Pass MS-500 Certification Exam Fast

MS-500 Exam Has Been Retired

This exam has been replaced by Microsoft with new exam.

Microsoft MS-500 Exam Details

Microsoft MS-500 is the only exam one should pass to earn the well-known Microsoft 365 Certified: Security Administrator Associate certification. Candidates are tested on various skills such as implementation, management and monitoring of security compliance in Microsoft 365 applications. To ace the test, the learner should be equipped with the best knowledge needed to respond to security threats and carry out investigations concerning the issues.

Target Audience and Prerequisites

MS-500 exam is designed for both beginners and practitioners in the field who need more skills in the profession. The applicants should have background knowledge of data protection, identity protection, data loss prevention, system security management, and the governance of data in an organization. Also, familiarity with Microsoft 365 workloads is recommended.

Important Details to Know about MS-500 Exam

During MS-500 test, candidates will be required to undertake 40 to 60 questions within 180 minutes. The questions will be mostly provided in the form of multiple-choices in which the learner will choose the correct answer out of several options. Also, other types of inquiries may take place such as drag-and-drop, best answer, etc. In case there is a technical issue with the exam, one can post a challenge on the exam issue channel or contact customer care for technical problems.

Candidates can take the exam in Japanese or English language. To register for it, one should visit the Pearson VUE portal, create and account, choose “proctored exams”, and follow the instructions. Also, there is an enrollment fee required that is around $165 and is determined by the value of the currency of a particular country and the region. Taxes may be included conditionally based on the regional location. Notice that the fee is paid for each attempt. In case you fail the test in the first try, you may retake it after 24 hours. The next attempt is available in 14 days. One can sit for the same exam not more than five times in a year.

What Are MS-500 Primary Domains and Skills Tested?

The course outline of the Microsoft MS-500 exam, including the detailed subtopics is presented below:

1. Implementing and managing identity and access (30-35%)

The first domain covers the following subtopics: Microsoft 365 hybrid environments’ security, securing identities, implementing various methods of authentication, conditional access, role-based access control, working with Identity protection of Azure AD, and performing the Azure AD PIM (privileged identity management). These require one to have knowledge about authentication and synchronization options, Azure AD Connect, password management, planning for sign-on security, monitoring of MFA, working with Windows Hello, configuring device compliance, auditing roles, implementing various risk policies, and configuring Identity Protection alerts, among the rest.

2. Implementation and management of threat protection (20-25%)

This section mainly focuses on solutions for enterprise hybrid threat protection, implementation of device protection, administering the application protection, management of office 365 ATP, and utilizing Azure Sentinel for security monitoring. The skills and knowledge involved are as follows: the ability to provide different operations with Azure ATP such as installation, monitoring, management, and configuration; planning for Microsoft Defender ATP as well as its implementation; working with Secure Boot; managing Windows and non-Windows device encryption; configuring and monitoring Office 365 ATP; performing operations related to Azure Sentinel and responding to threats in it.

3. Administering protection of information (15-20%)

The third domain of MS-500 exam covers securing data access when it comes to Office 365 solutions, management of sensitivity labels as well as Data Loss Prevention, and implementation of Microsoft Cloud App Security. To handle all the associated tasks in the test, one should have the following skills: working with Customer Lockbox and B2B sharing for external users, configuring sensitivity labels as well as policies, planning for DLP solutions, monitoring DLP reports and administering notifications, planning for the implementation of Cloud App Security, managing cloud app discovery, configuring Oauth applications, working with policies and templates, and interpreting as well as responding to alerts of Cloud App Security.

4. Administering of Microsoft 365 governance and compliance (20-25%)

The last section of MS-500 is dedicated to the following areas: analyzing security reporting and configuring it, analyzing and managing audit logs, administering data governance, performing management of search and investigation, and working with data privacy regulation compliance. To succeed in the tasks under this domain, one should be proficient in utilizing Microsoft Endpoint Manager Admin Center, providing audit log search, configuring retention policies, recovering deleted Office 365 data, working with data archiving, planning for eDiscovery and content search, administering Compliance Manager as well as reviewing its reports, etc.

What Are the Career Opportunities and Their Salary Scale?

A professional who has succeeded in MS-500 exam and has earned the Microsoft 365 Certified: Security Administrator Associate certificate can secure well paying jobs that require knowledge of cloud technologies like those services offered by Microsoft 365 managed by Azure.