Microsoft AZ 500 exam is about technical tasks like managing access and identity and implementing securities and platform protection. Microsoft exam AZ 500 expects its candidates to have expert-level knowledge about implementing Azure Security Controls that protect the access, applications, identities, data, and networks.
Table of Contents
Why is AZ 500 Exam worth a shot?
- Azure Certification, Azure course, and Azure training provide the candidates with a lot of market value when looking for job opportunities, especially in MNCs.
- Security concerns have become a significant issue to date, so the demand for professionals dealing with security and related issues is increasing, especially when dealing with the cloud.
- Cyber security skills never go out of demand with the new updated technologies. Also, this will be required.
Pre-requisites for the Exam
For the AZ 500 exam, candidates are expected to have practical knowledge and experience in administering hybrid and Azure environments, security operations, infrastructure as a code, and cloud capabilities.
Costing AZ 500 Exam
The exam will cost $ 165. Microsoft provides the study material for free online to prepare. It usually takes three weeks for preparation, 3 hours a day, so that is the cost in terms of time for this exam.
Exam Details
Below are skills that are looked for in the exam of AZ 500:
- Ability to manage identity and access for the users
- Ability to implement platform protection in an effective way
- Ability to manage security-related operations
- Ability to secure applications and data
AZ 500 exam usually has 40 – 60 questions conducted for 150 mins of duration with expert level difficulty. The passing mark required is 70%. Questions asked are subjective and objective in the form of MCQs and conducted in English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean languages.
Read Also: Ed Sheeran details the lovestruck jitters in sweet new single …
The job roles or target people who can take the AZ 500 exam include cybersecurity professionals, network security engineers, cloud administrators, system engineers, cloud solution architects, and anyone passionate about this subject.
Below are the essential attributes of the AZ 500 Course:
- There is a preview available for an hour of the concepts for free
- The AZ 500 certification training is instructor-led who are experts across the globe
- People can get real hands-on experiences in the Microsoft lab sessions
- Sample papers are provided for practice
- The course completion certificate is provided, which has industry-wide recognition
- Options are available for one on one training, and training is provided globally
Question-wise weightage of each module:
- 30 – 35% of questions are from the managed identity and access module. The questions test the candidates’ ability to:
- Manage the Azure Active Directory identities, which has to do with Configuration of security for service principals, Management of Azure AD directory groups, Management of Azure AD users, Configuration and authentication of methods, etc.
- Configuring and securing access by utilizing Azure AD, which has to do with Monitoring privileged access for Azure AD, PIM (Privileged Identity Management), Activation and Configuration of PIM, Configuration of Azure AD identity protection, etc.
- Management of application access which has to do with the Creation of Application Registration, Management of Application Registration permission consent, etc.
- Management of access control which has to do with Configuration of subscription and resource permissions, Configuration of Custom RBAC roles, etc.
- 15 – 20% of the questions are from the module Implement Platform Protection. The questions are on:
- Implementation of advanced network security, which has to do with Securing the connectivity of virtual networks, Implementation of DDoS protection, Configuration of Network Security Groups (NSGs) and Application Security Groups (ASGs), etc.
- Configuration of advanced security for computing which has to do with Configuration of automatic updates, Configuration of endpoint protection, Configuration and monitoring of system updates for VMs, etc.
- 25 – 30% of questions are from the Management of security operations module. The questions are based on:
- Monitoring and security by using Azure Monitor, which has to do with the Creation and customization of alerts, Monitoring security logs.
- Monitoring security by using Azure Security Center, which has to do with Evaluation of vulnerability scans, Configuring Just in Time VM access.
- Monitoring security by using Azure Sentinel, which has to do with the Creation and customization of alerts, Evaluation of results from Azure Sentinel, Configuration of data sources to Azure Sentinel, and Configuration of workflow automation by using Azure Sentinel.
- Configuration of security policies which has to do with the Configuration of security settings.
- 20 -25% of questions are from Secure data and applications. The questions are based on:
- Configuration of security for storage which has to do with Configuration access control for storage accounts, Configuration of Azure AD authentication for Azure Storage, Configuration of key Management for storage accounts, etc.
- Configuration of security for databases has to do with enabling database authentication, Configuration of Azure SQL Database, enabling database auditing, Implementation of database encryption, Advanced Threat Protection, and Implementation of Azure SQL Database Always Encrypted.
- Configuration and Management of Key Vault, which has to do with Management access to Key Vault, Management permissions to secrets, certificates, and keys, etc.
Conclusion
AZ 500 certification will become more critical with the increasing importance of IT security, and as Azure expands, so will its vulnerabilities. Passing AZ 500 exam has to do with both the preparation part and one’s passion for the subject.