SC-900
Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals
› Quality score
Four-axis SecProve rubric, each 0–10. SecProve editorial assessment — each axis carries a written justification so you can push back on any single call without dismissing the whole score.
› Exam format
40–60 questions (multiple-choice), 60 minutes. Proctored via Pearson VUE. Passing score: 700/1000.
24-hour wait after first fail; 14 days between attempts 2-4. Max 5 attempts per 12-month window.
› Recertification
No renewal required. Fundamentals certificates do not expire.
› NICE Framework work roles
The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.
› Core domains covered
The 3 domains this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.
Risk frameworks (NIST RMF, ISO 31000, FAIR), policy development, audit, regulatory compliance, third-party risk.
AuthN/AuthZ, SSO, MFA, PAM, RBAC/ABAC, identity governance, FIDO2/passkeys, plus non-human identity: service accounts, workload identity, agent / plugin identities.
AWS/Azure/GCP security controls, IAM policies, CSPM, container security, shared responsibility model.
› Prerequisites
None. Fundamentals-level entry certification.
› Progression
requiredrecommendedWhere this cert fits in the typical learning path. Required edges are vendor-gated; recommended edges reflect de facto industry progression.
No vendor-gated prereqs.
No de facto priors typically expected.
No certs require this one.
› Common exam traps to study
Cybersecurity cert exams reuse the same 25 distractor patterns over and over — category confusion, RTO vs RPO, IDS vs IPS, MD5 vs SHA-256, and more. Once you can name the trap, you stop falling for it. Each archetype page covers what it is, the specific pairs candidates confuse, and how to avoid it.
See this cert’s domains highlighted on the interactive map, or compare it against the rest of the catalog.