This post is a part of the "SC-500: Implementing End-to-End Security Controls for Cloud and AI Workloads" Exam Prep Hub.
This topic falls under these sections:
Manage and monitor security posture (20–25%)
   --> Implement Microsoft Security Copilot
      --> Enable and configure plugins

Note that there are 10 practice questions (with answers) at the end of each section to help you solidify your knowledge of the material. Also, there are 4 practice tests with 30 questions each available from the hub's main page below the exam topics section.

Overview

Microsoft Security Copilot can extend its capabilities beyond the information available directly within the Copilot experience by using plugins.

A plugin provides Security Copilot with access to additional tools, data sources, APIs, Microsoft services, non-Microsoft services, or public websites. Plugins can therefore provide the additional context or capabilities needed for Security Copilot to answer a question, investigate a security event, or perform a task.

For the SC-500 exam, it is important to understand that enabling a plugin is not the same thing as granting a user unrestricted access to the underlying data. Security Copilot operates within an organization’s existing identity and authorization model, and Microsoft plugins generally use on-behalf-of (OBO) authentication to access Microsoft services using the user’s existing permissions.

The exam can test your ability to:

Understand what Security Copilot plugins are.
Distinguish between preinstalled and custom plugins.
Configure plugin availability.
Control who can manage custom plugins.
Configure plugins that require additional setup.
Understand user-level versus organization-level plugin availability.
Understand authentication requirements.
Restrict preinstalled plugins.
Understand how plugins interact with Security Copilot agents.
Apply least-privilege principles when enabling plugins.

1. What Is a Security Copilot Plugin?

A plugin is a collection of related tools that Security Copilot can invoke to obtain information or perform actions outside the core Copilot model.

A useful mental model is:

Security Copilot + Plugin = AI reasoning + external capability/data

For example:

                         Microsoft Security Copilot
                                   |
                                   v
                         Prompt / Investigation
                                   |
                                   v
                            Plugin selection
                                   |
                +------------------+------------------+
                |                  |                  |
                v                  v                  v
        Microsoft service    Custom API       External service
                |                  |                  |
                v                  v                  v
          Security data      Organization      Third-party
                             application       information
                |                  |                  |
                +------------------+------------------+
                                   |
                                   v
                         Information / action
                                   |
                                   v
                            Copilot response

Plugins can provide access to Microsoft and non-Microsoft services, as well as public websites. Microsoft describes plugins as components that extend Security Copilot by providing access to capabilities outside the agent and underlying LLM.

Example

Suppose a security analyst asks:

“Investigate this IP address and determine whether it has been associated with malicious activity.”

Security Copilot by itself may not have the necessary external threat-intelligence information.

A threat-intelligence plugin could provide:

IP reputation
Malware associations
Threat intelligence
Related indicators
Other external security information

Security Copilot can then use that information as part of its reasoning.

2. Why Plugins Matter

Plugins are important because security information is often distributed across many systems.

An organization might use:

Microsoft Defender XDR
Microsoft Sentinel
Azure
Microsoft Entra
Azure AI Search
A third-party threat-intelligence platform
A custom security application
Internal APIs
Public security-information websites

Rather than requiring analysts to manually retrieve information from each system, plugins can allow Security Copilot to interact with those capabilities.

This makes plugins particularly important for:

Threat investigation
Incident response
Threat intelligence
Security operations
Security automation
Custom enterprise workflows
Agentic scenarios

3. Types of Security Copilot Plugins

For SC-500, understand two major categories:

Plugin type	Description
Preinstalled plugins	Plugins already available within Security Copilot, including Microsoft and some non-Microsoft plugins
Custom plugins	Plugins added or created by an organization to extend Security Copilot

Security Copilot supports Microsoft plugins, non-Microsoft plugins, custom plugins, and website-based capabilities.

4. Preinstalled Plugins

Preinstalled plugins are already available in Security Copilot.

Examples can include plugins associated with Microsoft services such as:

Microsoft Defender
Microsoft Sentinel
Azure AI Search
Other Microsoft security and cloud services

The exact set of available plugins depends on the organization’s configuration and services.

