Microsoft Security Operations Analyst (SC-200)

The Microsoft Security Operations Analyst (SC-200) certification is designed for security professionals who specialize in monitoring and responding to security incidents using Microsoft security technologies.

The purpose of the certification is to validate the skills and knowledge required to implement, manage, and monitor security and compliance solutions in a Microsoft environment. The Microsoft Security Operations Analyst (SC-200) certification covers topics such as incident response, threat intelligence, cloud security, data governance, and compliance management.

The benefits of the SC-200 certification include demonstrating proficiency in Microsoft security technologies and improving career opportunities in the cybersecurity industry. The certification also provides access to Microsoft resources and communities, enabling professionals to stay up-to-date with the latest security trends and technologies. Additionally, earning the certification can enhance an organization’s security posture by ensuring that its security professionals have the necessary skills to effectively monitor and respond to security incidents.

Skills Acquired

Below is the list of skills and knowledge you will learn:

• Firstly, as a Microsoft Security Operations Analyst, you will be required to perform threat management, monitoring, and response by using a variety of security solutions across their environment.
• The role primarily investigates, responds to, and hunts for threats using Microsoft Azure Sentinel, Azure Defender, Microsoft 365 Defender, and third-party security products.

Exam Overview

• Firstly, the Microsoft Security Operations Analyst examination (SC-200) exam fee is $165 USD.
• Secondly, talking about the Microsoft Security Operations Analyst exam questions, there will be 40-60 questions.
• Thirdly, the exam is available in the English language only.
• Next, the passing mark for Microsoft Security Operations Analyst is 700 on a scale of 1-1000.
• Lastly, the SC-200 exam format is multiple choice and multiple response questions.

SC-200 Exam Glossary

Here’s a glossary of key terms related to the Microsoft Security Operations Analyst (SC-200) exam:

1. Cloud Security – Refers to the protection of data, applications, and infrastructure in cloud computing environments.
2. Compliance – Refers to the adherence to industry standards, laws, and regulations related to data security and privacy.
3. Cybersecurity – Refers to the protection of computer systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, theft, and damage.
4. Data Governance – Refers to the process of managing the availability, usability, integrity, and security of data used in an organization.
5. Identity and Access Management (IAM) – Refers to the process of managing user identities and access to resources within an organization.
6. Incident Response – Refers to the process of responding to and managing security incidents, such as data breaches or malware infections.
7. Network Security – Refers to the protection of computer networks from unauthorized access, theft, and damage.
8. Penetration Testing – Refers to the process of testing the security of computer systems and networks by attempting to exploit vulnerabilities.
9. Risk Management – Refers to the process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to an organization’s assets, including data, systems, and infrastructure.
10. Threat Intelligence – Refers to the process of collecting, analyzing, and sharing information about potential security threats and vulnerabilities.

Exam Registration

For registering yourself for Microsoft Security Operations Analyst (SC-200) you are required to follow the following steps:

• You can book your examination with Pearson VUE.
• Click on Schedule your exam on the official Microsoft page.
• Login in your Microsoft account using your email id, if you haven’t created an account on Microsoft you are required to signup first before login in. Also, select the examination by entering the exam code SC-200 or the examination name, i.e., Microsoft Security Operations Analyst.
• Follow the instructions given on the site and select the available date and time slot and make the payment.

Exam Policies

The candidate is recommended to read these policies so as to avoid any kind of confusion in the future.These policies contain information about registration options, learning credits, etc.

Exam Retake Policy

If the candidate failed to achieve the passing score, then he/she has to wait for 24 hours before reapplying to the examination. The candidate can go to their certificate dashboard and reschedule the exam themselves. The candidate can reappear for the examination only five times. Failure in the second attempt will result in a waiting time of 14 days before rescheduling your third attempt. The waiting period for the fourth and the fifth attempts will also be 14 days. 

Exam Cancellation Policy

Microsoft offers candidates to cancel or reschedule their exams within a minimum of 24 hours prior to the exam date. However, to prevent any cancellation fee, you must cancel or reschedule your exam, at least 6 business days prior to the date scheduled for your exam. Also, if you fail to appear in the exam, then you will not receive any refund of the exam fee.

Recertification Policy

Microsoft certification is expected to expire when the products are out of mainstream support although the person`s certification will be recognized. Officially, the certification will never expire.

