SC-401 Administering Information Security in Microsoft 365 Questions and Answers

Statement 1 - No. User1 is included in JIT protection. File1.docx is on Device1, which is onboarded to Microsoft Defender. However, File1.docx has not been evaluated for file classification, meaning JIT cannot enforce protection on it. If User2 signs in to Device2 and attempts to attach File2.pdf to an email, JIT will block the action.

Statement 2 - No. User2 is not configured for JIT protection (JIT does not apply to them). File2.pdf has been evaluated for classification, but since User2 is not included in JIT protection, no blocking occurs. If User3 attempts to copy File3.xlsx to a network share, JIT will generate an audit event.

Statement 3 - No. User3 is included in JIT protection. However, Device3 is not onboarded to Microsoft Defender, meaning JIT protection cannot enforce actions on it. File3.xlsx has not been evaluated, so even if the device were onboarded, JIT would not have classification data to act upon.

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 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.

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.

Marking Tailspin_scanner.exe as "Unsanctioned" in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps only blocks its usage in cloud-based activities (such as accessing SharePoint, OneDrive, or Exchange Online). However, it does not prevent a locally installed application on Windows 11 devices from accessing sensitive files.

To block Tailspin_scanner.exe from accessing sensitive documents while allowing it to access other files, the correct solution is to use Microsoft Purview Endpoint Data Loss Prevention (Endpoint DLP) and add Tailspin_scanner.exe to the Restricted Apps list.

Endpoint DLP allows you to block specific applications from accessing sensitive files while keeping general access available. Restricted Apps List in Endpoint DLP ensures that Tailspin_scanner.exe cannot open, copy, or process protected documents, but it can still function normally for non-sensitive content.

To customize encrypted email in Microsoft 365, including adding a company logo, you need to modify the Office Message Encryption (OME) branding settings. The Set-OMEConfiguration PowerShell cmdlet allows you to configure branding elements such as:

● Company logo

● Custom text

● Background color

This cmdlet is used to update existing OME branding settings, ensuring that encrypted emails sent from your organization include the required customizations.

Step 1 – Scenario

Microsoft 365 E5 subscription with 100 users and a Microsoft 365 group (Group1).

A sensitivity label (Label1) is published as the default label for Group1.

Label1 contains two sublabels: Sublabel1 and Sublabel2.

Requirement: Ensure Sublabel1 settings are applied by default to Group1.

Step 2 – Understanding label hierarchy

In Microsoft Purview Information Protection, a parent label (Label1) is a container.

Sublabels (Sublabel1, Sublabel2) inherit the parent name but represent distinct configurations (encryption, watermarking, access, etc.).

A parent label itself cannot have a sublabel’s settings automatically applied unless policy configuration specifies which sublabel is used as the default publishing option.

Step 3 – Why "Modify the policy of Label1" is correct

To apply Sublabel1 by default, the published policy for Label1 must be modified so that Sublabel1 is the default label within the policy.

Simply reordering sublabels (Option A) does not change the default assignment.

Duplicating Sublabel1’s settings into Label1 (Option B) defeats the purpose of having sublabels and adds redundancy.

Deleting the policy of Label1 and publishing Sublabel1 (Option D) would remove flexibility and is unnecessary.

Step 4 – Microsoft Reference

Microsoft Docs: “If you want a sublabel to be applied by default, configure the label policy to select that sublabel as the default label for documents and emails.”

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.

The scenario is about retaining audit logs for User1 for 10 years in Microsoft 365. Admin1 is responsible for managing audit retention policies, but the requirement specifically applies to User1’s audit logs.

Key points:

Microsoft 365 E5 includes Audit (Premium) by default. This provides access to advanced auditing features and retention up to 1 year.

To retain audit logs for longer than 1 year (such as 10 years), Microsoft requires the 10-year Audit Log Retention Add-on license.

This license must be assigned to the user whose activities need to be retained (User1), not the administrator (Admin1).

Admin1 only needs permissions to configure and manage retention policies, but the actual long-term retention is tied to the licensed users’ activity.

Why other options are incorrect:

A. Assign a Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium) add-on license to User1: Not needed because E5 already includes Audit (Premium).

B. Assign a 10-year audit log retention add-on license to Admin1: Incorrect because Admin1 is not the user whose logs must be retained; the license applies to the user being audited, not the admin.

D. Assign a Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium) add-on license to Admin1: Again, unnecessary because E5 already includes Audit (Premium), and Admin1’s license does not affect User1’s log retention.

When implementing Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management and using the HR data connector, you must prepare HR data in CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format. This format is required because Microsoft Purview supports CSV files for importing user employment details, termination dates, role changes, and other HR-related attributes.

Insider risk management policies in Microsoft Purview target users based on priority user groups.

If you want to monitor a specific project team, you must first define those users in a priority user group so that policies affect only them.

This approach:

Minimizes the impact on users not part of the project.

Reduces administrative effort since you don’t need to manage multiple security groups in Entra ID.

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.

Activity Policy (MCAS): Monitors and alerts on specific user actions such as uploading files, downloads, or logins to cloud apps. Perfect for detecting “upload to third-party storage”.

Sensitivity label: Used for classifying and protecting content, not generating alerts.

File policy (MCAS): Inspects and governs files already stored in sanctioned apps, not upload activity.