Users can access the plugin/source interface from the Security Copilot prompt experience to see the available plugins.

A key point for the exam is:

Preinstalled does not necessarily mean unrestricted.

Security Copilot owners can control the availability of preinstalled plugins.

By default, Owners and Contributors can access preinstalled Microsoft and non-Microsoft plugins. An owner can change this configuration and restrict plugin access to owners only.

5. Managing Preinstalled Plugin Availability

A Security Copilot owner can control whether preinstalled plugins are available to:

All users
Owners only

This is a tenant/workspace-level administrative control.

Conceptually:

                Security Copilot Owner
                         |
                         v
                Plugin availability
                         |
              +----------+----------+
              |                     |
              v                     v
          All users            Owners only

This provides an important governance mechanism.

Example

An organization has a plugin that connects Security Copilot to a sensitive security system.

The security team decides that only Security Copilot Owners should be able to use the plugin.

The owner can restrict that preinstalled plugin to Owners only.

This does not mean the organization has removed the underlying security system’s permissions. It means the plugin itself is restricted within Security Copilot.

Microsoft notes that restricting a preinstalled plugin is an immediate change affecting users and embedded Security Copilot experiences, so administrators should consider the operational impact before making the change.

6. Custom Plugins

A custom plugin extends Security Copilot with capabilities specific to an organization’s requirements.

Custom plugins can be particularly useful when an organization has:

Proprietary security applications
Internal APIs
Custom threat-intelligence systems
Specialized security databases
Enterprise applications
Custom automation services

A custom plugin generally includes a YAML or JSON manifest describing the plugin and how its capabilities can be invoked. Security Copilot currently supports Security Copilot plugin manifests and OpenAI plugin formats, with supported OpenAPI versions including 3.0 and 3.0.1.

7. Custom Plugin Scope

One of the most important concepts for the exam is scope.

A custom plugin can be made available:

Only to the person who added it
To users across the organization

Think of this as:

			
Custom Plugin
     |
     +---- User scope
     |       |
     |       +-- Only the individual user
     |
     +---- Organization scope
             |
             +-- Available to Security Copilot users

		

User scope

A plugin can be private to the user who added it.

This is useful for:

Testing
Development
Validation
Experimental integrations

Organization scope

A plugin can be made available to users across the organization.

This should generally happen only after the plugin has been reviewed and validated.

Microsoft specifically recommends vetting custom plugins at the user level before making them available to the entire organization.

8. Who Can Manage Custom Plugins?

Security Copilot has two primary platform roles:

Owner
Contributor

These are Security Copilot roles and should not be confused with Microsoft Entra or Azure RBAC roles.

By default, Owners can manage their own custom plugins.

Contributors do not automatically have the same plugin-management privileges.

An Owner can configure whether Contributors are permitted to manage custom plugins.

Microsoft currently provides settings that control:

Who can add/manage personal custom plugins
Who can add/manage custom plugins for the organization

9. Personal Versus Organization-Level Plugin Management

This distinction is particularly important for scenario questions.

An Owner can configure plugin management using two separate concepts.

Personal plugin management

Who can add and manage plugins for themselves?

Possible configuration:

Owners only
Owners and Contributors

Organization-level plugin management

Who can add and manage plugins for users throughout the organization?

Possible configuration:

Owners only
Owners and Contributors

This produces combinations such as:

Personal plugins	Organization plugins	Meaning
Owners only	Owners only	Most restrictive
Owners + Contributors	Owners only	Contributors can experiment personally but cannot publish organization-wide
Owners + Contributors	Owners + Contributors	Broadest plugin-management permissions

For an exam question, pay close attention to whether the scenario asks about personal/user scope or organization/tenant scope.

10. Recommended Governance Pattern

A practical governance model is:

             Security Copilot Owner
                       |
                       v
              Establish governance
                       |
                       v
              Allow user-level testing
                       |
                       v
             Validate custom plugin
                       |
                       v
               Security review
                       |
                       v
        Publish for organization if approved
                       |
                       v
             Monitor and periodically review

This approach reduces the possibility that an untested custom plugin becomes broadly available.

