98-367 Security Fundamentals Exam Guide: Scope, Retirement Status, and Study Decisions
Exam 98-367 validated foundational security knowledge for people entering IT infrastructure, including desktop infrastructure, server infrastructure, or private cloud computing. Microsoft identified it as the Security Fundamentals exam in the Microsoft Technology Associate program and linked it to the MTA Security Fundamentals certification. The most important decision for a reader today is not simply how to study: Microsoft retired the MTA exams, so candidates should first confirm whether they are researching the historical exam, documenting an existing credential, or selecting a current fundamentals or role-based alternative.
What Exam 98-367 was designed to validate
98-367 was a foundation-level security exam rather than a specialist assessment of one product or one job role. Its subject matter covered security concepts across physical, operating-system, network, policy, authentication, and client/server contexts, giving beginners a structured way to check whether they understood basic security controls and terminology.
Microsoft’s support material identifies Exam 367 as Security Fundamentals and places it within MTA IT infrastructure certifications. That group was intended for people planning careers in desktop infrastructure, server infrastructure, or private cloud computing. Passing Exam 367 was listed as the requirement for earning the MTA Security Fundamentals certification.
The exam therefore made most sense as an early learning milestone. It could help a student organize foundational study before moving toward more role-specific training, but it should not be treated as evidence of advanced incident response, penetration testing, security architecture, or current cloud-security engineering capability. Those interpretations go beyond the supplied Microsoft description.
Who should use the historical objectives
Use the objectives if you are reviewing an old transcript, teaching an introductory security class, mapping legacy study material, or comparing the older MTA pathway with newer Microsoft fundamentals and role-based offerings. The objectives remain useful as a checklist of concepts even though the exam itself is retired.
A learner choosing a current credential should not assume that 98-367 is available for registration or that its objectives represent a current Microsoft exam blueprint. Microsoft explains that certifications and exams are reviewed and retired when they no longer reflect the latest skills and technologies.
Check retirement status before making a study plan
Exam 98-367 is retired, so a new candidate should verify the current Microsoft credential path before buying study material, booking an appointment, or relying on an old exam page. Microsoft’s MTA Retirement FAQs state that MTA exams were retired on June 30, 2022, and that an MTA exam cannot be retaken after that date.
Microsoft stated that candidates had until June 30, 2022 to register for and take an MTA exam, and that passing before that date earned the associated certification. The Microsoft retirement page also says that retired exams cannot be taken and their associated credentials cannot be earned after retirement.
This changes the practical purpose of a 98-367 guide. It is appropriate for historical preparation and subject review, not as a promise that a reader can schedule the exam now. Check Microsoft Learn’s certification retirement information and current fundamentals or role-based catalog before committing time or money.
Do not infer availability from third-party listings, old voucher pages, or search results. The supplied Microsoft sources establish the retirement policy and historical deadline, but they do not provide a current replacement exam number for 98-367. The sensible next action is to identify the security role or technology area you want to pursue, then select a live Microsoft credential whose official page confirms its status and scope.
What happens to an already-earned MTA credential
An MTA certification that was already earned remains on the Microsoft Learn certification transcript and can remain printable after the exams retire. Microsoft’s retirement FAQ explains that retired certifications move to the Certification History section of the transcript two years after the certifications retire.
This means a former candidate should preserve access to the Microsoft account associated with the credential and use the official transcript when documentation is required. A historical credential should be described accurately as an MTA certification; it should not be presented as a current, renewable exam opportunity.
Read the blueprint by domain, not by isolated terms
The official 98-367 objectives organize preparation around security layers, operating-system security, and network security, while Microsoft’s course material presents five broader topic areas. Start with the domain names, then break each one into observable tasks and concepts rather than memorizing a long vocabulary list.
The official objectives document assigns 25–30% of the exam to understanding security layers. It assigns 30–35% of the exam to understanding operating-system security. It assigns 20–25% of the exam to understanding network security. These percentages belong to their named domains and should not be treated as interchangeable or compared without those labels.
