AZ-500 Exam: Solidify Your Skills as a Microsoft Azure Security Engineer

Becoming a Microsoft Azure security engineer is no joke. It’s even harder to become a GOOD Azure security engineer. However, if you can solidify your skills, you are likely to be handsomely rewarded. A good way to solidify your skills is to sit (and pass) the AZ-500 Exam, called Microsoft Azure Security Technologies.

In this article, we’ll cover the basics that you need to know to score an interview to land that dream job. But first, the best way to pass the AZ-500 exam (and to demonstrate your Microsoft Security Engineer chops) is to enroll in a comprehensive AZ-500 course that includes in-depth lectures, hands-on labs, and maybe a practice exam or two.

Combining lecture learning with hands-on labs will enable you to absorb what you need to know, while allowing you to practice things as well. Taking a practice exam will, of course, tell you where you are weak. Cloud Academy’s AZ-500 Exam: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies includes all of the vital components to prep you to pass the exam and become a certified Microsoft Azure security engineer. 

AZ-500 Security Engineer Exam Learning Path

The demand for security engineers

As the move to Microsoft Azure continues, so does the requirement for qualified Azure security engineers. Reflecting this need are the salaries of qualified security engineers. Browse any job board and you’ll no doubt find any number of available positions paying north of 6 figures. Are you qualified to secure one of these positions? If not, it’s probably a good idea to solidify your skills as a Microsoft Azure security engineer – but how?

What do security engineers do?

Microsoft Azure security engineer roles pay well — for a good reason. Individuals in these roles are responsible for implementing security controls and maintaining the security posture of their organizations. The security engineer for an organization is ultimately responsible for the protection of the organization’s data, applications, and networks. Any security engineer worth their salt can effectively identify, remediate, and mitigate various vulnerabilities using the many security tools and features offered through Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft Azure security engineers are often part of a team responsible for managing cloud security and the security of a hybrid environment. That being said, if you want to throw your hat in the ring for one of these lucrative positions, you need to be able to demonstrate that you can implement security controls in Azure, maintain security posture, and manage identity and access. You also need to know how to protect data, applications, and networks — all of which you can learn with the AZ-500 Exam Preparation Learning Path

What do you security engineers need to know?

A good Azure security engineer knows how to manage identity and access in an Azure environment. If you apply for one of these roles, you’ll probably be asked how to configure Microsoft Azure Active Directory (AD) for different workloads or how to configure Microsoft Azure AD Privileged Identity Management. You might also be asked about your thoughts on configuring Microsoft Azure tenant security. If you can’t speak intelligently to these kinds of solutions and services, you aren’t likely to see a second round of interviews.

In addition to knowing how to manage identity and access in Azure, you should also know what steps you can take to implement platform protection. You should know how to implement network and host security with solutions such as network security groups, Azure firewalls, and other similar solutions. Becoming a Microsoft Azure security engineer will also require you to understand container security and Azure resource management security concepts such as AKS security, resource locks, and Azure Policy. Other security topics you may find yourself needing to explain in an interview for an Azure security engineer positions might include RBAC roles and how to configure subscription and resource permissions.

A good Microsoft Azure security engineer should also be able to effectively configure Azure security services like Microsoft Azure monitor Microsoft Azure log analytics. These tools are the lifeblood of the security engineer responsible for monitoring an Azure environment. Knowing how to use the Microsoft Azure Security Center to centralize policy management and configure Just-in-time VM access are key skills that you should also possess before interviewing for an Azure security engineer role.

When you sit down at an interview, the person across from you may ask you how you would go about configuring security policies to manage data, or how to configure security for data infrastructure. You may find yourself in a conversation about storage account access control, key management, and shared access signatures. If you are REAL lucky, your interviewer will start asking you about HDInsight security or Cosmos DB security. Want the job? Know this stuff.

Understanding how to deploy and manage encryption to protect data at rest is a key skillset that every Microsoft Azure security engineer should possess. If you don’t know how to implement database encryption or disk encryption by leveraging Azure Key Vault, you should brush up on these topics because if you can’t manage these basic tasks, you aren’t likely to succeed as a security engineer. Knowing how to explain these topics (after you’ve read a book or two) isn’t good enough. You need to know how to perform these kinds of tasks in a real-world setting. You should also know how to implement and configure solutions that provide application security. Be familiar with TLS/SSL certs as well.

What will the AZ-500 exam cover?

The AZ-500 Exam: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Certification will test you on virtually everything I’ve mentioned in this article. It will also test you on lots of things that I didn’t mention. Only AFTER you’ve passed the AZ-500 Exam and obtained the Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Certification, should you start sending out those resumes for those lucrative Microsoft Azure security engineer roles. Oh — one more word of advice: Don’t use dumps! An exam dump may help you pass the exam, but what are you going to do when you sit down at that interview, and the person across from you starts asking you how to perform real-world tasks? You’ll quickly find that those dumps will do you no good.

Now, get out there and start solidifying your skills as a Microsoft Azure Security Engineer – and get your hands on some of that cash that they are earning!

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