

Sensitivity labels in Purview can be applied in Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint), but to label non-Office files like images, PDFs, and other documents, users must use the AIP unified labeling client.

With the AIP client installed, labels can be applied directly in File Explorer by right-clicking the file.

Step 2 – Device compatibility

The AIP unified labeling client runs on Windows devices only.

In the question’s context (based on the provided dropdowns), all listed devices (Device1, Device2, Device3) are compatible Windows endpoints.

Therefore, the AIP client can be deployed to all three devices.

Step 3 – How users apply labels

For Office documents → labels can be applied from the ribbon inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

For other file types (images, PDFs, text files, etc.) → labels must be applied using File Explorer via the AIP client.

???? Reference:

Install and use the Azure Information Protection unified labeling client

Apply sensitivity labels to files and emails 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 – Scenario

The alert in the exhibit is named Alert2.

Current status = Resolved.

The task is to identify which statuses you can change the alert to.

Step 2 – Microsoft 365 Alert Lifecycle

In Microsoft 365 compliance and security alerts, an alert can move between multiple statuses depending on investigation and remediation. The available statuses are:

Active – The alert is new and not yet acted upon.

Investigating – The alert is under review.

Resolved – The alert has been addressed.

Dismissed – The alert is ignored or deemed not relevant.

Step 3 – Status changes from "Resolved"

If an alert is in the Resolved state, administrators can reopen or reclassify it. According to Microsoft documentation, from Resolved, you can change it to:

Active

Investigating

Dismissed

This allows flexibility in continuing investigations if needed or dismissing false positives.

Step 4 – Microsoft Reference

From Microsoft Docs: “You can change the status of an alert between Active, Investigating, Resolved, and Dismissed to reflect its current stage in the triage process.”

Let’s analyze each scenario based on the given retention policies and Microsoft 365 documentation.

???? Policies Recap

Policy1

Teams channel messages → All Teams → Retain 7 years → Delete automatically.

Teams chats → User1 → Retain 7 years → Delete automatically.

Policy2

Teams channel messages → Team1 → Retain 5 years → Delete automatically.

Teams chats → User2 → Retain 5 years → Delete automatically.

???? Reference: Retention policies in Microsoft Teams

???? Statement 1: The message edited by User1 will be deleted after five years.

Location = Team1 channel.

Policy1 applies (7 years for all Teams).

Policy2 applies (5 years for Team1).

Conflict rule: For retention, the longest duration wins.

Therefore, the message stays 7 years, not 5.

✅ Answer: NO

???? Statement 2: User1 can see the message sent by User2 for up to seven years.

Location = Private 1:1 chat (User2 → User1).

For User1’s mailbox: Policy1 applies (7 years).

For User2’s mailbox: Policy2 applies (5 years).

Retention in Teams chats is per-user, so each participant may have different durations.

For User1, the retention is 7 years.

✅ Answer: YES

???? Statement 3: The message deleted by User1 will be moved to the SubstrateHolds folder.

Location = Team2 channel.

User1 deletes the message, but retention policy (Policy1) applies (7 years).

Retention overrides user deletion: message is moved to the SubstrateHolds folder in the hidden mailbox for preservation.

???? Reference: How retention works with SubstrateHolds

✅ Answer: YES

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.

You need to define a custom sensitive information type that recognizes the unique 13-digit identifier format for customer records. Microsoft Purview DLP policies use these types to identify and protect sensitive data.

A Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policy is required to enforce the rules. It will allow emails with a single identifier but trigger an approval workflow when two or more identifiers are detected.

Step 1 – Scenario

You are creating an Exact Data Match (EDM) classifier in Microsoft Purview.

EDM requires preparing a sensitive information source table (such as employee IDs, customer account numbers).

This table must be hashed and uploaded into Microsoft Purview.

Only authorized users can perform this sensitive upload operation.

Step 2 – Required permissions for EDM upload

Microsoft’s documented process states:

To hash and upload EDM source data, you must assign users to the EDM Data Uploaders security group.