To check the full Microsoft Policies, click here.

For more information, click on Microsoft Security Operations Analyst (SC-200) FAQ.

Course Outline for Microsoft Security Operations Analyst Exam (SC-200)

The SC-200 covers the following topics:

Manage a security operations environment (20–25%)

Configure settings in Microsoft Defender XDR

• Configure a connection from Defender XDR to a Sentinel workspace (Microsoft Documentation: Connect Microsoft Sentinel to Microsoft Defender XDR)
• Configure alert and vulnerability notification rules (Microsoft Documentation: Configure alert notifications in Microsoft Defender XDR)
• Configure Microsoft Defender for Endpoint advanced features
• Configure endpoint rules settings, including indicators and web content filtering (Microsoft Documentation: Web content filtering)
• Manage automated investigation and response capabilities in Microsoft Defender XDR (Microsoft Documentation: Configure automated investigation and response capabilities in Microsoft Defender XDR)
• Configure automatic attack disruption in Microsoft Defender XDR (Microsoft Documentation: Automatic attack disruption in Microsoft Defender XDR)

Manage assets and environments

• Configure and manage device groups, permissions, and automation levels in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (Microsoft Documentation: Configure automated investigation and remediation capabilities in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint)
• Identify and remediate unmanaged devices in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
• Manage resources by using Azure Arc (Microsoft Documentation: Azure Arc overview)
• Connect environments to Microsoft Defender for Cloud (by using multi-cloud account management)
• Discover and remediate unprotected resources by using Defender for Cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Remediate recommendations)
• Identify and remediate devices at risk by using Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management (Microsoft Documentation: What is Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management)

Design and configure a Microsoft Sentinel workspace

• Plan a Microsoft Sentinel workspace
• Configure Microsoft Sentinel roles (Microsoft Documentation: Roles and permissions in Microsoft Sentinel)
• Specify Azure RBAC roles for Microsoft Sentinel configuration
• Design and configure Microsoft Sentinel data storage, including log types and log retention (Microsoft Documentation: Configure a data retention policy for a table in a Log Analytics workspace)
• Manage multiple workspaces by using Workspace manager and Azure Lighthouse (Microsoft Documentation: Centrally manage multiple Microsoft Sentinel workspaces with workspace manager (Preview))

Ingest data sources in Microsoft Sentinel

• Identify data sources to be ingested for Microsoft Sentinel (Microsoft Documentation: Microsoft Sentinel data connectors)
• Implement and use Content hub solutions (Microsoft Documentation: About Microsoft Sentinel content and solutions)
• Configure and use Microsoft connectors for Azure resources, including Azure Policy and diagnostic settings (Microsoft Documentation: Connect Microsoft Sentinel to other Microsoft services by using diagnostic settings-based connections)
• Configure bidirectional synchronization between Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender XDR (Microsoft Documentation: Microsoft Defender XDR integration with Microsoft Sentinel)
• Plan and configure Syslog and Common Event Format (CEF) event collections (Microsoft Documentation: Get CEF-formatted logs from your device or appliance into Microsoft Sentinel)
• Plan and configure collection of Windows Security events by using data collection rules, including Windows Event Forwarding (WEF)
• Configure threat intelligence connectors, including platform, TAXII, upload indicators API, and MISP (Microsoft Documentation: Connect your threat intelligence platform to Microsoft Sentinel)
• Create custom log tables in the workspace to store ingested data

Configure protections and detections (15–20%)

Configure protections in Microsoft Defender security technologies

• Configure policies for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (Microsoft Documentation: Control cloud apps with policies)
• Configure policies for Microsoft Defender for Office 365
• Configure security policies for Microsoft Defender for Endpoints, including attack surface reduction (ASR) rules (Microsoft Documentation: Enable attack surface reduction rules)
• Configure cloud workload protections in Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Configure detection in Microsoft Defender XDR

• Configure and manage custom detections (Microsoft Documentation: Create and manage custom detections rules)
• Configure alert tuning (Microsoft Documentation: Investigate alerts in Microsoft Defender XDR)
• Configure deception rules in Microsoft Defender XDR (Microsoft Documentation: Configure the deception capability in Microsoft Defender XDR)

