How to Pass the Microsoft Azure Security AZ-500 Exam

How to Pass the Microsoft Azure Security AZ-500 Exam ?

Today, cloud computing is a complex ecosystem of products, services, and technologies. It includes databases, servers, storage, software, intelligence, and analytics. Thanks to its popularity, cloud computing has given rise to a multi-billion dollar economy.

Research shows that the cloud computing market exceeded $330 billion in 2020 (despite the COVID-19 pandemic). By the end of 2020, it's expected that 67% of the enterprise infrastructure will be cloud-based.

Amazon Web Services is the leading cloud provider with a 39% market share as of 2018. AWS is followed closely by Microsoft Azure at 15.5%, Alibaba at 7.7%, and Google Cloud Computing at 4%.

The top roadblocks that hinder cloud adoption are lack of staff training and security. If you want to improve your skills, one of the best certifications is Azure certification. Recently, Microsoft launched Azure AZ-500, which is ideal for Microsoft Azure Security Engineers.

What is the Azure AZ-500 exam?

This exam tests Azure security engineers on how to identify and resolve vulnerabilities using different security tools. The exam also tests candidates on how to respond to security incidents as well as implementing threat protection.

The exam includes 50 to 60 questions based on the AZ-500 Azure security technologies study guide. These questions are available as multiple select and multiple choice. What you need to know is that the questions cover all topics and subtopics in the study guide.

Want to know how you can pass this exam?

In this article, we'll discuss how to pass the Microsoft Azure AZ-500 Exam.

1. Learn the Domains Using Microsoft Resources

Candidates must learn about the topics covered in the Azure Certification exam. These topics act as a blueprint, and you can find tons of information. They include:

Identity and Access Management

This topic and its subtopics involve the configuration of the Azure Active Directory for workloads. Other issues that revolve around the setting of the active directory include:

Privileged identity management

Configuration of Microsoft Azure tenant security

What you need to know is that this topic and subtopics account for 20 to 25% of the exam questions.

Implementing Platform Protection

Another topic you need to look at is on implementing platform protection. This topic and subtopics account for 35 to 40% of the exam questions. As a candidate, you will have to cover the implementation of Azure Resource Management security and learn the configuration of container security.

Essential skills learned in this topic will help you know how to create and configure the application security group. This knowledge is also crucial for VM security.

Security Operations Management

Security operations management covers 15 to 20% of the questions in the Azure Security AZ-500 exam. It touches on the configuration of security policies and security services. Under arrangement for security services, candidates will learn how to configure the Azure monitor, about vulnerability scanning and log analytics.

When it comes to configuration of security policies, candidates must learn how to use the Azure Security Center. This topic has a subtopic that touches on creating and customizing security alerts and how to respond to these alerts.

Data and Application Security

This topic touches on data and application security. Subtopics include configuration of security for data infrastructure and configuration of security policies for data management. Candidates will cover the encryption of data, shape, and control of central vault, among others.

This topic and subtopics account for 30 to 35% of the questions in the exams.

The following are resources we have found to be useful:

2. Use Online Resources

Besides the resources made available by Microsoft, you can use Thomas Thornton's preparation guide for Azure AZ-500 Exam. The study guide touches on the domains discussed above and provides notes for each topic and subtopic.

Thomas Thornton recommends highlighting or color coding each topic you study. For example, you can color-code issues you are not familiar with in red and those you have a full understanding of in green.

Apart from color coding, Thornton recommends comparing definitions and other features on Azure.com. You need to know that reading the notes available at Thomas Thornton's website will take a few weeks.

For example, you can cover "Manage identity and access" in a week followed by "Implement Platform protection" in another week. It means you can cover all four domains in a month.

You can join the edX Microsoft Azure Security Services course. The course takes a month, and you only need 2 to 4 hours a week. The course is free. You will learn the best practices and understand the terminology and tools for creating a resilient cloud service on Azure.

The course is available in modules, which makes it easy for you to follow. As a self-paced course, the videos are available in English. If you need a verified Certificate, edX can help you get one for $99.

An additional resource is WedoAzure.

3. Take a Practice Exam

Study resources and materials are essential to passing the exam, but they are only half of it. To take the AZ-500 exam, you need to practice. What better way than to take practice exams available online.

These practice exams are usually divided into topics and provide the experience of a real examination. By taking the practice exams, you can improve your confidence when you appear in the actual exam. Each database contains 100 to 150 questions, and the exam lasts for 2 hours, just like the real one.

Besides improving your confidence, practice tests offer quick results and detailed reports about your performance. As such, you can discover your strengths and weaknesses in the different AZ-500 domains.

Once you learn this, you can work on improving these areas by learning using the resources described above before the real exam. Here are practice tests for you to get started:

Starweaver Practice Tests
Exam topics

4. Use Downloadable Microsoft AZ-500 Dumps

Most IT professionals who have passed this exam before have used actual exam dumps from ExamsLeads. These preparation dumps are available in pdf format, and you can use them at your own pace.

You can download the dumps to your PC, tablet, Mac, or smartphone. The dumps include questions and answers valid for the preparation of the AZ-500 exam in 2020. What you need to know is that these dumps are available at a price.

At the time of writing, ExamsLead was offering a 20% discount. Once you make the purchase, not only do you get access to the dumps. But you also receive 90 days of free updates, free demo, and instant demo.

You also get a 100% money-back guarantee.

Wrapping Up

One thing you need to know is that the Azure 500 Exam is not an easy one to pass. To pass, you need to prepare yourself for the exam. That includes reading resources provided by Microsoft at Microsoft Learn and other web pages.

You must take practice tests as they give you the confidence to face the real exam. They also help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. Lastly, you need to use study plans offered by fellow MVPs. They have published several blog posts and some we have shared in the article.

We wish you luck in your AZ-500 Security Engineer Exam and certification journey.

How to Pass the Microsoft Azure Security AZ-500 Exam