SC-401 Preparation Details
Preparing for the SC-401 Administering Information Security in Microsoft 365 certification exam? Start here with a complete, objective-wise SC-401 study guide designed to help you pass faster.
This guide brings together official Microsoft documentation, key concepts, and curated resources for every SC-401 exam objective, making it ideal for both beginners and last-minute revision.
Looking for the best SC-401 preparation resources in one place? This page covers everything you need to get exam-ready with confidence.
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SC-401 MS Information Admin Prep
| Whizlabs | Microsoft Information Security Admin Associate |
| Udemy | Information Security Administrator Associate |
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Implement information protection (30–35%)
Implement and manage data classification
Identify sensitive information requirements for an organization’s data
Learn about sensitive information types – Microsoft Purview
Classifiers overview – Microsoft Purview
Translate sensitive information requirements into built-in or custom sensitive info types
Learn about sensitive information types – Microsoft Purview
Reduce false positives by using SITs and advanced classifiers – Microsoft Purview
Create and manage custom sensitive info types
Create a custom sensitive information type in the Microsoft Purview portal
Create a custom sensitive information type using PowerShell
Implement document fingerprinting
About document fingerprinting – Microsoft Purview
Create and manage exact data match based sensitive information types (EDM)
Learn about exact data match based sensitive information types – Microsoft Purview
Test an exact data match sensitive information type – Microsoft Purview
Create and manage trainable classifiers
Learn about trainable classifiers – Microsoft Purview
Get started with trainable classifiers – Microsoft Purview
Monitor data classification and label usage by using Data explorer and Content explorer
Get started with content explorer – Microsoft Purview
Get started with Activity explorer – Microsoft Purview
Configure optical character recognition (OCR) support for sensitive info types
Learn about optical character recognition in Microsoft Purview
Implement and manage sensitivity labels in Microsoft Purview
Implement roles and permissions for administering sensitivity labels
Get started with sensitivity labels – Microsoft Purview
Permissions in the Microsoft Purview portal
Define and create sensitivity labels for items and containers
Learn about sensitivity labels – Microsoft Purview
Create and configure sensitivity labels and their policies – Microsoft Purview
Configure protection settings and content marking for sensitivity labels
Learn about sensitivity labels – Microsoft Purview
Manage sensitivity labels in Office apps – Microsoft Purview
Configure and manage publishing policies for sensitivity labels
Create and configure sensitivity labels and their policies – Microsoft Purview
Get started with sensitivity labels – Microsoft Purview
Configure and manage auto-labeling policies for sensitivity labels
Automatically apply a sensitivity label to Microsoft 365 data – Microsoft Purview
Learn about the default sensitivity labels and policies – Microsoft Purview
Apply a sensitivity label to containers, such as Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 Groups, Microsoft Power BI, and Microsoft SharePoint
Use sensitivity labels to protect collaborative workspaces – Microsoft Purview
Enable sensitivity labels for files in SharePoint and OneDrive – Microsoft Purview
Apply sensitivity labels by using Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Integrate with Microsoft Purview – Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Implement information protection for Windows, file shares, and Exchange
Plan and implement the Microsoft Purview Information Protection client
Learn about the Microsoft Purview Information Protection scanner
Implement Microsoft Purview Information Protection – Training
Manage files by using the Microsoft Purview Information Protection client
Learn about the Microsoft Purview Information Protection scanner
Configure and install the information protection scanner
Apply bulk classification to on-premises data by using the Microsoft Purview Information Protection scanner
Learn about the Microsoft Purview Information Protection scanner
Running the Microsoft Purview Information Protection scanner
Design and implement Microsoft Purview Message Encryption
Microsoft Purview Message Encryption
Set up Microsoft Purview Message Encryption
Message encryption version comparison – Microsoft Purview
Design and implement Microsoft Purview Advanced Message Encryption
Microsoft Purview Advanced Message Encryption
Set an expiration date for email – Microsoft Purview Advanced Message Encryption
Revoke email encrypted by Microsoft Purview Advanced Message Encryption
Implement data loss prevention and retention (30–35%)
Create and configure data loss prevention policies
Design data loss prevention policies based on an organization’s requirements
Design a data loss prevention policy – Microsoft Purview
Data Loss Prevention policy reference – Microsoft Purview
Implement roles and permissions for data loss prevention
Permissions in the Microsoft Purview portal
Implement and manage Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention – Training
Create and manage data loss prevention policies
Create and deploy a data loss prevention policy – Microsoft Purview
Data Loss Prevention policy reference – Microsoft Purview
Configure data loss prevention policies for Adaptive Protection
Learn about Adaptive Protection in data loss prevention – Microsoft Purview
Help dynamically mitigate risks with Adaptive Protection – Microsoft Purview
Interpret policy and rule precedence in data loss prevention
Data Loss Prevention policy reference – Microsoft Purview
Learn about data loss prevention – Microsoft Purview
Create file policies in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps by using a DLP policy
File policies – Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Commonly used information protection policies – Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Use DLP policies for non-Microsoft cloud apps – Microsoft Purview
Implement and monitor Microsoft Purview Endpoint DLP
Specify device requirements for Endpoint DLP, including extensions
Learn about Endpoint data loss prevention – Microsoft Purview
Get started with endpoint data loss prevention – Microsoft Purview
Configure advanced DLP rules for devices in DLP policies
Configure endpoint DLP settings – Microsoft Purview
Create and deploy a data loss prevention policy – Microsoft Purview
Configure Endpoint DLP settings
Configure endpoint DLP settings – Microsoft Purview
Get started with endpoint data loss prevention – Microsoft Purview
Configure just-in-time protection
Get started with Endpoint DLP Just-in-time protection – Microsoft Purview
Monitor endpoint activities
