AZ-500 to SC-500: security engineering now includes AI workloads

AZ-500 retires on 31 August 2026. Its successor, SC-500, leads to a differently named credential and adds a substantial block on securing AI systems.

Retiring exam

AZ-500

Retires

31 August 2026

Successor

SC-500

Credential

Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate

Passing score

700

SC-500 skills measured

Weightings are the ranges published in Microsoft's skills outline, read 2026-08-31.

What actually changed

• This is a new credential, not a renamed one: Azure Security Engineer Associate becomes Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate, and there is no conversion path from the old certification.
• The Secure compute domain now opens with a block on securing AI — Copilot and AI-app risk in Purview DSPM, real-time protection for Copilot Studio agents, conditional access for Entra Agent ID, AI Gateway in API Management, and Defender for AI Service.
• Microsoft Security Copilot appears as its own objective group, covering workspaces, permissions and plugins.
• The familiar AZ-500 ground — Entra ID, Key Vault, Azure Policy, storage and database security, network security, Defender for Cloud and Sentinel — is still there and still the majority of the exam.

What ExamNova covers today

ExamNova does not yet publish an SC-500 question bank. SY0-701 covers vendor-neutral security foundations that transfer directly, and AZ-104 covers the Azure administration SC-500 assumes.

Browse certifications

Exam facts on this page come from Microsoft's published study guide for SC-500, read 2026-08-31. ExamNova is independent of Microsoft. Check the official exam page before booking, because vendors revise dates and objectives.