Microsoft SC-200 - Microsoft Security Operations Analyst

SecurityEvent

| where EventID == 4624

| summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Account

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation with all Microsoft Security Operations (SecOps) documents: =

This query is designed for Microsoft Sentinel (Log Analytics) to identify the latest successful logon (Event ID 4624) for each account. Event ID 4624 in the SecurityEvent table indicates a successful logon in Windows security logs.

Let’s break down the logic step-by-step:

| where EventID == 4624

This line filters the SecurityEvent table to include only records that correspond to successful logon events.

Filtering first ensures that only relevant events are processed by the summarization step, improving performance and accuracy.

| summarize arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Account

The arg_max() aggregation function retrieves the record that has the maximum value of TimeGenerated for each Account.

The * symbol ensures that all columns from that most recent record are returned (not just TimeGenerated and Account).

In this context, this means we get the most recent 4624 logon event per user account.

Why this order matters:

If arg_max() is placed before the where clause, the summarization would occur over all events first, not just 4624, producing incorrect results.

Therefore, the correct logical order is to filter first (where EventID == 4624), and then summarize (arg_max(TimeGenerated, *) by Account).

Alternative incorrect options explained:

summarize make_list(Account) or make_set(Account) by EventID → These aggregate account names for each EventID, not the most recent event per account.

Placing where EventID == 4624 after summarize → Filters after aggregation, which won’t return correct results per account.

When using Live Response in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, analysts can run a series of commands to investigate and take action directly on a device from the Microsoft Defender portal. The command set includes capabilities to stop processes, collect artifacts, analyze suspicious files, and remediate threats — all without logging into the machine interactively.

In this scenario, you are investigating a suspicious process (Proc1) and need to:

Stop Proc1 (terminate the process)

Send Proc1 for further review (upload it to Microsoft for deeper analysis)

Here’s how each is done:

Stop Proc1 → remediateThe remediate command in Live Response terminates malicious or suspicious processes, quarantines or removes files, and cleans related registry entries. According to Microsoft Defender documentation, this command is used to “remove or stop active threats found on the device.” When you want to stop a suspicious process (such as Proc1), remediate is the appropriate command.

Send Proc1 for further review → analyzeThe analyze command in Live Response is used to submit a file for further inspection. It uploads the specified file to Microsoft Defender’s cloud-based analysis service, which performs advanced analysis, including static and dynamic evaluation. Microsoft defines this command as one that “submits a file for deep inspection and analysis in Microsoft Defender’s sandbox.”

Other listed commands (e.g., getfile, processes, registry, putfile, library) serve different purposes:

getfile → Collects a file for offline manual analysis.

processes → Lists all active processes.

putfile → Uploads a file to the device.

registry → Views or edits registry keys.

library → Loads custom PowerShell or Python scripts into the Live Response environment.

Therefore, according to official Defender for Endpoint documentation:

✅ Stop Proc1: remediate

✅ Send Proc1 for further review: analyze

The built-in Fusion correlation rule in Microsoft Sentinel generates incidents only when it has sufficient telemetry from connected sources (e.g., Microsoft 365 Defender products, Azure AD sign-in logs, Cloud App, etc.). If no relevant data connectors are connected or sending data, Fusion will remain silent even if the rule is enabled. Connecting and authorizing the required data connectors provides the multi-signal input Fusion needs to produce incidents.

Export logs to: ✅ Azure event hub

Configure streaming by: ✅ Configuring continuous export in Defender for Cloud for each subscription

In Microsoft Defender for Cloud, if you need to stream security alerts and recommendations to an external SIEM or syslog server, the supported approach is to export data to an Azure Event Hub, which acts as a streaming pipeline. The syslog server or SIEM solution can then pull data from the Event Hub in real time using connectors or custom listeners.

The configuration method for sending Defender for Cloud data to an Event Hub is known as continuous export. According to Microsoft’s official Defender for Cloud documentation, continuous export lets you automatically stream alerts and security recommendations to Event Hubs or Log Analytics workspaces. However, when your target is a syslog server, Event Hub is required because it supports continuous streaming outside Azure.

To minimize administrative effort across multiple subscriptions (100 in this case), you can use Azure Policy or a script to apply continuous export settings per subscription, but the feature must still be enabled individually for each subscription — hence the correct configuration step is:

“Configuring continuous export in Defender for Cloud for each subscription.”

Why not other options:

Log Analytics workspace: used for querying within Azure, not for streaming to external syslog servers.

Azure Storage account: suitable for archival, not streaming.

Modifying diagnostic settings of the tenant: applies only to Azure AD logs, not Defender for Cloud data.

In Microsoft Sentinel, when you identify an alert as a false positive for a specific account, the most efficient way to suppress future alerts for that entity—without affecting others—is to use an automation rule.

Microsoft Sentinel documentation explains:

“Automation rules can automatically close incidents or suppress alerts based on conditions such as user, IP, or entity name. This helps reduce noise and prevent false positives without modifying analytics rules or affecting other entities.”