Learn about Endpoint data loss prevention – Microsoft Purview
Get started with Activity explorer – Microsoft Purview
Implement and manage retention
Plan for information retention and disposition by using retention labels
Learn about retention policies and retention labels – Microsoft Purview
Learn about Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
Create, configure, and manage adaptive policy scopes
Adaptive or static policy scopes for retention – Microsoft Purview
Configuration information for adaptive scopes – Microsoft Purview
Create retention labels for data lifecycle management
Create and apply retention labels – Microsoft Purview
Create retention labels for data lifecycle management – Microsoft Purview
Configure a retention label policy to publish labels
Create and apply retention labels – Microsoft Purview
Publish retention labels and apply them in apps – Microsoft Purview
Configure a retention label policy to auto-apply labels
Automatically apply a retention label to Microsoft 365 items – Microsoft Purview
Interpret the results of policy precedence, including using Policy lookup
Learn about retention policies and retention labels – Microsoft Purview
Principles of retention – Microsoft Purview
Create and configure retention policies
Create retention policies – Microsoft Purview
Implement and manage Microsoft 365 retention and recovery – Training
Recover retained content in Microsoft 365
Learn about retention policies and retention labels – Microsoft Purview
Implement and manage Microsoft 365 retention and recovery (SC-401) – Training
Manage risks, alerts, and activities (30–35%)
Implement and manage Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management
Implement roles and permissions for Insider Risk Management
Get started with Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Learn about Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Plan and implement Insider Risk Management connectors
Plan for Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Learn about Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Plan and implement integration with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Plan for Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Learn about Insider Risk Management policy templates – Microsoft Purview
Configure and manage Insider Risk Management settings
Configure policy indicators in Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Settings for Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Configure policy indicators
Configure policy indicators in Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Select an appropriate policy template
Learn about Insider Risk Management policy templates – Microsoft Purview
Create and manage Insider Risk Management policies
Create and manage Insider Risk Management policies – Microsoft Purview
Manage forensic evidence settings
Learn about forensic evidence in Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Manage forensic evidence settings – Microsoft Purview
Enable and configure insider risk levels for Adaptive Protection
Help dynamically mitigate risks with Adaptive Protection – Microsoft Purview
Learn about Adaptive Protection in data loss prevention – Microsoft Purview
Manage insider risk alerts and cases
Investigate Insider Risk Management activities – Microsoft Purview
Investigate insider risk management cases – Microsoft Purview
Manage Insider Risk Management workflow, including notice templates
Investigate insider risk management cases – Microsoft Purview
Configure notice templates in Insider Risk Management – Microsoft Purview
Manage information security alerts and activities
Assign Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium) user licenses
Learn about auditing solutions in Microsoft Purview
Set up Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium)
Investigate activities by using Microsoft Purview Audit
Search the audit log in the Microsoft Purview portal
Learn about auditing solutions in Microsoft Purview
Configure audit retention policies
Manage audit log retention policies – Microsoft Purview
Analyze Purview activities by using Activity explorer
Get started with Activity explorer – Microsoft Purview
Use Activity explorer – Microsoft Purview
Respond to data loss prevention alerts in the Microsoft Purview portal
Learn about investigating data loss prevention alerts – Microsoft Purview
Get started with the DLP alerts dashboard – Microsoft Purview
Investigate insider risk activities by using the Microsoft Purview portal
Investigate Insider Risk Management activities – Microsoft Purview
Investigate insider risk management cases – Microsoft Purview
Respond to Purview alerts in Microsoft Defender XDR
Investigate data loss alerts with Microsoft Defender XDR
Search the audit log for events in Microsoft Defender XDR
Respond to Defender for Cloud Apps file policy alerts
File policies – Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Commonly used information protection policies – Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Perform searches by using Content search
Search for content – Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
Create a content search – Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
Protect data used by AI services
Implement controls in Microsoft Purview to protect content in an environment that uses AI services
Use Microsoft Purview to manage data security and compliance for Microsoft 365 Copilot
Implement controls in Microsoft 365 productivity workloads to protect content in an environment that uses AI services
Use Microsoft Purview to manage data security and compliance for Microsoft 365 Copilot
Implement pre-requisites for Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI
Considerations for deploying Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI
Considerations for deploying Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management
Manage roles and permissions for DSPM for AI
Permissions for Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management
Learn about Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI – Microsoft Purview
Configure DSPM for AI policies
Learn about Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) for AI – Microsoft Purview
Use Microsoft Purview to manage data security and compliance for other AI apps
Monitor activities in DSPM for AI
Learn about the new preview version of Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)
Get started with Data Security Posture Management (classic) – Microsoft Purview
This brings us to the end of the SC-401 Administering Information Security in Microsoft 365 exam study guide.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments section if I have missed out on anything. Also, I love to hear from you how your preparation is going on!
In case you are preparing for other Microsoft 365 certification exams, check out the Microsoft 365 study guides for those exams.
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1 Comment
Thanks for the information