As cybersecurity threats continue to grow in sophistication and frequency, organizations worldwide are prioritizing security at every level of their operations. Microsoft has responded to this need by developing a comprehensive security, compliance, and identity ecosystem — and the SC-900 certification validates your foundational understanding of it. In 2026, the Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals certification is one of the most accessible yet valuable entry points into the cybersecurity field.
This guide covers everything you need to know to prepare for and pass the SC-900 exam on your first try in 2026.
What Is the SC-900 Exam?
The SC-900 — Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals — validates foundational knowledge of security, compliance, and identity (SCI) concepts within Microsoft’s cloud-based ecosystem. Like AZ-900 and MS-900, it is a fundamentals-level exam designed to be accessible to a broad audience including non-technical professionals.
The exam covers four domains:
- Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity (10–15%)
- Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra (25–30%)
- Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Security solutions (35–40%)
- Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Compliance solutions (20–25%)
The exam contains 40 to 60 questions and must be completed in 60 minutes. A passing score of 700 out of 1000 is required.
Who Should Take the SC-900?
The SC-900 is valuable for a surprisingly wide range of professionals:
Business stakeholders: Managers and executives who make decisions about security policies, compliance investments, and risk management benefit from understanding the Microsoft security ecosystem.
IT generalists: System administrators, help desk staff, and IT support professionals who work within Microsoft 365 or Azure environments benefit from understanding the security and compliance tools available to them.
Compliance and legal professionals: Data privacy officers, compliance managers, and legal professionals who work with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 benefit from understanding how Microsoft Purview supports compliance.
Sales and pre-sales professionals: Technology sales teams selling Microsoft security solutions need foundational knowledge to have credible conversations with security-conscious clients.
Students entering cybersecurity: For those beginning a cybersecurity career, SC-900 provides a structured introduction to Microsoft’s security ecosystem and serves as a foundation for role-based security certifications.
Key Topics in the SC-900
Security, Compliance, and Identity Concepts
The foundation of the exam starts with core concepts:
- The Zero Trust security model: verify explicitly, use least privilege, assume breach
- Defense in depth: multiple layers of security controls
- CIA triad: Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability
- Authentication vs. authorization
- Encryption concepts: in transit, at rest, in use
- Compliance concepts: data residency, data sovereignty, data privacy
Microsoft Entra (Identity and Access Management)
Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure Active Directory) is Microsoft’s identity platform and appears heavily in this domain:
- Microsoft Entra ID: users, groups, directory roles
- Authentication methods: passwords, MFA, passwordless authentication (FIDO2, Windows Hello)
- Conditional Access: policies based on user, location, device, and risk signals
- Identity Protection: risk detection and remediation
- Privileged Identity Management (PIM): just-in-time access for privileged roles
- Microsoft Entra External ID: B2B and B2C identity management
Microsoft Security Solutions
This is the largest domain and covers Microsoft’s broad security product portfolio:
Microsoft Defender products:
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud: cloud security posture management
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: endpoint detection and response
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365: email and collaboration security
- Microsoft Defender for Identity: on-premises identity threat detection
- Microsoft Defender XDR: extended detection and response across the Defender suite
Azure security services:
- Azure DDoS Protection
- Azure Firewall and Azure Web Application Firewall
- Azure Bastion for secure VM access
- Microsoft Sentinel: cloud-native SIEM and SOAR
Microsoft Compliance Solutions
Microsoft Purview is the central compliance platform:
- Microsoft Purview compliance portal overview
- Compliance Manager: compliance score, improvement actions, assessments
- Information protection: sensitivity labels, data loss prevention (DLP) policies
- Insider Risk Management: detecting and responding to insider threats
- eDiscovery: content search, core eDiscovery, Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
- Audit: standard audit and premium audit capabilities
- Data lifecycle management: retention policies and retention labels
Study Strategy for SC-900
Use Microsoft Learn. Microsoft provides a free, dedicated learning path for SC-900 at learn.microsoft.com. The path covers all four domains through interactive modules and includes knowledge checks at each stage.
Explore Microsoft 365 Defender and Purview portals. If you have access to a Microsoft 365 environment, explore the security and compliance portals. Seeing the actual interfaces for Defender XDR, Microsoft Sentinel, and Purview Compliance Manager makes the exam topics concrete.
Focus on the Zero Trust model. Zero Trust is a recurring theme throughout all four SC-900 domains. Understand its three principles deeply and be able to explain how each Microsoft security product supports Zero Trust implementation.
Practice with SC-900 exam dumps. Using SC-900 exam dumps helps you get familiar with how Microsoft frames fundamentals-level security questions and identify any gaps in your understanding of the Entra, Defender, and Purview ecosystems. Quality dumps with clear explanations help you build confidence across all four domains.
For Microsoft security fundamentals prep resources that explain Zero Trust, Microsoft Entra, and the Defender security portfolio in beginner-friendly terms, supplementary study material reinforces your Microsoft Learn studies with additional practice.
Suggested 2-Week Study Plan
Week 1
- Day 1: Core security concepts — Zero Trust, defense in depth, CIA triad
- Day 2: Microsoft Entra ID — users, groups, authentication methods
- Day 3: Conditional Access and Identity Protection
- Day 4: PIM and Entra External ID
- Day 5: Microsoft Defender products overview
- Day 6–7: Practice questions on concepts and identity
Week 2
- Day 1: Microsoft Defender XDR, Sentinel, Azure security services
- Day 2: Microsoft Purview — information protection, DLP
- Day 3: Compliance Manager, eDiscovery, Audit
- Day 4–5: Full practice exam and review
- Day 6: Weak area review
- Day 7: Final practice exam — aim for 80%+
What Comes After SC-900?
The SC-900 is a gateway to Microsoft’s role-based security certifications:
- SC-200: Microsoft Security Operations Analyst
- SC-300: Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator
- SC-400: Microsoft Information Protection Administrator
- AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate
Each of these builds on the foundational knowledge validated by SC-900, making it an excellent starting point for a Microsoft-focused security career.
Final Thoughts
The SC-900 Microsoft Security Fundamentals certification is one of the most accessible and relevant security certifications available in 2026. With two weeks of focused study using Microsoft Learn, hands-on portal exploration, and consistent practice with quality exam dumps, passing on your first attempt is very achievable. Security is one of the most important and fastest-growing areas in technology — and your SC-900 certification is the first step toward building expertise in it.
