Microsoft SC-500 Exam - New Upgrade Test of AZ-500 (Retire on August 31, 2026)

The SC-500 exam is the new upgrade test of AZ-500 for Microsoft cloud security professionals. It supports the Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate certification and extends the security focus across Azure, hybrid, and AI-enabled environments.

AZ-500, the exam for the Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate certification, will retire on August 31, 2026. Candidates who are planning their certification path can use the SC-500 objectives to understand the broader security responsibilities covered by the new exam.

From Azure security to cloud and AI security

SC-500 validates the ability to design, implement, and manage end-to-end security controls that protect identities, data, applications, infrastructure, and regulatory compliance across Azure, hybrid, and AI-enabled environments.

The role includes securing organizational systems and data through controls that help prevent unauthorized access and mitigate risk. Security engineers work across identity, network, application, data, and compute domains. They also help ensure that platforms, data, identities, and infrastructure used by AI workloads are securely implemented and monitored.

SC-500 responsibilities and skills

Candidates for SC-500 should be prepared to work with a range of security responsibilities, including:

• Securing access to resources with Microsoft Entra ID and Azure Key Vault.
• Enforcing security and regulatory compliance.
• Securing storage, databases, networking, and compute.
• Securing AI solutions.
• Managing and monitoring security posture.

The published SC-500 skills are organized into four main domains:

How SC-500 differs from AZ-500

AZ-500 focuses on Azure security engineering with skill areas that include secure identity and access, secure networking, secure compute, storage and databases, and secure Azure with Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Sentinel.

SC-500 retains the need for broad cloud and hybrid security knowledge while adding an explicit focus on AI-enabled environments and securing AI solutions. Candidates should review the SC-500 objectives directly instead of assuming that an AZ-500 study plan covers every new topic.

Who should consider the SC-500 exam?

SC-500 is intended for security engineers who protect systems and data across cloud and hybrid environments. Candidates should have practical experience administering Azure and hybrid environments, including compute, network, and storage. Strong familiarity with Microsoft Entra ID and familiarity with Microsoft 365 administration are also expected.

The role often involves working with architects, administrators, engineers, analysts, developers, and teams responsible for Azure, Microsoft 365, identity and access, information protection, security operations, DevOps, applications, databases, and networks.

Preparing for the transition

Candidates should begin with the new SC-500 skill areas and identify where their current experience is strongest. Review identity and governance, data and network security, compute security, and security posture management. Then include the security requirements of AI solutions in the study plan.

Practice questions can help candidates assess their understanding after they have studied each objective. Use results to identify gaps, then return to the related concept or practical task. CertQueen SC-500 exam questions can be used as supplementary review resources alongside official Microsoft learning materials and the published exam objectives.

AZ-500 retires on August 31, 2026. Candidates preparing for the new Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate path should review SC-500 requirements and current exam information through official Microsoft sources before scheduling an exam.