How I passed the SC-401
A personal account of passing the SC-401 Microsoft Information Security Administrator exam. What I used to prepare, what helped most, and what I would do differently.
Know what you are being tested on
The SC-401 has three domains, each weighted equally at 30-35%:
Implement Information Protection - sensitivity labels, data classification, protection for Windows, file shares, and Exchange.
Implement Data Loss Prevention and Retention - DLP policy creation, Endpoint DLP, retention policies and labels.
Manage Risks, Alerts, and Activities - Insider Risk Management, security alerts, and protecting data used by AI services.
The equal weighting matters. You cannot skip any of the three. Read through the skills measured list on the official study guide (search SC-401 on Microsoft Learn) and be honest about where you are weakest.
The official learning path
Microsoft provides a free learning path mapped directly to the exam objectives. I went through the entire thing. Some modules I skimmed, others I went through slowly and took notes.
It is on the SC-401 certification page on Microsoft Learn. Do not rely on it alone. It teaches concepts but does not always prepare you for how questions are phrased. The exam tests application, not recall. But it gives you the baseline.
Get hands-on with the portal
This made the biggest difference. The exam asks about specific settings, menu locations, and configuration options you will only know if you have clicked through them yourself.
If your employer has a dev tenant or you have your own testing tenant, use it. Set up sensitivity labels. Create a DLP policy. Configure an Insider Risk policy. Walk through each workflow start to finish.
If that is not an option, get some sort of reader role in your organisation's compliance portal. Even read-only access helps you learn the navigation and layout.
The exam presents screenshots and asks what to do next. If you have never seen the portal, those questions are guesswork.
Practice assessments
Two sources, both valuable.
The free Practice Assessment built into the SC-401 page on Microsoft Learn. Not a full mock exam, but it highlights weak areas and gets you used to how Microsoft phrases questions. Use it early and again before the exam.
The MeasureUp practice test for the SC-401. MeasureUp is the official Microsoft practice test provider and their questions are the closest to the real thing. Not cheap, but worth it. The explanations for wrong answers taught me as much as the correct ones.
Do not memorise answers. If you are recognising questions by wording rather than understanding the concept, you are doing it wrong.
General tips
Book the exam before you feel ready. A date in the calendar forces you to work towards something. I found 4-6 weeks of focused study worked well.
During the exam, flag tricky questions and move on. Coming back with fresh eyes often helps. Read every answer option carefully - Microsoft loves answers that are almost right but wrong in one detail.
If you do not pass, it is not a disaster. The exam can be re-sat. Most people I know who are certified did not pass every Microsoft exam first time. Learn from the score report and go again.
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