Microsoft’s official course material describes five topic areas: security layers; authentication, authorization, and accounting; security policies; network security; and protecting servers and clients. The objectives document and course material should be read together: the first gives the exam-domain emphasis, while the second supplies a useful learning structure.
Security layers
Security layers covers core security principles together with physical security, Internet security, and wireless security. Study this area as a question of where a control operates and what risk it reduces. For example, physical access controls, wireless protection, and Internet-facing safeguards address different points in a system’s exposure.
A useful note-taking format is control, asset, threat, and limitation. For each concept, record what is being protected, which threat is relevant, how the control works, and what it does not solve. This prevents a common mistake: treating one safeguard as a complete security strategy.
Operating-system security
Operating-system security is the largest named domain in the supplied blueprint and includes user authentication, permissions, password policies, audit policies, encryption, and malware. These subjects are easier to retain when studied as a chain: identify the user, authorize an action, record the activity, protect the data, and reduce malicious software risk.
Practise distinguishing authentication from authorization and auditing. Authentication establishes identity; authorization governs permitted actions; auditing records activity for review. Password policy supports authentication, permissions support authorization, and audit policy supports accountability. Encryption protects information, but it does not replace identity management or access control.
The objectives document states that its Windows 10 updates and security/threat terminology became effective June 23, 2016. Treat that statement as historical blueprint context, not as evidence that the exam or its technology coverage is current.
Network security
Network security includes dedicated firewalls and Network Access Protection, or NAP, in the supplied objectives. Focus on the purpose of each control, the traffic or device condition it addresses, and the point at which it operates. Diagramming a simple network is more useful than learning product names without understanding placement.
When reviewing a network control, ask four questions: What enters or leaves? What policy is applied? Which device or service enforces it? What evidence would show that the control worked? This approach helps separate perimeter filtering from endpoint posture and avoids reducing network security to a single firewall.
Authentication, authorization, and accounting
The authentication, authorization, and accounting topic area tests the relationships among identity, access, and records. Build a small comparison table in your notes and attach a practical administrative decision to each term, such as verifying an account, assigning permissions, or reviewing an event log.
Do not memorize the three words as synonyms. A user may authenticate successfully and still be denied access because authorization does not grant the requested permission. Accounting or auditing can show what happened afterward, but a log is not itself proof that the original access decision was appropriate.
Security policies
Security policies turn general security goals into expected behavior and administrative rules. Review how password requirements, permissions, auditing, encryption, malware defenses, and network controls fit into a policy-driven operating model. The goal is to explain why a rule exists and how an administrator could check compliance.
A strong study exercise is to write a short policy for a fictional organization, then map every sentence to a control. Mark statements that define a requirement, statements that describe enforcement, and statements that describe evidence. This exposes gaps that simple definition memorization often hides.
Protecting servers and clients
Protecting servers and clients requires combining controls rather than studying each control in isolation. Use a server and a client as two separate examples, identify their assets and exposure, then choose authentication, permissions, updates or malware protection, auditing, encryption, and network defenses that address the risks described by the scenario.
Keep the roles distinct. A server commonly provides or protects shared services, while a client consumes services and can introduce risk through a user or application. The supplied sources do not define a current product configuration or test environment, so study the security reasoning rather than assuming a particular interface or version.
Turn each objective into an observable study task
A blueprint item is ready for review when you can explain a control, distinguish it from a related control, and select it for a stated security problem. Convert every objective into an action such as classify, compare, identify, or choose, then test yourself without looking at your notes.
For security layers, classify examples as physical, Internet, wireless, or core-principle concerns. For operating-system security, compare authentication, permissions, password policy, auditing, encryption, and malware controls. For network security, draw where a dedicated firewall or NAP-related control would fit and describe the problem it addresses.
For the five course topics, create one page per topic. Put the definition at the top, two related concepts beneath it, one short scenario, and a list of common confusions at the bottom. This structure is compact enough for revision and forces you to connect terminology to decisions.