Insider risk policy: Focuses on risky behavior like data exfiltration or security violations, not direct activity alerts in cloud apps.

Correct Answer: A. an activity policy

EDM does not store raw data; instead, it requires hashed versions of sensitive data for privacy and security. To upload the hashed data, Microsoft provides the EDM upload agent. This ensures that the data is securely processed and recognized by the EDM service in Microsoft 365.

The sensitivity label Label1 assigns permissions (User1 = Co-Author, User2 = Reviewer, User3 = Viewer) and enables Double Key Encryption (DKE). Microsoft 365 Copilot can summarize content only when the service can access the file using the user’s permissions. Content protected with Double Key Encryption is not accessible to Microsoft cloud services (including Copilot); as a result, Copilot cannot open or process DKE-protected files for any user, even if they can open the file themselves in Office apps.

Therefore, no user can use Microsoft 365 Copilot to summarize File1.

The Set-MailboxFolderPermission -Identity "User1" -User User1@contoso.com -AccessRights Owner command is incorrect. This assigns folder permissions but does not enable auditing. It does not track who accessed the mailbox or deleted emails.

The question is asking what item types can be retained when implementing Microsoft Teams retention policies in Microsoft 365 E5.

Retention policies in Teams can apply to:

Teams chat messages (1:1 or group chats)

Teams channel messages

Items within those messages, including text, links, and supported embedded objects.

Step 2 – Supported Teams retention items

According to Microsoft documentation:

Retention policies support Teams messages (chats and channel posts) and their associated attachments or in-line content such as:

Embedded images

Code snippets

Tables, links, and reactions

Retention policies do not support certain Teams items, including:

Voicemails

Calls and meetings recordings

Whiteboards

Message reactions (stored separately in Azure services)

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.

Step 1 – Understanding the scenario

The screenshot shows multiple Sensitive Information Types (SITs) in Microsoft Purview, including:

ABA Routing Number (Microsoft-built)

ASP.NET Machine Key (Microsoft-built)

Adatum document patterns (custom, Fingerprint type)

Adatum numbers (custom, Entity type)

Bundled SITs (like All Credential Types, All Full Names)

The question is asking:

Which SITs can you copy to create a new SIT?

Which SITs can you edit directly without copying?

Step 2 – Microsoft rules for SITs

Built-in SITs (published by Microsoft Corporation):

These cannot be edited directly. To modify them, you must create a copy first.

Custom SITs (created in your tenant, e.g., Contoso):

These can be edited directly without making a copy.

Since all employee assessments follow a specific template (AssessmentTemplate.docx), the best way to identify these documents for Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is to create a document fingerprint of that template.

Document fingerprinting allows Microsoft 365 DLP policies to recognize documents based on their structure and format, even when content inside varies (such as different employee names and results). By creating a fingerprint of AssessmentTemplate.docx, any copy derived from that template will be automatically detected by the DLP policy and blocked from being emailed externally.

Steps to implement:

● Create a document fingerprint of AssessmentTemplate.docx using PowerShell and the Microsoft Purview compliance portal.

● Apply a DLP policy to prevent external sharing of documents matching this fingerprint.

● Test the policy by attempting to email an assessment externally.

When you configure Microsoft Purview DLP policies for the Teams chat and channel messages location, the following entities are protected:

1:1 and n:n chats (private chats between two or more users).

Team channel messages (including the General channel and all standard channels).

Private channel messages.

This means that if a DLP policy is applied to User1 and User2, it will monitor and enforce rules across:

Chats between User1 and User2 (1:1 or group chats).

Any channel conversations they participate in (General or other channels).

Private channels they belong to.

Incorrect options:

A (1:1/n chats and general channels only) → Excludes private channels, but DLP supports them.

B (1:1/n chats and private channels only) → Excludes general channels, but DLP supports them too.

To automatically encrypt email messages using Microsoft Purview Message Encryption (OME), administrators must configure mail flow rules (also known as transport rules) in the Exchange admin center. These rules can be configured to check conditions, such as when a recipient is a specific user or when an email contains attachments, and then apply encryption automatically. Sharing policies, Safe Attachments policies, and retention label policies are not used for OME encryption.

In Defender for Cloud Apps file policies, Access level is the filter used to detect how a file is exposed (e.g., Public on the internet, External, Internal, Private). Choosing Access level = External matches files that are shared with users outside your organization—exactly the “shared externally” condition.

Ref: Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps – Create/Use file policies (File filters: Access level), Microsoft Learn.

See: Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps > Policies > File policies documentation describing file filters including Access level and its values (Public, External, Internal, Private).

To target files that carry an MIP/AIP classification such as Internal Only, you use the Sensitivity label file filter. Defender for Cloud Apps ingests Microsoft Purview Information Protection labels and lets you build file policies that trigger when a specific label is applied.

Ref: Integrate Microsoft Information Protection with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps and File policies – Sensitivity label filter, Microsoft Learn.

These docs explain that MCAS can filter and govern files by Sensitivity label and apply governance based on labels such as Internal Only, Confidential, etc.

Why not the other options?

Collaborators filters by specific users/domains; it’s useful to find files shared with a particular external user but not for the generic “shared externally” condition.

Matched policy is for files already flagged by another policy/DLP engine and does not detect “Internal Only” labeling by itself.

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.