This group is a security group created in Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD).

Membership in this security group grants permission to perform the upload.

???? Reference: Configure Exact Data Match (EDM) in Microsoft Purview

“To upload the hashed data file to Microsoft Purview, you must add users to a security group named EDM_DataUploaders. This group is required to give permissions for EDM uploads.”

Step 3 – Why not the other options?

A. Microsoft Entra enterprise application → Used for app integration, not EDM uploads.

B. Purview role group → Provides compliance portal permissions but not EDM upload rights.

D. Microsoft Entra app registration → Used for API access, not relevant here.

E. Microsoft 365 group → Collaboration group, not for secure upload rights.

To track who accesses User1’s mailbox, you need to enable mailbox auditing for User1. By default, Exchange mailbox auditing is not enabled per mailbox (even though it is enabled tenant-wide).

The Set-Mailbox -Identity "User1" -AuditEnabled $true command enables audit logging for mailbox actions like:

● Read emails

● Delete emails

● Send emails as User1

● Access by delegated users

Once enabled, you can search for future sign-ins and actions in the Microsoft Purview audit logs.

When configuring an advanced DLP rule in Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP), you can use a Sensitive Information Type (SIT) condition to detect and classify specific types of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or custom sensitive data patterns. This allows you to apply protection and trigger actions based on the identified content.

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.

Sensitivity labels can be applied to modern Office file types that support protection:

Supported: .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, etc.

Not supported: Legacy formats like .doc or non-Office formats like .txt.

Therefore, only File2.docx and File3.xlsx can have Label1 applied.

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.

To review a Microsoft 365 Copilot usage report, you need to use Data Security Posture Management for AI (DSPM for AI) in the Microsoft Purview portal. DSPM for AI provides insights into AI-related activities, including Copilot usage, risk assessments, and data security posture related to AI interactions within Microsoft 365.

The False positive and override report helps identify rules that were applied but did not generate an actual policy alert, which means they were overridden or deemed false positives.

The DLP policy matches report provides details on files that matched DLP policies, including the top 10 files.

The Incident reports report helps analyze and review alerts, including those that may have been miscategorized.

To validate whether an audit log retention policy will apply to the intended entries, you should configure the following fields:

● Date and time range (UTC) ensures that you are searching for audit logs within the time period when the policy should be applied. Audit logs are time-sensitive, and policies affect logs based on their timestamp.

● Record types allows you to filter and search for specific audit log categories (e.g., Exchange, SharePoint, Teams, etc.) that are affected by the retention policy. Selecting the correct record type ensures that the policy is evaluated against the relevant data.

Box 1: To include the sensitive info type detected for each DLP rule match, you need to add a custom column in Activity Explorer. This ensures that the exported file contains specific details about the detected sensitive information types.

Box 2: DLP activity exports from Activity Explorer are always in CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format. This format allows for easy data analysis and reporting in Excel or other data-processing tools.

To track interactions between users and generative AI websites in Microsoft Purview Audit, you need to deploy the Microsoft Purview browser extension to the devices. This extension enables tracking of user activities on web-based applications, including AI-related tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and other generative AI platforms.

Microsoft Purview extension provides visibility into browser-based activities, including AI tool usage, ensuring compliance and risk management within Microsoft Purview. This extension works with Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome to track and log user interactions.

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.

Step 1 – Scenario

A user named User1 was a member of a dynamic security group (Group1).

User1 is no longer a member of that group.

You need to determine why User1 was removed by searching the audit log.

Step 2 – How group membership changes are logged in Microsoft 365 audit logs

Microsoft 365 audit logs record group membership activities in Azure AD. The most relevant activities for a user disappearing from a group are:

Removed member from group – Directly indicates that a user was removed from a group.

Updated group – Logged when group properties or membership rules (for dynamic groups) are modified. If Group1 is a dynamic group, changes to membership rules could have caused User1 to no longer qualify, and this would appear as an Updated group event.

Step 3 – Why not other options

Deleted user / Deleted group: Would mean the entire user or group object was deleted, not just removal.