Configure detections in Microsoft Sentinel

• Classify and analyze data by using entities (Microsoft Documentation: Entities in Microsoft Sentinel)
• Configure scheduled query rules, including KQL (Microsoft Documentation: Create a custom analytics rule from scratch)
• Configure near-real-time (NRT) query rules, including KQL (Microsoft Documentation: Detect threats quickly with near-real-time (NRT) analytics rules in Microsoft Sentinel)
• Manage analytics rules from Content hub (Microsoft Documentation: Discover and manage Microsoft Sentinel out-of-the-box content)
• Configure anomaly detection analytics rules
• Configure the Fusion rule (Microsoft Documentation: Configure multistage attack detection (Fusion) rules in Microsoft Sentinel)
• Query Microsoft Sentinel data by using ASIM parsers (Microsoft Documentation: Using the Advanced Security Information Model (ASIM))
• Manage and use threat indicators (Microsoft Documentation: Work with threat indicators in Microsoft Sentinel)

Manage incident response (35–40%)

Respond to alerts and incidents in Microsoft Defender XDR

• Investigate and remediate threats to Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive (Microsoft Documentation: Threat investigation and response)
• Investigate and remediate threats in email by using Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (Microsoft Documentation: Email analysis in investigations for Microsoft Defender for Office 365)
• Investigate and remediate ransomware and business email compromise incidents identified by automatic attack disruption
• Investigate and remediate compromised entities identified by Microsoft Purview data loss prevention (DLP) policies
• Investigate and remediate threats identified by Microsoft Purview insider risk policies (Microsoft Documentation: Get started with insider risk management)
• Investigate and remediate alerts and incidents identified by Microsoft Defender for Cloud (Microsoft Documentation: Security alerts and incidents)
• Investigate and remediate security risks identified by Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (Microsoft Documentation: Investigate cloud app risks and suspicious activity)
• Investigate and remediate compromised identities in Microsoft Entra ID (Microsoft Documentation: Remediate risks and unblock users)
• Investigate and remediate security alerts from Microsoft Defender for Identity (Microsoft Documentation: Investigate Defender for Identity security alerts in Microsoft Defender XDR)
• Manage actions and submissions in the Microsoft Defender portal (Microsoft Documentation: Use the Submissions page to submit suspected spam, phish, URLs, legitimate email getting blocked, and email attachments to Microsoft)

Respond to alerts and incidents identified by Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

• Investigate timeline of compromised devices (Microsoft Documentation: Investigate devices in the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Devices list)
• Perform actions on the device, including live response and collecting investigation packages
• Perform evidence and entity investigation (Microsoft Documentation: Perform evidence and entities investigations using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint)

Enrich investigations by using other Microsoft tools

• Investigate threats by using unified audit Log (Microsoft Documentation: Investigate threats by using audit features in Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Purview Standard)
• Investigate threats by using Content Search
• Perform threat hunting by using Microsoft Graph activity logs (Microsoft Documentation: Access Microsoft Graph activity logs)

Manage incidents in Microsoft Sentinel

• Triage incidents in Microsoft Sentinel (Microsoft Documentation: Navigate and investigate incidents in Microsoft Sentinel)
• Investigate incidents in Microsoft Sentinel (Microsoft Documentation: Investigate incidents with Microsoft Sentinel)
• Respond to incidents in Microsoft Sentinel (Microsoft Documentation: Respond to an incident using Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender XDR)

Configure security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) in Microsoft Sentinel

• Create and configure automation rules (Microsoft Documentation: Create and use Microsoft Sentinel automation rules to manage response)
• Create and configure Microsoft Sentinel playbooks (Microsoft Documentation: Automate threat response with playbooks in Microsoft Sentinel)
• Configure analytic rules to trigger automation (Microsoft Documentation: Migrate your Microsoft Sentinel alert-trigger playbooks to automation rules)
• Trigger playbooks manually from alerts and incidents (Microsoft Documentation: Supported triggers and actions in Microsoft Sentinel playbooks)
• Run playbooks on On-premises resources

Perform threat hunting (15–20%)

Hunt for threats by using KQL

• Identify threats by using Kusto Query Language (KQL) (Microsoft Documentation: Kusto Query Language (KQL) overview)
• Interpret threat analytics in the Microsoft Defender portal (Microsoft Documentation: Threat analytics in Microsoft Defender XDR)
• Create custom hunting queries by using KQL (Microsoft Documentation: Threat hunting in Microsoft Sentinel)

