You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
MICROSOFTMicrosoft Certified:Cybersecurity Architect Expert
The Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert certification validates your ability to design and implement security solutions that protect organizational assets. It is aimed at professionals who translate cybersecurity strategies into actionable solutions. Earning it demonstrates expertise in Zero Trust principles and security operations.
Exam formatMultiple choice and multiple response
Duration120 minutes
DeliveryPearson VUE
Passing score700
Free questions443
Content last reviewed 28 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What SC-100 proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
4domains
12objectives
81concepts
US $165exam fee
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert certification validates that you can design and maintain security solutions that follow Zero Trust principles and best practices. It targets professionals responsible for implementing security strategies across identity, devices, data, AI, applications, network, infrastructure, and DevOps.
Earning this certification demonstrates your ability to collaborate with leaders and practitioners in security, privacy, and engineering to plan and implement a cybersecurity strategy that meets organizational needs. It rewards real-world expertise in designing security solutions using Microsoft technologies.
Who it’s for
This certification is for experienced cloud security engineers who have taken a previous certification in the security, compliance, and identity portfolio. Candidates should have advanced experience in security engineering areas, including identity and access, platform protection, and security operations. Beginning students should consider taking the SC-900: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals course first.
Recommended experience
Experience implementing or administering solutions in identity and access, platform protection, and security operations. Expert skills in at least one security area; Experience designing security solutions with Microsoft technologies
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective Microsoft measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official Microsoft exam outline · checked 28 July 2026 · See the source
Design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities
- Design a resiliency strategy for ransomware and other attacks based on Microsoft Security Best Practices
- Design solutions that align with the Microsoft Cybersecurity Reference Architectures (MCRA) and Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark (MCSB)
- Design solutions that align with the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure (CAF) and the Azure Well-Architected Framework
Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities
- Design solutions for security operations
- Design solutions for identity and access management
- Design solutions for securing privileged access
- Design solutions for regulatory compliance
Design security solutions for infrastructure
- Design solutions for security posture management in hybrid and multicloud environments
- Specify requirements for securing server and client endpoints
- Specify requirements for securing SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS services
- Evaluate solutions for network security and Security Service Edge (SSE)
Design security solutions for applications and data
- Evaluate solutions for securing Microsoft 365
On the day
The exam itself
Everything Microsoft publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
To become a Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert, you must earn at least one of the following: Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate, Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate certification.
Exam codeSC-100
CertificationCybersecurity Architect Expert
Exam formatMultiple choice and multiple response
Duration120 minutes
Passing score700
DeliveryPearson VUE
LanguagesEnglish, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Traditional), Italian
PricingUS $165
Certification levelExpert
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path Microsoft lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert
PrerequisiteTo become a Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert, you must earn at least one of the following: Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate, Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate certification.
Credential earnedMicrosoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert Expert level certification Renewal and maintenance
Renew eligible Certifications annually at no cost by completing a short online assessment. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. Microsoft maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by Microsoft
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, Microsoft’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official Microsoft certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
Is any part of the SC-100 exam hands-on or lab-based?
Yes. In addition to multiple-choice items, SC-100 includes a performance-based lab section where you complete tasks in a live Microsoft environment.
If I fail SC-100, when can I retake it?
You must wait 24 hours after a first failed attempt, and 14 days before each subsequent attempt. There is no annual cap on attempts.
What job roles does the Cybersecurity Architect Expert credential map to?
It aligns with roles such as Security Engineer, Security Operations Analyst, and Solution Architect.
Can I recertify by passing a different Microsoft exam?
Yes. Earning a higher-level Microsoft certification can automatically renew this credential without taking the SC-100 renewal assessment.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-28 Up to date
Practice free questions 443 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept Microsoft measures — each one written out.
4domains
12objectives
81concepts
94free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official Microsoft exam outline · checked 28 July 2026 · See the source
1Design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities114 questions
Design a resiliency strategy for ransomware and other attacks based on Microsoft Security Best Practices5 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Design solutions that align with the Microsoft Cybersecurity Reference Architectures (MCRA) and Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark (MCSB)6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Design solutions that align with the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure (CAF) and the Azure Well-Architected Framework7 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →
2Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities158 questions
3Design security solutions for infrastructure133 questions
Design solutions for security posture management in hybrid and multicloud environments7 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Specify requirements for securing server and client endpoints7 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Specify requirements for securing SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS services8 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Evaluate solutions for network security and Security Service Edge (SSE)4 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →
4Design security solutions for applications and data38 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Design a resiliency strategy for ransomware and other attacks based on Microsoft Security Best Practices7 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
31 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
443 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
443questions
94pages
12objectives
Freealways
Start anywhereDesign a resiliency strategy for ransomware and other attacks based on Microsoft Security Best Practices 31 questions · 7 pages
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities114 questions
2Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities158 questions
3Design security solutions for infrastructure133 questions
4Design security solutions for applications and data38 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
81concepts
443free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from Microsoft
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
2official links
81concepts mapped
The source
Microsoft’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official Microsoft outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 12 objectives, 81 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When Microsoft changes the outline, this page changes with it.
12objectives on the outline→81concepts written→443free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.