The SC-401 exam validates your ability to administer information security in Microsoft 365 environments. Designed for IT professionals pursuing the Information Security Administrator Associate credential, this exam tests both foundational knowledge and practical decision-making across key security domains. This page outlines the exam structure, core topics, and study strategies to help you prepare effectively and confidently.
Use this topic map to guide your study for Microsoft SC-401 (Administering Information Security in Microsoft 365) within the Information Security Administrator Associate path.
The SC-401 exam uses multiple question types to assess both conceptual understanding and applied reasoning in real-world security scenarios. Questions progress in difficulty, requiring you to move beyond memorization to demonstrate practical judgment.
Questions are designed to reflect actual job tasks, ensuring your preparation translates directly to on-the-job capability.
Effective preparation requires mapping exam topics to a structured study schedule and reinforcing concepts through practice. Dedicate time each week to one or two core topics, hands-on configuration, and scenario review to build both depth and speed.
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Visit the exam page to download the PDF, Online Practice Test, or get a Bundle Discount offer for both formats: Administering Information Security in Microsoft 365.
Data loss prevention and retention, along with risk and alert management, typically account for a larger portion of the exam. However, information protection is foundational and appears throughout multiple question types. Balance your study time across all three domains rather than skipping any single area.
Protection policies classify and encrypt sensitive data, DLP policies then monitor and prevent unauthorized movement of that data, and risk management tools alert you when violations or suspicious activities occur. Understanding these as an integrated workflow helps you answer scenario questions correctly and design effective security postures on the job.
Ideally, you should have 1-2 years of experience administering Microsoft 365 or similar cloud security environments. If you lack hands-on exposure, prioritize labs and simulation-style practice questions to build familiarity with admin interfaces and policy configuration. Many candidates find that working through practice tests reveals gaps that studying theory alone does not.
Confusing DLP policy actions with protection label settings, misunderstanding alert severity levels, and overlooking compliance-specific requirements are frequent errors. Carefully read scenario details for context clues about regulatory requirements or business constraints that influence the correct answer. Take time to review explanation text for questions you guess on, even if you answer correctly.
Spend 3-4 days reviewing weak topic areas using practice questions and explanations, then take one full-length timed practice test 2-3 days before your exam date. Use your test results to identify any remaining gaps, then do a final review of key definitions and policy decision trees. Avoid cramming new material in the last 24 hours; instead, rest and mentally rehearse your test-taking strategy.
You have a Microsoft 365 subscription.
You create and run a content search from the Microsoft Purview portal.
You need to download the results of the content search.
What should you obtain first?
You have a Microsoft 365 E5 subscription that contains 500 Windows devices.
You plan to deploy Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management for AI (DSPM for AI).
You need to ensure that you can monitor user activities on third-party generative AI websites.
Which two prerequisites should you complete for DSPM for AI? Each correct answer presents part of the solution.
NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
You have a Microsoft 365 E5 subscription.
You create a sensitivity label named Label1 and publish Label1 to all users and groups.
You have the following files in a SharePoint site:
* File1.doc
* File2.docx
* File3.xlsx
* File4.txt
You need to identify which files can have Label1 applied.
Which files should you identify?
You have a data loss prevention (DLP) policy configured for endpoints as shown in the following exhibit.
From a computer named Computer1, a user can sometimes upload files to cloud services and sometimes cannot. Other users experience the same issue.
What are two possible causes of the issue? Each correct answer presents a complete solution.
NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
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.
Note: This question is part of a series of questions that present the same scenario. Each question in the series contains a unique solution that might meet the stated goals. Some question sets might have more than one correct solution, while others might not have a correct solution.
After you answer a question in this section, you will NOT be able to return to it. As a result, these questions will not appear in the review screen.
You have a Microsoft 365 subscription.
You have a user named User1. Several users have full access to the mailbox of User1.
Some email messages sent to User1 appear to have been read and deleted before the user viewed them.
When you search the audit log in the Microsoft Purview portal to identify who signed in to the mailbox of User1, the results are blank.
You need to ensure that you can view future sign-ins to the mailbox of User1.
Solution: You run the Set-AdminAuditLogConfig -AdminAuditLogEnabled $true -AdminAuditLogCmdlets *Mailbox* command.
Does that meet the goal?
The Set-AdminAuditLogConfig -AdminAuditLogEnabled $true -AdminAuditLogCmdlets *Mailbox* command is incorrect. This enables admin audit logging, which tracks changes to mailbox configurations (e.g., mailbox settings updates), not user activity inside the mailbox.