Hunt for threats by using Microsoft Sentinel

• Analyze attack vector coverage by using the MITRE ATT&CK in Microsoft Sentinel (Microsoft Documentation: Understand security coverage by the MITRE ATT&CK® framework)
• Customize content gallery hunting queries (Microsoft Documentation: Advanced hunting query best practices)
• Use hunting bookmarks for data investigations (Microsoft Documentation: Keep track of data during hunting with Microsoft Sentinel)
• Monitor hunting queries by using Livestream (Microsoft Documentation: Detect threats by using hunting livestream in Microsoft Sentinel)
• Retrieve and manage archived log data (Microsoft Documentation: Restore archived logs from search)
• Create and manage search jobs (Microsoft Documentation: Search across long time spans in large datasets)

Analyze and interpret data by using workbooks

• Activate and customize Microsoft Sentinel workbook templates (Microsoft Documentation: Visualize and monitor your data by using workbooks in Microsoft Sentinel)
• Create custom workbooks that include KQL
• Configure visualizations

Preparatory Guide for Microsoft Security Operations Analyst (SC-200)

To pass any exam, you must have a well-thought-out strategy and study guide. There is an unending array of resources available to help you prepare for the exam. You must prepare, practice, and work hard in order to pass the Microsoft Security Operations Analyst Exam (SC-200). This guide will assist you during your preparation for this exam and serve as a springboard for future professional opportunities. Let’s take it one step at a time:

Instructor-led Training

Microsoft offers instructor-led training for the SC-200 examination. It is a four-day training The instructor-led training is an important resource in order to grt a better and deep understanding of the examination. After completion of this training you willbe able to:

• Explain how Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can remediate risks in your environment
• Create a Microsoft Defender for the Endpoint environment
• Configure Attack Surface Reduction rules on Windows 10 devices

Microsoft Books

Microsoft offers reference materials that might be helpful for test preparation. Numerous valuable materials that may be applied in the classroom are provided by these books. You may find pertinent publications that will aid in your comprehension of the test’s goals, help you pass the exam, and help you get your certification by visiting Microsoft Press publications. There are other books for the Microsoft SC-200 available on Amazon.com. You may use these books as a Microsoft SC-200 study guide to help you get ready for the test in a methodical way.

Familiarize yourself with Microsoft security technologies

Become familiar with the Microsoft security technologies covered on the exam, such as Azure Sentinel, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, and Microsoft 365 Defender. Obtain practical experience by working on security-related projects, performing security assessments, or participating in security-related events.

Join Microsoft Community

A robust debate is always useful, regardless of where it takes place. When a large number of people get involved in a problem, the chances of finding a solution grow dramatically. The research gets more extensive as a result of these conversations. Forums are excellent for forming a community that is necessary for understanding others. Interacting with others who have the same goals as you take you one step closer to accomplishing them. You should consider joining the Microsoft Community.

Practice Test Papers

The final stage to success is to put what you’ve learned into practice. Using a Microsoft SC-200 practice exam to diversify your study method and achieve the best possible outcomes on the real thing is a terrific approach to achieve the best possible results. Furthermore, in order to ensure comprehensive preparation, it is critical to analyze the practice test. We offer free Microsoft SC-200 practice tests to assist you in passing the exam.

SC-200 Exam Final Tips

Here are some final tips and advice for success on the Microsoft Security Operations Analyst (SC-200) certification exam:

1. Read the exam questions carefully: Take the time to carefully read each exam question and understand what is being asked.
2. Manage your time wisely: Manage your time wisely during the exam to ensure that you have enough time to complete all the questions.
3. Focus on the exam objectives: Focus on the exam objectives and ensure that you have a good understanding of the knowledge and skills that will be tested.
4. Practice with sample questions: Practice with sample questions to get a sense of the type of questions that will be asked on the exam.
5. Utilize exam study resources: Utilize exam study resources such as Microsoft documentation, training courses, and practice exams to enhance your understanding of the exam content.
6. Take breaks: Take breaks during the exam to rest and refocus your mind.
7. Don’t leave any questions unanswered: Make sure to answer all questions, even if you are not sure of the correct answer.
8. Stay calm and focused: Stay calm and focused during the exam to avoid becoming overwhelmed or distracted.

By following these tips and putting in the necessary time and effort to prepare for the exam, you can increase your chances of success and demonstrate your expertise in Microsoft security technologies and security operations analysis.