Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator Exam Guide

Dwayne Natwick

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781801813150
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Certification Guides in Computer Science
• Index: Computer Science

This certification guide focuses on identity solutions and strategies that will help you prepare for Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator certification, while enabling you to implement what you've learned in real-world scenariosKey Features• Design, implement, and operate identity and access management systems using Azure AD• Provide secure authentication and authorization access to enterprise applications• Implement access and authentication for cloud-only and hybrid infrastructuresBook DescriptionCloud technologies have made identity and access the new control plane for securing data. Without proper planning and discipline in deploying, monitoring, and managing identity and access for users, administrators, and guests, you may be compromising your infrastructure and data. This book is a preparation guide that covers all the objectives of the SC-300 exam, while teaching you about the identity and access services that are available from Microsoft and preparing you for real-world challenges.The book starts with an overview of the SC-300 exam and helps you understand identity and access management. As you progress to the implementation of IAM solutions, you'll learn to deploy secure identity and access within Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory. The book will take you from legacy on-premises identity solutions to modern and password-less authentication solutions that provide high-level security for identity and access. You'll focus on implementing access and authentication for cloud-only and hybrid infrastructures as well as understand how to protect them using the principles of zero trust. The book also features mock tests toward the end to help you prepare effectively for the exam.By the end of this book, you'll have learned how to plan, deploy, and manage identity and access solutions for Microsoft and hybrid infrastructures.What you will learn• Understand core exam objectives to pass the SC-300 exam• Implement an identity management solution with MS Azure AD• Manage identity with multi-factor authentication (MFA), conditional access, and identity protection• Design, implement, and monitor the integration of enterprise apps for Single Sign-On (SSO)• Add apps to your identity and access solution with app registration• Design and implement identity governance for your identity solutionWho this book is forThis book is for cloud security engineers, Microsoft 365 administrators, Microsoft 365 users, Microsoft 365 identity administrators, and anyone who wants to learn identity and access management and gain SC-300 certification. You should have a basic understanding of the fundamental services within Microsoft 365 and Azure Active Directory before getting started with this Microsoft book.

Section 1 – Exam Overview and the Evolution of Identity and Access Management

This section will focus on the objectives and an overview of what to expect in the exam and an overview of the evolution of identity and access management.

This section of the book comprises the following chapters:

• Chapter 1, Preparing for Your Microsoft Exam
• Chapter 2, Defining Identity and Access Management

Chapter 1: Preparing for Your Microsoft Exam

You have decided to take the steps to get Microsoft certified. The SC-300 exam focuses on identity and access administration. This chapter will provide guidance on getting prepared for a Microsoft exam, along with resources that can assist in your learning plan. This will include helpful links, as well as steps on how to gain access to a trial Microsoft 365 subscription for hands-on practice. Once you have completed this chapter, you will have the necessary tools to know what is needed to prepare for the exam, follow along in this book, and become an Identity and Access Administrator.

In this chapter, we're going to cover the following main topics:

• Preparing for a Microsoft exam
• Resources available and accessing Microsoft Learn
• Creating a Microsoft 365 trial subscription
• Exam objectives
• Who should take the SC-300 exam?

Technical requirements

In order to follow along and complete the exercises within this book, you will need to have access to Azure Active Directory (Azure AD). This can be accomplished through a trial subscription of Microsoft 365. Advanced identity and access services will also require an Azure AD Premium license. The steps to set up licenses will be covered later in this chapter.

Preparing for a Microsoft exam

There are multiple aspects to preparing for a Microsoft exam. These include the resources available to prepare for the exam, the ability to access a subscription for hands-on learning, and the manner in which you are going to take your exam. If this is your first Microsoft exam, understanding the format that most of these exams will follow is important.

Let's take a closer look at each of these areas.

Resources available to prepare for the exam

There are many resources available to help you prepare for most Microsoft exams. This can be in the form of pre-recorded content from learning companies, live courses from Microsoft Learning Partners, and content posted by the community and Microsoft blog articles. Each of these resources is helpful, but the pre-recorded content and live courses will come at a price and may not be within your budget. Community and Microsoft blog articles generally provide a level of direction as to where you need to go for each topic but do not get into specifics.

