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

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

About Microsoft Exam SC-401 Exam 

The Microsoft Exam SC-401: Administering Information Security in Microsoft 365 is intended for those who are tasked with securing sensitive data in Microsoft 365 environments. It confirms your proficiency in securing data in the enterprises using Microsoft Purview and related services, implementing compliance policies, minimizing the threats from the inside, and maintaining compliance.

Roles and Responsibilities

As an Information Security Administrator, you will manage data security by implementing information protection, data loss prevention, retention policies, insider risk management, and security alerts. You will be required to collaborate with security teams, governance professionals, and administrators to develop robust security strategies that align with business objectives.

Who should take the Exam?

This exam is ideal for:

• Information Security Administrators responsible for securing organizational data.
• IT Security Analysts managing risk mitigation and compliance frameworks.
• Governance and Compliance Professionals handling data security policies in Microsoft 365.
• Microsoft 365 Administrators responsible for DLP, retention, and security policies.

Exam Prerequisites

To succeed in this exam, candidates should be familiar with:

• Microsoft 365 security tools – Microsoft Purview, Defender for Cloud Apps, Microsoft Entra.
• PowerShell scripting – For automating security policies and configurations.
• Data protection and compliance concepts – Including sensitivity labels, encryption, and DLP policies.
• Insider risk and threat management – Monitoring and responding to security alerts.
• AI security – Implementing data security posture management (DSPM) for AI.

Knowledge Gained

By earning the SC-401 certification, you will gain expertise in:

• Implementing Microsoft 365 Information Protection Solutions
• Enforcing Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Compliance Policies
• Managing Insider Threats and Risk Mitigation Strategies
• Responding to Security Alerts and Incidents
• Securing AI-Driven Workflows and AI Data Protection

Skills Measured

The SC-401 exam tests your ability to:

• Implement Information Protection (30–35%)
• Implement Data Loss Prevention and Retention (30–35%)
• Manage Risks, Alerts, and Security Activities (30–35%)
• Protect Data Used by AI Services

Course Outline

The Microsoft Exam SC-401 Exam covers the following topic - 

Domain 1 - Understanding to Implement Information Protection (30–35%)

1.1 Explain to Implement and Manage Data Classification

• Learn to identify sensitive information requirements for an organization's data.
• Learn to translate sensitive information requirements into built-in or custom sensitive info types.
• Learn to create and manage custom sensitive info types.
• Learn to implement document fingerprinting.
• Learn to create and manage exact data match (EDM) classifiers.
• Learn to create and manage trainable classifiers.
• Learn to monitor data classification and label usage using data explorer and content explorer.
• Learn to configure optical character recognition (OCR) support for sensitive info types.

1.2 Explain to Implement and Manage Sensitivity Labels in Microsoft Purview

• Learn to implement roles and permissions for administering sensitivity labels.
• Learn to define and create sensitivity labels for items and containers.
• Learn to configure protection settings and content marking for sensitivity labels.
• Learn to configure and manage publishing policies for sensitivity labels.
• Learn to configure and manage auto-labeling policies for sensitivity labels.
• Learn to apply a sensitivity label to Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Groups, Microsoft Power BI, and SharePoint.
• Learn to apply sensitivity labels using Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps.

1.3 Explain implementing Information Protection for Windows, File Shares, and Exchange

• Learn to plan and implement the Microsoft Purview Information Protection client.
• Learn to manage files using the Microsoft Purview Information Protection client.
• Learn to apply bulk classification to on-premises data using the Microsoft Purview Information Protection scanner.
• Learn to design and implement Microsoft Purview Message Encryption.
• Learn to design and implement Microsoft Purview Advanced Message Encryption.

Domain 2 - Understanding to Implement Data Loss Prevention and Retention (30–35%)

2.1 Explain to Create and Configure Data Loss Prevention Policies

• Learn to design data loss prevention (DLP) policies based on an organization’s requirements.
• Learn to implement roles and permissions for DLP.
• Learn to create and manage DLP policies.
• Learn to configure DLP policies for Adaptive Protection.
• Learn to interpret policy and rule precedence in DLP.
• Learn to create file policies in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps using a DLP policy.

2.2 Explain to Implement and Monitor Microsoft Purview Endpoint DLP

• Learn to specify device requirements for Endpoint DLP, including extensions.
• Learn to configure advanced DLP rules for devices in DLP policies.
• Learn to configure Endpoint DLP settings.
• Learn to configure just-in-time protection.
• Learn to monitor endpoint activities.

2.3 Explain to Implement and Manage Retention

• Learn to plan for information retention and disposition using retention labels.
• Learn to create, configure, and manage adaptive scopes.
• Learn to create retention labels for data lifecycle management.
• Learn to configure a retention label policy to publish and auto-apply labels.
• Learn to interpret policy precedence, including using Policy lookup.
• Learn to create and configure retention policies.
• Learn to recover retained content in Microsoft 365.

Domain 3 - Understanding to Manage Risks, Alerts, and Security Activities (30–35%)

3.1 Explain to Implement and Manage Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management

• Learn to implement roles and permissions for Insider Risk Management.
• Learn to plan and implement Insider Risk Management connectors.
• Learn to integrate Insider Risk Management with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
• Learn to configure and manage Insider Risk Management settings.
• Learn to configure policy indicators.
• Learn to select an appropriate policy template.
• Learn to create and manage Insider Risk Management policies.
• Learn to manage forensic evidence settings.
• Learn to enable and configure insider risk levels for Adaptive Protection.
• Learn to manage insider risk alerts and cases.
• Learn to manage Insider Risk Management workflows, including notice templates.

3.2 Explain to Manage Information Security Alerts and Activities

• Learn to assign Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium) user licenses.
• Learn to investigate activities using Microsoft Purview Audit.
• Learn to configure audit retention policies.
• Learn to analyze Purview activities using activity explorer.
• Learn to respond to DLP alerts in the Microsoft Purview portal.
• Learn to investigate insider risk activities using the Microsoft Purview portal.
• Learn to respond to Purview alerts in Microsoft Defender XDR.
• Learn to respond to Defender for Cloud Apps file policy alerts.
• Learn to perform searches using Content Search.

3.3 Explain to Protect Data Used by AI Services

• Learn to implement controls in Microsoft Purview to protect content in an AI-driven environment.
• Learn to implement controls in Microsoft 365 productivity workloads to protect AI-powered content.
• Learn to implement prerequisites for Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI.
• Learn to manage roles and permissions for DSPM for AI.
• Learn to configure DSPM for AI policies.
• Learn to monitor activities in DSPM for AI.