Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect Expert
The SC-100 exam is designed for professionals who implement and configure Security. It validates your ability to design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities, design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities, design security solutions for infrastructure, and design security solutions for applications and data.
Exam details
- Certification
- Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect Expert
- Exam code
- SC-100
- Level
- Expert
- Duration
- Approximately 100 minutes
- Questions
- Typically 40–60 questions
- Passing score
- 700 out of 1000
- Cost
- USD $165 — typical price; the exact fee varies by country/region and currency, and local taxes may apply.
- Prerequisites
- None required
- Languages
- English (also available in Japanese, Korean, German and French, and several other languages)
- Delivered by
- Pearson VUE
- Renewal
- Free online assessment, every 12 months
Skills measured
Design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities (20–25%)
- Design resiliency and ransomware response, including BCDR and privileged access.
- Align designs with MCRA, MCSB, Zero Trust, and secure AI benchmarks.
- Design CAF, Well-Architected, landing zone, and DevSecOps security strategies.
Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities (25–30%)
- Design XDR, SIEM, SOAR, logging, threat hunting, and MITRE ATT&CK coverage.
- Design Entra ID, agent identities, Conditional Access, privileged access, and secrets.
- Translate compliance requirements into Purview, Azure Policy, and Defender for Cloud controls.
Design security solutions for infrastructure (25–30%)
- Design hybrid and multicloud posture management with Defender for Cloud, Arc, and EASM.
- Specify security for servers, endpoints, IoT, OT, SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, and containers.
- Evaluate network security and Security Service Edge with Entra Internet Access and Private Access.
Design security solutions for applications and data (20–25%)
- Evaluate Microsoft 365 security posture, Defender, Intune, Purview, and Copilot data controls.
- Design application security, threat modelling, workload identities, APIs, and WAF.
- Design data discovery, encryption, Key Vault, and Defender for Storage and Databases.
Study resources & practice tests
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Frequently asked questions
Who should take SC-100?
SC-100 is for cybersecurity architects, security architects, and senior cloud security leads. Most work in banks, government, large enterprises, and security consultancies. Microsoft awards it after an associate security certification such as SC-200 or SC-300.
What is the average salary for a Cybersecurity Architect?
As of 2026, Glassdoor models US Cybersecurity Architect total pay around $214,000 median, while listed US roles often pay about $145,000 to $195,000. In the United Kingdom, IT Jobs Watch shows a median advertised salary of £82,500, and Barclay Simpson places security solutions architects around £80,000 to £110,000 UK-wide. In Germany, SalaryExpert reports about €121,000 average; Glassdoor Germany medians are around €90,000. There is no single published EMEA average.
Where do I find exam questions to practice?
You will find websites selling exam dumps or brain dumps that claim to be real SC-100 questions. Those materials are not official. Microsoft treats using brain dumps as cheating. It can invalidate your score, revoke certifications you already hold, and ban you from future exams. Microsoft publishes a free Practice Assessment for SC-100 on Microsoft Learn. Those questions are examples only, not the live exam. MeasureUp also sells the official practice test linked in the study resources on this page. You can try the Microsoft exam sandbox to see the question types and timer, but it does not use real exam questions. Practise the skills measured in a real product environment rather than memorising leaked items.
Does the exam include official labs I can use to practice?
SC-100 is a design and architecture exam. It is typically assessed with case studies and traditional questions rather than a hands-on lab you can reuse afterwards. Microsoft still expects job-role experience. Practise in a subscription or trial, and official instructor-led SC-100T00 training delivered by a Microsoft Learning Partner includes labs. Those labs are for the course, not a copy of the exam. The Microsoft exam sandbox shows traditional question types only. It does not give you the lab virtual machine.