Avoid adding unsupported exam mechanics to your plan. The supplied official research does not establish a question count, score, duration, language list, delivery method, or current registration process for 98-367. Do not build a schedule around any of those details unless an applicable official Microsoft page confirms them.
Use scenario explanations instead of answer memorization
Write explanations for scenarios such as a user who can sign in but cannot open a protected folder, a wireless network that needs stronger protection, or a server whose activity must be reviewed. Then identify the relevant control and explain why nearby alternatives do not solve the same problem.
This method is safer and more transferable than memorizing recalled questions. Exam dumps, leaked questions, and answer keys are not a reliable substitute for understanding, and memorizing them does not guarantee a pass. It also avoids depending on live exam content, which should not be represented or reproduced.
Choose study material with a source-control checklist
Use the official objectives document as the authority for scope, the official course material as a topic organizer, and Microsoft’s retirement pages as the authority for status. Supplementary material should be accepted only when it clearly supports one of those objectives and does not claim current 98-367 availability without official evidence.
Before using a third-party chapter or video, check its publication context, terminology, and claims. A resource that treats 98-367 as an active exam may be outdated. A resource that adds advanced technologies may be useful for general security learning but should not silently expand the historical exam blueprint.
Keep a source column in your notes. Record the objective, the concept learned, the source URL, and whether the item is an official requirement or a personal study recommendation. This simple distinction prevents a practice technique from being mistaken for a Microsoft rule.
A practical lab approach
A small, isolated practice environment can help you understand permissions, authentication, logging, encryption concepts, and network boundaries, but the supplied sources do not require a lab or identify a particular platform. Use a lab only to clarify concepts, and never expose intentionally weak configurations to a production network or the public Internet.
For each lab exercise, define the learning question first. For example, ask what changes when a user’s permission is removed or what evidence appears in an audit record. Document the expected result, the observed result, and the security lesson. The record becomes revision material rather than an unstructured experiment.
Follow a staged roadmap instead of rereading everything
A staged roadmap should move from scope, to concepts, to comparisons, to scenario practice, and finally to a readiness decision. Because 98-367 is retired, use this roadmap for historical study or foundational security learning, and pause before any purchase or scheduling step until an official current credential page confirms that the target assessment exists.
Stage one is orientation. Read the objectives document and list every named domain and subtopic. Mark each item as familiar, partly understood, or unknown. Read the course material’s five-topic structure afterward so that you have both the weighted domain view and the broader topic view.
Stage two is concept construction. Study core security principles, physical security, Internet security, and wireless security first. Then work through authentication, authorization, accounting, and security policies. Use short explanations and diagrams; do not move on simply because a term looks familiar.
Stage three is operating-system depth. Give deliberate attention to user authentication, permissions, password policies, audit policies, encryption, and malware because operating-system security carries 30–35% of the official exam blueprint. Compare controls that are often confused and practise identifying which control a scenario actually needs.
Stage four is network application. Review dedicated firewalls and NAP in the context of network boundaries, device access, and policy enforcement. Connect this material to the security-layer concepts instead of treating network security as a separate vocabulary list.
Stage five is integration. Create mixed scenarios that require more than one control. A single situation may involve physical access, identity, permissions, auditing, encryption, and a network boundary. Explain the sequence of decisions and identify what evidence would confirm that the controls are operating.
Stage six is review and decision. Revisit only weak objectives, use closed-book explanations, and check each answer for reasoning. If the goal is a current Microsoft credential, stop the historical 98-367 process here and research the current official pathway rather than attempting to schedule a retired exam.
A shorter revision cycle
For limited study time, preserve the order rather than trying to cover everything evenly. Start with the official objective labels, prioritize operating-system security, then review security layers and network security, and finish with the five-topic integration exercise. The percentages justify prioritization, but they do not justify ignoring a named domain.
At the end of each session, write three items: one concept you can explain, one distinction you still confuse, and one question to resolve from an official source. This creates a useful feedback loop and keeps the next session specific.
