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Associate · SC-500Prep available

Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate (SC-500) practice exam and study path

A free, timed 60-question SC-500 practice exam in 120 minutes, scored by domain, with every option explained after you submit. Also 108 practice questions you can check one at a time, a page for every task in the exam guide, and a study path. No sign-up.

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Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate exam pack:

$6.99for 12 months

For security engineers who implement and enforce controls across Azure, hybrid and AI workloads: Entra ID and Key Vault access, Azure Policy and RBAC governance, storage, database and network security, VM, container, app platform and AI protection, and posture and event collection with Defender for Cloud, Microsoft Sentinel and Security Copilot.

The exam

Exam code
SC-500
Questions
Not yet published
Time
120 minutes
Passing score
700 of 1,000 (scaled)
Exam fee
$165 (USD)
Question types
multiple choice, multiple response

Exam SC-500 is a proctored role-based exam that replaced AZ-500 in July 2026: 120 minutes, offered in ten languages through Pearson VUE, it may include interactive components, and 700 passes. Microsoft doesn't publish the number of questions (most of its exams have 40 to 60). The fee is set by the country or region (USD 165 in the United States, the price of Microsoft's role-based exams), and the certification renews every year with a free online assessment. Our forms use 60 questions split 14 / 18 / 14 / 14, close to the midpoints of the guide's ranges.

From Microsoft's certification page and exam guide, checked Oct 31, 2026.

Domains and weights

  • Domain 1: Manage identity, access, and governance

    24%

  • Domain 2: Secure storage, databases, and networking

    29%

  • Domain 3: Secure compute

    24%

  • Domain 4: Manage and monitor security posture

    23%

On our roadmap this comes after Azure Fundamentals. See every certification.

Practice

108 original practice questions, every option explained with the Microsoft documentation page that proves it. Free, no sign-up; progress stays on this device.

Your results on this device →

More practice exams

The lessons, the sample questions on every task page and the first full practice exam are free and stay free. A pack adds the further timed SC-500 practice exams.

Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate exam pack

$6.99for 12 months

  • Every paid SC-500 practice exam, timed, with every option explained
  • The next version of this exam included when it changes within your 12 months
  • 12 months of access. One payment, nothing renews by itself.
  • 14-day refund, no conditions
  • 14-day refund, no conditions: ask within 14 days of buying and you get the whole payment back.
  • No pass guarantee. These are practice exams written by us from the exam guide and the Microsoft documentation; a score here does not predict your result on the real exam.

Study path

One module per exam domain. Lessons that already exist on BytePatterns are linked; the rest are being written.

  1. Module 1: Manage identity, access, and governance

    1. 1Privileged Identity Management for Entra and Azure resource rolesTask 1.1

      Lesson coming

    2. 2Conditional Access policies and authentication strengthsTask 1.1

      Lesson coming

    3. 3MFA and passwordless authentication methodsTask 1.1

      Lesson coming

    4. 4Enterprise applications, app registrations, permission grants and consentTask 1.1

      Lesson coming

    5. 5Managed identities for Azure resourcesTask 1.1

      Partly covered by: Shared Responsibility & IAM

    6. 6Deploying Key Vault: soft delete, purge protection and the permission modelTask 1.2

      Lesson coming

    7. 7Key Vault access, firewall and private endpointsTask 1.2

      Partly covered by: KMS, Envelope Encryption & Private CA

    8. 8Keys, secrets and certificates: rotation, expiry and renewalTask 1.2

      Lesson coming

    9. 9Secrets scanning with Defender CSPM and Defender for Key VaultTask 1.2

      Lesson coming

    10. 10Azure Policy definitions, effects, initiatives and remediationTask 1.3

      Partly covered by: Organizations, SCPs & Control Tower

    11. 11Regulatory compliance and security standards in Defender for CloudTask 1.3

      Lesson coming

    12. 12Resource locks, built-in and custom roles, and overprivileged accessTask 1.3

      Partly covered by: Shared Responsibility & IAM

    13. 13Azure Backup security featuresTask 1.3

      Lesson coming

    14. 14Security controls in infrastructure as codeTask 1.3

      Lesson coming

  2. Module 2: Secure storage, databases, and networking

    1. 15Storage account security settings and encryptionTask 2.1

      Partly covered by: KMS, Envelope Encryption & Private CA

    2. 16Azure Storage firewall rules and private endpointsTask 2.1

      Lesson coming

    3. 17Keys, SAS, stored access policies and Entra ID data accessTask 2.1

      Lesson coming

    4. 18Defender for Storage: malware scanning and sensitive data threat detectionTask 2.1

      Lesson coming

    5. 19Azure SQL platform security: authentication, network access and encryptionTask 2.2