By configuring an automation rule to auto-close or suppress alerts where the username equals the known account, Sentinel will prevent new alerts for that account while continuing normal detection for others.

Other options are incorrect:

Watchlist (B) only stores reference data; it doesn’t suppress alerts.

Modify analytics rule (C) affects all users, not just one account.

Activity templates (D) are used for entity behavior analysis, not alert suppression.

✅ Correct answer: A. Create an automation rule

The case study requires:

“Ensure that the Group1 members can create and edit playbooks.”

In Microsoft Sentinel, the ability to create, edit, and assign playbooks is granted by the Microsoft Sentinel Automation Contributor role.

This role allows users to:

Create and manage automation rules,

Create and edit playbooks (Logic Apps) in the connected subscription,

Associate playbooks with Sentinel incidents or alerts.

By contrast:

Logic App Contributor allows Logic App creation but doesn’t include Sentinel-level integration permissions.

Automation Operator can run playbooks but not edit or create them.

Sentinel Playbook Operator can execute playbooks but cannot modify or assign them.

✅ Answer for Question 11: A. Microsoft Sentinel Automation Contributor

When dealing with frequent false positives in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint alerts, such as those triggered by legitimate Office macros, the best practice is to hide false alerts while maintaining overall protection.

Microsoft Defender documentation prescribes the following approach:

Generate the alert (E): The alert must first appear in the queue so it can be reviewed and correctly classified.

Hide the alert (B): Analysts can hide individual alerts to clean up the queue without disabling detections or reducing coverage.

Create a suppression rule scoped to a device group (D): To prevent recurrence, suppression rules should be scoped narrowly (such as to a device group like the accounting team’s devices), maintaining the principle of least privilege and minimal impact.

Options A (Resolve automatically) and C (Suppress any device) would reduce visibility or broaden suppression excessively, potentially missing real threats.

This combination of actions aligns with Defender XDR’s alert management best practices, ensuring a balance between reducing noise and preserving security posture.

The Defender for Cloud requirement states:

“The members of Group1 must be able to enable Defender for Cloud plans and apply regulatory compliance initiatives.”

According to Microsoft Defender for Cloud’s RBAC documentation, the Security Assessment Contributor role provides permissions to:

Enable and configure Defender plans,

Manage security policies and initiatives,

View and edit recommendations and compliance results.

This role gives enough permissions to perform Defender configuration tasks but follows the principle of least privilege, unlike broader roles like Owner or Contributor, which grant excessive rights.

✅ Answer for Question 9: C. Security Assessment Contributor

In Microsoft Sentinel’s Advanced Security Information Model (ASIM), DNS queries are normalized through the Im_Dns parser, which unifies DNS telemetry from multiple sources (Infoblox, Windows DNS, Azure Firewall DNS proxy, etc.). Microsoft guidance states that when you need broad compatibility and want to “use built-in ASIM parsers whenever possible,” you should call the generic Im_Dns() parser. To minimize overhead, ASIM provides a pack parameter that restricts the parser to a specific content pack (vendor/source) so it won’t iterate through all available source parsers under the hood. For Infoblox NIOS, you pass the Infoblox pack via the pack parameter, which limits parsing to the Infoblox implementation and reduces query cost/latency while keeping the query portable across environments.

Putting it together, the recommended pattern is:

Im_Dns(pack="InfobloxNIOS")

| where DnsResponseCodeName == "NXDOMAIN"

| summarize count()

This approach satisfies all requirements:

Uses built-in ASIM (Im_Dns).

Minimizes query overhead (uses pack to limit parsing to Infoblox).

Targets NXDOMAIN responses for counting DNS request failures from Infoblox1.

In Microsoft Sentinel, Hunting queries are used to proactively search for threats and anomalies across collected security data. The requirement states that HuntingQuery1 must run automatically when the Hunting page of Microsoft Sentinel is accessed. According to Microsoft’s official Sentinel documentation, this behavior is achieved by adding the hunting query to “Favorites.”

When a query is marked as a favorite in the Sentinel Hunting blade, Sentinel automatically runs it every time the Hunting page is opened. This provides updated results without the need for manual execution, ensuring analysts always see the most current data for that query. This configuration also adheres to the organization’s requirement to minimize administrative effort, since it eliminates the need for scheduling, automation, or manual refresh actions.

Other options do not meet this functional requirement:

A. Add to a livestream is used to monitor near-real-time data streams, not to auto-run queries upon accessing the Hunting page.

B. Create a watchlist is used for referencing static external data sets (like IPs, users, or devices) inside KQL queries, not for automating hunting query execution.

C. Create an automation rule applies to incident management workflows, not hunting query execution.

Therefore, as per Microsoft Sentinel’s hunting documentation and best practices, the correct and verified answer is:

D. Add HuntingQuery1 to favorites.