Who Can Benefit from the Microsoft 98-367 Exam?

Microsoft 98-367 doesn't come with any official requirements and is suitable for every beginner who wants to learn more about crucial security concepts and gain fundamental knowledge of key security-related technologies. Professionals having hands-on experience in Windows Server, firewalls, Windows-based networking, and network topologies can easily leverage their career with this exam and its corresponding certification.

What is the duration, language, and format of Microsoft 98-367: Security Fundamentals Exam

• Number of Questions: 59 to 63 questions(Since Microsoft does not publish this information, the number of exam questions may change without notice.)
• Type of Questions: This test format is multiple choice.
• Passing Score: 700 / 1000
• Length of Examination: 50 mins
• language: English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America)

Topics to Master

The content of the Microsoft 98-367 exam is based on a wide range of topics. They are subdivided into specific knowledge domains so as to measure the candidates’ specific abilities. The topics covered in the certification test are described in detail below:

• Understanding Security Software (15-20%)

  Here the candidates should demonstrate that they have expertise in client protection. This includes their understanding of protecting against unwanted software installations; Antivirus; User Account Control (UAC); software restriction policies; keeping client software & operating system updated; the principle of least privilege; encrypting offline folders. The objective also measures the competency of the test takers in server protection, including their knowledge of hardening; keeping servers updated; separating services; disabling insecure authentication protocols; securing dynamic Domain Name System (DNS) updates; Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODC). The last area within this topic comes with one’s understanding of such concepts as antivirus, antispam, phishing, spoofing, and pharming; Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records; server vs. client protection; PTR records.

• Understanding Operating System Security (35-40%)

  This topic requires that the examinees possess a solid understanding of user authentication (including physical & virtual smart cards; biometrics; multifactor authentication; Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS); using Run As to execute administrative tasks) as well as permissions (including file system permissions; registry; sharing permissions; Active Directory; enabling/disabling inheritance; multiple groups with various permissions; procedure when copying or moving files within the same disk or on another disk; fundamental & advanced permissions; taking ownership; inheritance; delegation). The individuals should also have a good grasp of password policies (including password complexity; password history; password length; account lockout; password reset procedures; time between password changes; common attack techniques; enforcing by using Group Policies; protecting domain user account passwords) and audit policies (including enabling auditing; types of auditing; what can be audited; where to save audit information; what to audit for particular purposes; how to secure audit data). Additionally, this domain covers your understanding of encryption. This comes with your familiarity with Encrypting file system (EFS); token devices; virtual private network (VPN); BitLocker (To Go); public key/private key; software-based encryption; TPM; encryption algorithms; MAIL encryption & signing as well as other uses; certificate services; certificate properties; PKI/certificate services infrastructure, among other concepts. Lastly, the section comprises knowledge of malware, including Buffer overflow; spyware; viruses, worms, and polymorphic viruses; ransomware; Trojan horses; backdoors; adware; rootkits; zero day attacks.

• Understanding Security Layers (25-30%)

  Within this subject area, the applicants should have expertise in core security principles, including integrity; availability; confidentiality; threat modelling; impact of threat and risk on principles; social engineering; principle of least privilege; attack surface analysis. They also need to be proficient in physical security. This includes the knowledge of such aspects as site security; removable devices & drives; access control; computer security; mobile device security; keyloggers. Their competency in Internet security, including Browser security settings and secure websites, is also required. Additionally, the test takers should be conversant with wireless security. This requires their understanding of the advantages & disadvantages of particular security types; service set identifiers (SSIDs); keys; MAC filters.

• Understanding Network Security (20-25%)

  This section includes three subsections, such as understanding dedicated firewalls; understanding network isolation; understanding protocol security. Within the first subsection, the learners should demonstrate their understanding of hardware firewall types and their characteristics; Security Compliance Manager; stateful vs. stateless firewall inspection; security baselines; when to utilize a hardware firewall instead of a software one. The second subtopic covers such competencies as knowledge of routing; perimeter networks; honeypot; VPN; network address translation (NAT); IPsec; server & domain isolation. The last subtheme focuses on IPsec; protocol spoofing; network sniffing; tunnelling; denial-of-service (DoS) attacks; DNSsec; common attack techniques.

Domain Understand operating system security

The second section is the largest of all and has six sub-topics. Here, candidates have to understand user authentication, permissions, password policies, audit policies, audit policies, encryption, and malware.

All these objectives aim to check one's knowledge about RADIUS, virtual and physical smart cards, a virtual private network (VPN), EFS-encrypted folders, Active Directory, BitLocker (To Go), and many others. In addition, applicants should master the topics such as how to enable/disable inheritance, carry out the password reset procedures, take ownership, ensure password complexity, understand common attack methods along with password reset procedures, auditing types, and how to safeguard audit information. Software-based encryption, MAIL encryption, encryption algorithms, PKI/certificate services infrastructure, viruses, polymorphic viruses, adware, and zero day attacks are some other common security principles covered in this domain.

Reference: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/exam-98-367.aspx