Why this matters

A plugin may connect an AI system to an external API.

That API could:

Return sensitive information
Perform actions
Access privileged resources
Depend on credentials
Introduce third-party dependencies

Therefore, a plugin should be treated as part of the organization’s security boundary.

11. Configuring a Custom Plugin

The general process for adding a custom plugin is:

Step 1 — Open Security Copilot

Step 2 — Open the plugin/source interface

From the prompt experience, select the plugin/source control and open plugin management.

Step 3 — Go to Custom

Locate the Custom plugin section.

Step 4 — Add the plugin

Select the option to add/upload a plugin.

Step 5 — Choose the scope

Specify whether the plugin should be available:

Only to yourself
To anyone in the organization

Step 6 — Choose the plugin format

Depending on the plugin, you can add a:

Security Copilot plugin
OpenAI plugin

Step 7 — Provide the manifest

A Security Copilot plugin can be uploaded as a file or provided through a link to a YAML or JSON manifest.

Step 8 — Configure the plugin

Some plugins require additional configuration.

Step 9 — Complete setup

Provide the required configuration values and complete setup.

Step 10 — Enable the plugin

Once successfully configured, the plugin appears in the Custom section and can be turned on or off.

Microsoft notes that required setup must be completed before the plugin is available for use.

12. Plugin Authentication

Authentication is one of the most important security considerations when configuring plugins.

Different plugins can use different authentication mechanisms.

For Microsoft services, Security Copilot generally uses on-behalf-of authentication.

This means Security Copilot can access Microsoft service data according to the user’s existing permissions rather than simply giving the plugin unrestricted access to all organizational data.

Conceptually:

			
User
 |
 | Existing identity + permissions
 v
Security Copilot
 |
 | On-behalf-of authentication
 v
Microsoft Plugin
 |
 v
Microsoft Service
 |
 v
Only data/actions authorized for the user

		

Important exam distinction

Security Copilot access ≠ automatic access to all underlying security data.

A user needs:

Appropriate Security Copilot access
Appropriate permissions to the underlying service/data

13. Plugin Setup May Be Per User

Some preinstalled plugins require additional configuration.

Microsoft notes that plugins displaying a setup/gear control can require each user who has access to configure the plugin for themselves.

This creates an important distinction:

			
Plugin available
       |
       v
Does it require setup?
       |
   +---+---+
   |       |
  No      Yes
   |       |
   v       v
Use     Configure
          |
          v
        Use

		

Therefore, if an exam scenario says:

“The plugin is visible but the user cannot use it.”

Do not immediately conclude that the plugin is disabled.

It may require additional configuration or authentication.

14. Website Plugins

Security Copilot can also use website-based plugins.

A website plugin can provide access to publicly available website content.

Website plugins use anonymous authentication to access website content.

This is different from Microsoft service plugins that use the user’s identity through on-behalf-of authentication.

Exam comparison

Plugin scenario	Authentication concept
Microsoft service plugin	Often on-behalf-of authentication
Website plugin	Anonymous authentication
Custom API	Depends on API/plugin configuration
Non-Microsoft plugin	Depends on the plugin/provider

15. Custom API Plugins

Organizations can build plugins that connect Security Copilot to APIs.

An API plugin can define how Security Copilot interacts with an external API.

Security Copilot supports authentication approaches for API plugins, including scenarios involving:

Basic authentication
API keys
OAuth authorization code flow
Other supported configurations

The authentication mechanism must match how the underlying API is secured.

Security principle

Do not select an authentication method simply because it is available.

Instead:

Select an authentication method appropriate for the security requirements and capabilities of the target API.

16. Plugin Permissions and Data Permissions Are Different

This is a major SC-500 concept.

Suppose a user has access to Security Copilot and a Microsoft Sentinel plugin.

That does not mean the user automatically receives administrator privileges in Microsoft Sentinel.

Security Copilot uses existing permissions when accessing Microsoft services.

