Table of Contents
Does Defender for Cloud Workload Protection manage automated VM scaling?
Explore the capabilities of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Workload Protection. Understand its core functions, including threat detection, security recommendations, and SIEM integration, and learn why it does not manage operational tasks like the automated scaling of virtual machines.
Question
Which of the following capabilities is NOT provided by Microsoft Defender for Cloud Workload Protection?
A. Threat detection and response for cloud workloads
B. Security recommendations for cloud configurations
C. Automated scaling of virtual machines
D. Integration with SIEM solutions like Microsoft Sentinel
Answer
C. Automated scaling of virtual machines
Explanation
Defender for Cloud does not manage the scaling of virtual machines. Scaling is handled by Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets or Azure Autoscale, not by security services. For more information, please refer to the “Microsoft Defender for Cloud Workload Protection” lecture.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Workload Protection is a Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP) that provides advanced, intelligent threat protection for your cloud and hybrid workloads. Its focus is entirely on security—detecting, investigating, and responding to threats—not on operational management tasks like resource scaling.
Automated scaling is a performance and cost-management feature handled by other Azure services, such as:
- Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets: This service allows you to create and manage a group of load-balanced VMs. The number of VM instances can automatically increase or decrease in response to demand or a defined schedule.
- Azure Autoscale: This is the underlying engine that provides the scaling logic for services like Virtual Machine Scale Sets, App Service, and Cloud Services. It adjusts resources based on performance metrics or schedules.
Defender for Cloud monitors the security of these workloads, but it does not participate in the decision to scale them up or down.
Analysis of Incorrect Options
A. Threat detection and response for cloud workloads. This is the primary function of a CWPP. Defender for Cloud includes specific protection plans (e.g., Defender for Servers, Defender for SQL, Defender for Containers) that use advanced analytics and threat intelligence to detect malicious activity like fileless attacks, SQL injection, and suspicious container deployments.
B. Security recommendations for cloud configurations. This is a core capability of the broader Microsoft Defender for Cloud platform, which includes both CWPP and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM). The CSPM component continuously assesses your resources and provides recommendations to harden your security posture, which is a prerequisite for effective workload protection.
D. Integration with SIEM solutions like Microsoft Sentinel. This integration is a critical feature. Defender for Cloud generates high-fidelity security alerts that are automatically streamed to Microsoft Sentinel. This allows security operations teams to correlate these alerts with signals from other data sources, conduct large-scale threat hunting, and orchestrate incident response from a single pane of glass.
Microsoft Security Solutions Capabilities certification exam assessment practice question and answer (Q&A) dump including multiple choice questions (MCQ) and objective type questions, with detail explanation and reference available free, helpful to pass the Microsoft Security Solutions Capabilities exam and earn Microsoft Security Solutions Capabilities certificate.