One of the best resources is Microsoft itself. Microsoft provides detailed documentation on every one of its services with Microsoft Docs, which allows you to search freely and find the information that you need. This information is publicly available and free. Microsoft Docs is tied very closely to Microsoft Learn content, which will be discussed later in this chapter.

To access and search Microsoft Docs, simply go to https://docs.microsoft.com.

Access to a subscription

It is highly recommended when preparing for a Microsoft exam that you have had some level of hands-on experience with the services within the objectives. For associate- and expert-level exams (the SC-300 being an associate-level exam), this really should be a requirement. Microsoft courses have a GitHub repository for labs that are recommended and available to the public.

The lab guides can be found at this link: http://www.microsoft.com/learning.

Microsoft offers trial subscriptions for both Azure and Microsoft 365. The process to create these trials will be provided later in this chapter.

Where to take the exam

Part of the preparation process of taking an exam includes where you are going to take it. Traditionally, there has been only an option to take these exams at a proctored exam site. Some may prefer this method because it is a controlled environment. Understanding the location and setup of the site can be helpful in lowering your level of stress on the day of the exam. Making a trip to the site before your exam date can avoid any potential surprises on the day of the exam.

When the role-based exams became available, Microsoft provided an additional option of taking the exam remotely from your home or office, using a remote proctor. This may be a preferred option if you are more comfortable using your own equipment and working in a familiar environment. If you do not have the choice when scheduling your exam, then this option has not been made available in your region. If it is available, you will see an option similar to the Online from my home or office option shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 1.1 – Selecting a location when scheduling an exam

There are some important steps to prepare for the remote proctor. From an equipment standpoint, you must have a device with a webcam, microphone, and speakers. You can only use one monitor, so be sure to have a high resolution to avoid any issues with viewing the exam. It is highly recommended to test your equipment before the day of the exam to avoid any issues with anti-malware software. The location in which you are going to take the exam must be cleared of any papers, books, pens, and pencils. It must also be a quiet environment where no one will enter while you are taking the exam. You will be required to photograph the location and surrounding area when checking in. A valid form of identification is required as well. During the exam, you must remain within view of the camera. This may feel intrusive and may not be comfortable for some, but others may prefer being within their own environment to take an exam.

Exam format

Microsoft exams are typically made up of four to six question types. These are case studies, multiple-choice, drag and drop, modified true...

Table of contents

• Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator Exam Guide
• Foreword
• Contributors
• About the author
• About the reviewers
• Preface
• Section 1 – Exam Overview and the Evolution of Identity and Access Management
• Chapter 1: Preparing for Your Microsoft Exam
• Chapter 2: Defining Identity and Access Management
• Section 2 - Implementing an Identity Management Solution
• Chapter 3: Implementing and Configuring Azure Active Directory
• Chapter 4: Creating, Configuring, and Managing Identities
• Chapter 5: Implementing and Managing External Identities and Guests
• Chapter 6: Implementing and Managing Hybrid Identities
• Section 3 – Implementing an Authentication and Access Management Solution
• Chapter 7: Planning and Implementing Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR)
• Chapter 8: Planning and Managing Password-Less Authentication Methods
• Chapter 9: Planning, Implementing, and Administering Conditional Access and Azure Identity Protection
• Section 4 – Implementing Access Management for Applications
• Chapter 10: Planning and Implementing Enterprise Apps for Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Chapter 11: Monitoring Enterprise Apps with Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
• Section 5 – Planning and Implementing an Identity Governance Strategy
• Chapter 12: Planning and Implementing Entitlement Management
• Chapter 13: Planning and Implementing Privileged Access and Access Reviews
• Section 6 – Monitoring and Maintaining Azure Active Directory
• Chapter 14: Analyzing and Investigating Sign-in Logs and Elevated Risk Users
• Chapter 15: Enabling and Integrating Azure AD Logs with SIEM Solutions
• Chapter 16: Mock Test
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