Therefore:

			
Security Copilot role
        |
        v
Can the user use Security Copilot?
        |
        +-------------------+
                            |
                            v
Underlying service permissions
                            |
                            v
             What data/actions are available?

		

The two authorization layers should be considered separately.

17. Plugins and Security Copilot Agents

Plugins are also important when working with Security Copilot agents.

An agent can use plugins to access external capabilities and information.

For example:

			
Security Copilot Agent
          |
          +---- Plugin A
          |       |
          |       +---- Microsoft service
          |
          +---- Plugin B
          |       |
          |       +---- External API
          |
          +---- Plugin C
                  |
                  +---- Threat intelligence

		

Microsoft describes plugins as components that extend what agents can do by giving them access to capabilities in Microsoft and non-Microsoft services and public websites through APIs.

An important distinction is that an agent’s identity and permissions also matter.

An agent can either use a dedicated agent identity in supported scenarios or connect using an existing user account, depending on the agent.

18. Required Plugins for Agents

Some agents depend on particular plugins.

When an agent is configured, its required plugins may be automatically enabled for that agent.

Importantly, enabling a required plugin for an agent does not necessarily change the organization’s general plugin availability configuration.

Microsoft describes agent-required plugins as being activated for that agent without changing the organization’s broader plugin availability settings.

This is an important exam distinction.

Example

An organization restricts a plugin to Owners only.

An agent requires that plugin.

The agent’s required plugin can be enabled specifically for the agent without simply changing the organization’s general plugin policy.

19. Plugin Governance and Least Privilege

Security Copilot should follow the same security principles used elsewhere in Azure and Microsoft security solutions.

The most important principle is:

Grant the minimum access required to perform the task.

For plugins, this means considering:

Who can add plugins?
Who can modify plugins?
Who can publish plugins?
Who can use the plugin?
What data does the plugin access?
What APIs can it call?
What actions can it perform?
What authentication does it use?
Is the plugin organization-wide?
Is the plugin required only for a specific agent?

Microsoft’s Zero Trust guidance emphasizes least privilege for Security Copilot administration and SecOps users.

20. Owner Versus Contributor — Plugin Perspective

Capability	Owner	Contributor
Use Security Copilot	Yes	Yes
Create sessions	Yes	Yes
Manage personal custom plugins	Yes	Default: No
Allow Contributors to manage personal plugins	Yes	No
Allow Contributors to publish custom plugins for organization	Yes	No
Change availability of preinstalled plugins	Yes	No
Manage plugin governance	Yes	No

These distinctions are especially important because Contributor does not automatically mean administrator.

Microsoft’s current Security Copilot role model explicitly separates Owner and Contributor capabilities.

21. Embedded Security Copilot Experiences

Security Copilot can be integrated into other Microsoft security experiences.

Plugin availability can therefore affect not only the standalone Security Copilot experience but also embedded experiences.

For example, restricting a preinstalled plugin can affect the availability of related functionality inside integrated Microsoft security products.

This is why administrators should consider the broader impact before restricting a plugin.

22. Disabling a Plugin

Plugin availability can be controlled through plugin settings.

A plugin can generally be:

Available
Restricted
Turned on
Turned off

The exact effect depends on whether the plugin is:

Preinstalled
Custom
Organization-wide
User-specific
Required by an agent

Do not confuse:

“The plugin is installed”

with:

“The plugin is currently enabled and usable.”

23. Plugin Lifecycle

A useful exam mental model is:

              CREATE / ADD
                   |
                   v
              CONFIGURE
                   |
                   v
               VALIDATE
                   |
                   v
                ENABLE
                   |
                   v
                 USE
                   |
                   v
              MONITOR
                   |
                   v
             REVIEW / UPDATE
                   |
                   v
               DISABLE
                   |
                   v
                DELETE

A mature organization should not treat plugin configuration as a one-time task.

Plugins should be periodically reviewed for:

Security
Ownership
Authentication
Permissions
Business justification
Data exposure
API changes
Continued organizational need

24. Common SC-500 Exam Traps

Trap 1: Assuming Contributors can automatically manage plugins

They cannot automatically manage all custom plugins.