Use readiness checks that reveal weak understanding
Readiness is better demonstrated by accurate explanations and control selection than by recognizing familiar words. Close the material and explain each domain in your own language, distinguish related controls, and solve new scenarios without relying on recalled answer patterns.
Use these checks for security layers: can you explain why physical, Internet, and wireless controls address different exposure points? For operating-system security: can you separate identity verification, permission assignment, audit evidence, encryption, and malware defense? For network security: can you explain the role of a dedicated firewall and where NAP belongs in the problem you are analyzing?
Review errors by category. A terminology error means you need a clearer definition. A scope error means you selected a control that operates at the wrong layer. A reasoning error means you recognized the terms but failed to connect the control to the stated risk. Each category needs a different correction, so simply repeating the same quiz is inefficient.
Do not treat a high score on an unofficial practice set as proof of readiness or as evidence of the real exam’s scoring system. The supplied research does not provide a passing score or official practice-test specification. Use unofficial questions only as prompts for explanation, and verify the underlying concept against the official objectives.
Common mistakes to remove before final review
The first mistake is studying availability before checking it. Since Microsoft retired MTA exams, an old preparation plan can lead to wasted effort or an invalid purchase decision.
The second mistake is learning controls as isolated definitions. Security questions are easier to reason through when you connect the asset, threat, control, enforcement point, and evidence.
The third mistake is confusing authentication with authorization, or encryption with access control. These controls can work together, but they solve different problems.
The fourth mistake is treating the largest blueprint domain as the only domain. Operating-system security carries 30–35% under its official label, while security layers carries 25–30% and network security carries 20–25%; all three should remain in the review plan.
The fifth mistake is relying on dumps or memorized answer keys. That approach can conceal gaps, provide stale information, and does not guarantee passing. Replace it with source-based notes and unseen scenarios.
Make the right next decision after studying
Your next action depends on why you opened this guide. If you need to document a credential already earned, check the Microsoft Learn transcript and certification history. If you are learning foundational security, use the 98-367 objectives as a historical checklist. If you want a current certification, move to Microsoft’s current catalog and select an active path by role or technology.
For an existing MTA holder, Microsoft states that an already-earned certification remains on the transcript and that the credential can remain printable after retirement. Keep the account details and transcript record available if an employer, school, or partner program asks for evidence.
For a student or educator, the five-topic structure can support a lesson plan: security layers, authentication/authorization/accounting, security policies, network security, and protecting servers and clients. Pair each lesson with a scenario and a control-selection explanation rather than presenting the old exam number as an available endpoint.
For a current certification candidate, begin with the job direction you want to develop. Microsoft’s retirement FAQ says that fundamentals certifications are intended as a starting point and a springboard to role-based training across areas including Azure, AI, Data, Power Platform, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics. That guidance identifies broad directions, not a one-to-one replacement for 98-367, so confirm the current credential details before enrolling.
Do not purchase a voucher based only on a page that names 98-367. The official retirement information is the deciding evidence. A careful candidate verifies the live exam status, objectives, eligibility or prerequisites if applicable, delivery information, and policies on the official Microsoft page for the selected current credential.
Questions this guide cannot answer from the supplied evidence
The supplied official research does not verify a current 98-367 price, question count, exam duration, passing score, language availability, testing-center or online delivery option, prerequisites, or retake procedure beyond the retirement statements. Those details should not be filled in from assumptions or third-party claims.
It also does not establish a named replacement exam. Microsoft recommends moving toward newer fundamentals and role-based certifications, but the appropriate choice depends on the learner’s target area. Use the official catalog to make that selection rather than treating a general recommendation as a formal equivalency.
Conclusion
Exam 98-367 remains useful as a map of foundational security concepts, especially security layers, operating-system security, network security, identity and access, policies, and protection of servers and clients. It is not a current scheduling target: Microsoft retired the MTA exams on June 30, 2022. Use the official objectives for historical study or education, verify existing credentials through the Microsoft Learn transcript, and choose a current Microsoft fundamentals or role-based credential only after confirming its official status and scope.
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