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Identity foundations

Who is requesting access, how is that identity established, and what may it do?

Identity, authentication, authorization, identity providers, directories and federation.

Last verified
2026-09-20
Review interval
90 days
Status
In review

01 / Overview

Who is requesting access, how is that identity established, and what may it do?

Identity is information used to represent a person, device, workload or agent. Authentication establishes identity; authorization evaluates whether that identity may perform an action. Identity providers, directories and federation support those decisions across applications and administrative boundaries.

Level
Intermediate
Units
1
Estimated time
32 min
What you will learn
    Know first
    • Security foundations
    • Client and server
    Learning materials
    • Visuals: 1
    • Documents: 1
    1. 01Identity, authentication and authorization32 min
    Start topic →

    02 / Learn

    Learn

    1. Identity, authentication and authorization

      Separate identity from proof and permission, then place providers, directories and federation in the flow.

      Open lesson →

    03 / Concepts

    Concepts

    Identity subjectidentity-subject
    The person, device, workload or agent represented by identity data.
    Claimidentity-claim
    A statement about a subject that a relying service can evaluate; it is not automatically permission.

    06 / Visuals

    Visuals

    1. A requester authenticates, an identity provider supplies identity information, and a service authorizes an action.

      identity-access-decision-v1

      technical-diagram · verified
      Open visual →

    06B / Documents

    Documents

    1. Official SC-900 Study Guide

      Microsoft's current exam-objective reference. It verifies scope but does not replace the platform's own lessons.

      external reference only · external-only
      Open document →

    07 / Security

    Security

    1. Do not collapse authentication and authorization into one check. A valid identity can still be denied a particular action.

    08 / Troubleshooting

    Troubleshooting

    1. Separate failure to authenticate, missing or stale identity information, policy evaluation and enforcement at the target service.

    09 / Quick checks

    Quick checks

    Level 2sc900-authentication-authorization

    A service has established who a person is. Which decision still determines what that person may do?

    A service has established who a person is. Which decision still determines what that person may do?
    1. Can a successfully authenticated identity still be unauthorized for an action?

    10 / GRAPH

    Related concepts

    • Zero Trust →
    • Authentication
    • Authorization
    • Identity provider
    • Directory service
    • Federation

    Used in certifications

    These links reuse canonical knowledge; the certification page does not own or duplicate the topic.

    11 / Resources

    Resources

    1. Study guide for Exam SC-900

      Microsoft · official-doc · free

      Resources ↗
    2. Describe identity concepts

      Microsoft · course · free

      Resources ↗

    12 / Sources and freshness

    Sources and freshness

    Last verified
    2026-09-20
    Review interval
    90 days
    Source version
    SC-900 skills measured 2026-07-28 · Microsoft Learn identity module checked 2026-09-20