An Owner controls whether Contributors can manage personal or organization-level custom plugins.

Trap 2: Confusing Security Copilot roles with Entra roles

Security Copilot Owner and Contributor are Security Copilot roles.

They should not be treated as equivalent to Microsoft Entra or Azure RBAC roles.

Trap 3: Assuming a plugin grants data access

A plugin does not automatically override the user’s permissions.

For Microsoft services, Security Copilot uses the user’s existing authorization through the on-behalf-of model.

Trap 4: Assuming preinstalled means everyone can use it

Owners can restrict preinstalled plugins.

The available choices include allowing all users or restricting access to Owners.

Trap 5: Confusing user scope with organization scope

A custom plugin can be private to the person who adds it or made available organization-wide.

Look carefully for words such as:

“my session”
“personal”
“user”
“everyone”
“organization”
“tenant”

Trap 6: Assuming a visible plugin is ready to use

Some plugins require additional setup or authentication.

A plugin may therefore appear in the interface but still require configuration.

Trap 7: Assuming an agent’s plugin requirement changes the global plugin policy

An agent can have required plugins enabled specifically for that agent without changing the organization’s general plugin availability configuration.

25. Exam-Focused Mental Model

When you see a Security Copilot plugin question, think through these five questions:

1. What type of plugin is it?

Preinstalled or custom?

2. Who should have access?

Owners, Contributors, or everyone?

3. What is the scope?

Personal/user or organization-wide?

4. Does it require setup/authentication?

Available does not necessarily mean configured.

5. What underlying permissions apply?

Security Copilot permissions and service/data permissions are separate considerations.

A compact mental model is:

             SECURITY COPILOT PLUGIN
                       |
        +--------------+--------------+
        |              |              |
        v              v              v
      TYPE           SCOPE         ACCESS
        |              |              |
 Preinstalled       User          Owner
 Custom             Org          Contributor
        |                             |
        +-------------+---------------+
                      |
                      v
                CONFIGURATION
                      |
                      v
               AUTHENTICATION
                      |
                      v
               DATA / ACTIONS
                      |
                      v
                 GOVERNANCE

26. Key Takeaways

For the SC-500 exam, remember these points:

Plugins extend Security Copilot’s capabilities.
Plugins can connect Security Copilot to Microsoft, non-Microsoft, custom, and website-based capabilities.
Preinstalled plugins are already available within Security Copilot.
Custom plugins are added or created to meet specialized requirements.
Owners control important plugin governance settings.
Owners can determine whether Contributors can manage custom plugins.
Custom plugins can be scoped to the individual user or the organization.
Preinstalled plugins can be restricted to Owners.
Some plugins require additional setup or authentication.
Microsoft service plugins generally use on-behalf-of authentication.
Security Copilot access does not automatically grant unrestricted access to underlying service data.
Plugins can extend the capabilities of Security Copilot agents.
Agent-required plugins can be enabled for the agent without necessarily changing the organization’s general plugin availability.
Least privilege should guide plugin access and administration.
Always distinguish plugin availability, plugin configuration, authentication, and underlying data permissions.

Practice Exam Questions

Question 1

A security administrator wants to allow Security Copilot Contributors to create and manage their own custom plugins for personal use. However, Contributors must not be allowed to publish custom plugins for the entire organization.

What configuration should the administrator use?

A. Allow Owners and Contributors to manage personal custom plugins, while restricting organization-level custom plugin management to Owners.

B. Restrict all custom plugin management to Owners.

C. Allow Contributors to manage organization-level plugins but restrict personal plugins to Owners.

D. Grant Contributors the Security Copilot Owner role.

Answer: A

Explanation: Security Copilot provides separate controls for personal and organization-level custom plugin management. The administrator can allow Owners and Contributors to manage their own plugins while keeping organization-wide plugin management restricted to Owners.

Question 2

A Security Copilot user can see a preinstalled plugin in the plugin list, but the plugin cannot yet be used because it requires additional configuration.

What should the user do?