Changed user password, Reset user password, Set license properties, Changed user license: These are account-related, not group membership-related.

Added member to group: The opposite action.

Step 4 – Microsoft Reference

From Microsoft documentation:

Audit logs include events such as when a member is added or removed from a group, and when group properties or membership rules are updated.

Box 1: Publishing a Sensitivity Label

Sensitivity labels can be published to Microsoft 365 groups, security groups, SharePoint Online sites, and Microsoft Teams. Since we have:

● Group1 (Microsoft 365 group) - Supported

● Group2 (Security group) - Supported

● Site1 (SharePoint Online site) - Supported

● Team1 (Microsoft Teams team) - Supported

This means we can publish Label1 to Group1, Group2, Site1, and Team1.

Box 2: Auto-Applying a Sensitivity Label

Auto-apply policies for sensitivity labels work on:

● SharePoint Online sites (documents)

● OneDrive (documents)

● Exchange email (messages)

However, labels cannot be auto-applied to Microsoft 365 groups or Teams directly because labels are applied to files and emails, not to groups or Teams as entities. Since Site1 (a SharePoint Online site) supports auto-apply, it is the correct option.

Microsoft Endpoint DLP relies on Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) for its enforcement.

Onboarding Windows 10/11 devices to Defender for Endpoint ensures the Endpoint DLP policies can be applied, including monitoring and protecting content across apps and browsers.

User1: Since the Microsoft Purview browser extension is installed on Device1, AI-related activity performed by User1 (generating an image using a generative AI website) can be reviewed in Activity explorer in DSPM for AI.

User2: Since Device2 does not have the Microsoft Purview browser extension installed, AI-related activity cannot be tracked in DSPM for AI. Instead, Audit log search should be used to review activity such as using Microsoft 365 Copilot.

User3: Since Device3 has the Microsoft Purview browser extension installed, AI-related activity (browsing sample content on a generative AI website) can be reviewed using Activity explorer in DSPM for AI.

Step 1 – Scenario

The requirement is to ensure Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management can collect signals when a user copies files to a USB device using their default browser. The devices differ by browser type:

Device1 → Default browser = Microsoft Edge

Device2 → Default browser = Google Chrome

Step 2 – Signal collection methods in Insider Risk Management

Insider Risk Management uses Microsoft Purview Information Protection client and Purview browser extensions to collect activity signals.

For Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based), insider risk signals are collected via the Microsoft Purview Information Protection client.

For Google Chrome, signals are collected through the Microsoft Purview extension (available in the Chrome Web Store).

The Microsoft Defender Browser Protection extension is for web protection against malicious sites, not for insider risk activity signals, so it is irrelevant here.

Step 3 – Microsoft Reference

Microsoft documentation:

“For insider risk signals collection in Microsoft Edge, the Microsoft Purview client must be deployed. For Google Chrome, the Microsoft Purview extension is required.”

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 – Requirement

We need a custom sensitive information type (SIT) that detects:

An employee ID number in a specific format → hire date + three digits.

This is a pattern-based requirement.

Specific keywords within 300 characters of that ID → “Employee”, “ID”, or “Identification”.

This is a keyword proximity requirement.

Step 2 – Sensitive info type elements in Microsoft 365

When creating custom SITs, you define primary and secondary elements:

Primary element → The main pattern or data to detect (the most defining factor).

Secondary element → Supporting evidence that must be found near the primary element to increase confidence.

Available elements:

Regular expression → Used to define patterns such as date + digits (for employee ID).

Keyword list → Used for lists of words/phrases like "Employee", "ID", "Identification".

Functions → Used for built-in validators like credit card checksum, not relevant here.

???? Reference: Create a custom sensitive information type in Microsoft 365

Step 3 – Apply to scenario

Employee ID pattern (hire date + 3 digits) → Needs a regular expression → This must be the Primary element.

Keywords (“Employee”, “ID”, “Identification”) within 300 characters → A keyword list → This must be the Secondary element.

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.

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.

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.

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".