Exam SC-100: Prove Your Skills as a Cybersecurity Architect

Cyber security is a massive field. It’s huge and ginormous. This field is evolving rapidly and is becoming one of today’s most important technology areas. There were three times as many ransomware attacks in the first quarter of 2021 as they were in the whole of 2019. The research by PWC suggests that 61% of technology executives expect this to increase in 2022. Ransomware typically involves infecting devices with a virus that locks away data behind unbreakable cryptology and threatens to destroy it unless a ransom is paid usually in form of untraceable cryptocurrency. Alternatively, the software virus may threaten to publish the data publicly leaving the organization liable to enormous fines. Ransomware is typically employed through phishing attacks where employees of an organization are tricked into providing details or clicking a link that downloads the ransomware software. With the cost of cybercrime to global economies topping six trillion dollars in 2021, this isn’t a situation that is sustainable.

The security personnel in the organization are responsible to limit the impact of data theft losses and breaches on customers while this will inevitably increase the burden of those responsible for information security in the business. Today more than ever building consumer trust is essential for organizations as their most valuable personal data is with the organization. The need for skilled cyber security professionals is increasing in this alarming situation of increased data breaches.

There is a significant lack of skilled cybersecurity professionals who can tackle the cybersecurity challenges faced daily. Hence a career in cybersecurity is demanding and equally rewarding. Finding the right career path in the cybersecurity industry isn’t always easy. Taking up relevant cyber security certifications like Microsoft SC-100 exams which is Microsoft’s new security certifications course will accelerate your cybersecurity journey. A few other skills like networking, knowledge of operating systems, and cloud security are required to start and grow a cybersecurity career.

Microsoft Security Exams

Microsoft conducts various certification exams in the area of security. Within the Microsoft universe, we have fundamentals, associate, and expert level exams as shown in Figure 1. Fundamentals are for the category of learners just getting started in the area of security and Microsoft cloud. All the fundamental certification exams are optional.SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals(Exam SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals – Learn | Microsoft Docs) is entry-level certification in security.  

At an associate level, there’s an expectation of two years of hands-on experience in the chosen field. Microsoft conducts the below mentioned certification exams in the associate level 

SC-200:Microsoft Security Operations Analyst(Exam SC-200: Microsoft Security Operations Analyst – Learn | Microsoft Docs) 

SC-300: Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator (Exam SC-300: Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator – Learn | Microsoft Docs) 

SC-400: Microsoft Information Protection Administrator (Exam SC-400: Microsoft Information Protection Administrator – Learn | Microsoft Docs) 

 AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies( Exam AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies – Learn | Microsoft Docs) 

MS-500: Microsoft 365 Security Administration( Exam MS-500: Microsoft 365 Security Administration – Learn | Microsoft Docs) 

 The expert level assumes two to five years of experience plus associate-level certification, so the bar gets higher as we move along. Microsoft introduced the SC:100 certification exam(Exam SC-100: Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect (beta) – Learn | Microsoft Docs) in this expert level category on April 7th,2022. 

Figure 1: Levels of Exam in Microsoft

Cybersecurity Architect expert certification exam

The cybersecurity architect creates plans and provides guidance on the implementation of security solutions for the organization. The expectation from a security architect is to have knowledge in security, systems, networks, and computing. They also should have knowledge in risk management and the overarching IT infrastructure architecture that the organization has. To become a security architect there is a need to know the security components directly and gain understating of how they work. Having educational background whether it’d be a degree in cybersecurity or information security is a good start. Another way is to gain years of experience on top of professional certifications and utilize those in security implementation within an organization.

Microsoft has released a new exam named SC-100:Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect to validate the expertise in the area of cybersecurity. Cybersecurity professionals can prove their skills by attempting this exam. If the candidate passes this exam with SC-200, SC-300, AZ-500, OR MS-500 the concerned will get a cybersecurity expert status. This exam is in beta meaning that your participation will help shape the final exam when it is released. There’s also an incentive from Microsoft, the first 300 people who take this exam on or before May 5^th, 2022 can get 80% off the market price.

Exam SC-100 Learning path

This exam measures the knowledge of candidates with a Zero trust strategy, working with governance risk compliance, architecting the security infrastructure, and developing organizations for securing their data and applications. The entire course content of the SC-100 exam can be obtained from the official learning website of Microsoft(Exam SC-100: Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect (beta) – Learn | Microsoft Docs).

How to prepare for SC-100 Exam

This exam tests the knowledge of cybersecurity, azure, web apps, virtual machines, network security groups, application security groups, azure firewalls, and various concepts related to security. It is advisable to complete AZ-305:Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions (Exam AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions – Learn | Microsoft Docs )course before taking this exam. Apart from the AZ-305 course, the general knowledge of various Microsoft security-related courses and Microsoft 365 courses is also good for taking the Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect course or SC-100 exam.

New Exam SC-100 Certification Study Material

Microsoft Learn offers free, interactive, hands-on training, and is always available at no cost to the learners. With more than 1000 plus courses and growing, the learner can find a wide variety of topics including Azure, Artificial intelligence, business applications, modern workplace, and Windows development. These modules offer a concise, interactive, and friendly way to pick up new skills as the learner ventures into new career paths or starts preparing for Microsoft certifications. The mentioned courses in the previous section of the blog can be learned from this learning platform. Head to Microsoft.com/Learn to access the wide variety of courses related to the SC-100 exam. You can avail of SC-100 online training from CloudThat prepares you diligently to crack the new Microsoft Beta Exams.

About CloudThat

CloudThat spearheads cloud computing training & consultancy in India with a track record of empowering 500k+ professionals on various niche technologies in the cloud domain. We are a Microsoft Gold Partner, Authorized AWS Training Partner, Advanced AWS Consulting Partner, and Authorized VMware Training Reseller. Our training programs are aligned with Microsoft Official Curriculum and the training is delivered through real-world use cases, and hands-on lab sessions by giving access to Exam Preparation Portal to take up numerous Mock exams.

WRITTEN BY Rajesh KVN