      Lesson coming

    6. 20Auditing for Azure SQL Database and SQL Managed InstanceTask 2.2

      Lesson coming

    7. 21Defender for Databases across Azure database servicesTask 2.2

      Lesson coming

    8. 22NSGs, ASGs and service tagsTask 2.3

      Partly covered by: VPC: Subnets, NAT & Firewalls

    9. 23Security admin rules in Azure Virtual Network ManagerTask 2.3

      Lesson coming

    10. 24Secured Virtual WAN hubs and VPN connectionsTask 2.3

      Partly covered by: Hybrid Networking & DNS

    11. 25Microsoft Entra Private AccessTask 2.3

      Lesson coming

    12. 26Private endpoints and Private Link servicesTask 2.3

      Lesson coming

    13. 27Azure Firewall policies and Premium featuresTask 2.3

      Lesson coming

    14. 28Network Watcher diagnostics and effective security rulesTask 2.3

      Lesson coming

  3. Module 3: Secure compute

    1. 29SharePoint oversharing and DSPM for AITask 3.1

      Partly covered by: Finding and Masking PII

    2. 30Entra Agent ID: Conditional Access, access and blast radiusTask 3.1

      Lesson coming

    3. 31AI gateway in API Management for Microsoft FoundryTask 3.1

      Lesson coming

    4. 32Defender for AI services, Foundry guardrails and the Data and AI security dashboardTask 3.1

      Partly covered by: Guardrails

    5. 33Agents in the Microsoft 365 admin centerTask 3.1

      Lesson coming

    6. 34Disk encryption, Trusted launch and Machine ConfigurationTask 3.2

      Lesson coming

    7. 35Azure Bastion and just-in-time VM accessTask 3.2

      Lesson coming

    8. 36Azure Arc and Defender for Servers onboarding, settings and agentless scanningTask 3.2

      Lesson coming

    9. 37Defender for Containers and AKS security controlsTask 3.3

      Partly covered by: ConfigMaps, Secrets & Env

    10. 38Container Registry, Container Instances and Container AppsTask 3.3

      Partly covered by: Ports, Networks & Volumes

    11. 39Functions, Logic Apps and App Service securityTask 3.3

      Lesson coming

    12. 40Web Application Firewall and API Management policiesTask 3.3

      Lesson coming

  4. Module 4: Manage and monitor security posture

    1. 41Defender CSPM, attack paths and security frameworksTask 4.1

      Lesson coming

    2. 42Workload protection plans and AWS and GCP connectorsTask 4.1

      Lesson coming

    3. 43Defender Vulnerability Management and Defender EASMTask 4.1

      Lesson coming

    4. 44Sentinel workspaces, roles and content hubTask 4.2

      Lesson coming

    5. 45Data connectors, Syslog and CEF, Windows Security events and custom tablesTask 4.2

      Lesson coming

    6. 46Automation rules, playbooks, retention and Purview AuditTask 4.2

      Lesson coming

    7. 47Security Copilot workspaces, roles, plugins and agentsTask 4.3

      Lesson coming

Every task in the exam guide

The exam guide splits each domain into task statements. Each one has a page with a short summary, the lessons that teach it and open sample questions.

Domain 1: Manage identity, access, and governance

Domain 2: Secure storage, databases, and networking

Domain 3: Secure compute

Domain 4: Manage and monitor security posture

How these questions are made

  • Written by us from the exam guide's task statements and the Microsoft documentation — never from real exam content.
  • Every option carries its own explanation and a link to the Microsoft page that proves it.
  • A question enters a timed exam only after an independent check; until then it is a practice question.
  • Results are a plain percentage, per domain too — not an imitation of Microsoft's scaled score.

Questions about the SC-500 practice exam

Is the SC-500 practice exam free?
Yes. The full practice exam (60 questions, 120 minutes) is free with no sign-up, and so are the 108 practice questions, the task pages and the study path. Your attempts are saved in this browser, on this device.
How many questions does it have, and is it timed?
60 questions in 120 minutes: the real SC-500 pace, scaled to this form. When the time runs out, the exam is submitted as it stands.
Are the answers explained?
After you submit, not during: like the real exam, the timed exam gives no feedback until the end. Then you get your score overall and per exam domain, and every question with each option explained and a link to the Microsoft documentation page behind it. In practice mode an answer is explained as soon as you check it.
What does the Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate exam pack add?
3 more timed practice exams (Practice exam 1: 60 questions, 120 minutes; Practice exam 2: 60 questions, 120 minutes; Practice exam 3: 60 questions, 120 minutes), each scored and explained the same way, and the next version of this exam if it changes within your 12 months. 12 months of access. One payment, nothing renews by itself. Everything above stays free. See the pack.
Can I get a refund?
Yes, with no conditions: ask within 14 days of buying and you get the whole payment back. The details are in the terms.
Is this an official Microsoft practice exam?
No. BytePatterns is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Microsoft. Every question is written by us from the public exam guide and the Microsoft documentation, never from real exam content, and a score here does not predict your result on the real exam. Microsoft lists its own preparation resources on its certification page.