A. Request the Security Copilot Owner role.

B. Assign themselves an Azure Owner role.

C. Create a new custom plugin with the same name.

D. Complete the plugin’s required setup and authentication/configuration.

Answer: D

Explanation: Some preinstalled plugins require additional setup. Plugins that display a setup or gear option may require configuration by each user who has access to them.

Question 3

An organization wants to prevent Contributors from using a sensitive preinstalled Security Copilot plugin while continuing to allow Security Copilot Owners to use it.

What should an Owner configure?

A. Delete the plugin from Security Copilot.

B. Disable Security Copilot for Contributors.

C. Remove all Microsoft Entra permissions from Contributors.

D. Restrict the preinstalled plugin’s availability to Owners only.

Answer: D

Explanation: Owners can configure preinstalled plugin availability and restrict a plugin to Owners only. This is different from removing a user’s Security Copilot access entirely.

Question 4

A Security Copilot user accesses Microsoft security data through a Microsoft plugin. The security team wants to ensure that Security Copilot does not bypass the user’s existing permissions.

Which authentication concept is most relevant?

A. Anonymous authentication

B. Basic authentication

C. API key authentication

D. On-behalf-of authentication

Answer: D

Explanation: Security Copilot uses on-behalf-of authentication to access Microsoft service data through active Microsoft plugins, helping maintain the user’s existing authorization context.

Question 5

An organization has developed a custom plugin and wants to make it available to all Security Copilot users. Before doing so, what is the recommended approach?

A. Immediately publish it organization-wide so that all users can test it.

B. Grant every user the Security Copilot Owner role.

C. Test and vet the plugin at the user level before making it organization-wide.

D. Convert the plugin into a preinstalled Microsoft plugin.

Answer: C

Explanation: Microsoft recommends vetting custom plugins at the user level before making them available throughout the organization. This reduces the risk of deploying an improperly configured or unsafe plugin broadly.

Question 6

Which statement correctly describes the relationship between Security Copilot permissions and permissions in an underlying Microsoft service?

A. Security Copilot access does not automatically grant unrestricted access to the underlying service’s data.

B. A Security Copilot Contributor automatically receives Security Administrator permissions.

C. Enabling a plugin automatically grants its users Global Administrator privileges.

D. All Security Copilot users receive identical permissions to every connected Microsoft service.

Answer: A

Explanation: Security Copilot roles govern access to the Security Copilot platform. Underlying Microsoft service permissions remain relevant, and Microsoft plugins generally use on-behalf-of authentication to access data according to the user’s existing permissions.

Question 7

A custom plugin is being developed for an organization’s internal API. The security team wants the plugin to remain available only to the developer while it is being tested.

What scope should be selected?

A. Organization-wide

B. Tenant-wide administrator

C. Preinstalled

D. User/personal scope

Answer: D

Explanation: Custom plugins can be added for the individual user or made available to everyone in the organization. User scope is appropriate for development and validation before broader publication.

Question 8

A Security Copilot agent requires a particular plugin to function. The organization has restricted that plugin’s general availability.

What should the administrator understand about an agent’s required plugin?

A. The restriction must always be removed for every Security Copilot user.

B. The required plugin can be enabled specifically for the agent without changing the general organization-wide plugin availability setting.

C. The agent automatically becomes a Security Copilot Owner.

D. The plugin must be deleted and recreated as a custom plugin.

Answer: B

Explanation: When an agent requires specific plugins, those plugins can be activated for the agent without changing the general plugin availability configuration.

Question 9

An administrator wants to allow Contributors to experiment with custom plugins but does not want them to publish plugins for organization-wide use.

Which configuration best satisfies the requirement?

A. Allow Contributors to manage personal custom plugins while restricting organization-level custom plugin management to Owners.

B. Restrict all plugin access to Owners.

C. Allow Contributors to manage organization-level plugins but prohibit personal plugins.

D. Make all custom plugins preinstalled plugins.

Answer: A

Explanation: Security Copilot separates personal plugin management from organization-level plugin management. Contributors can be allowed to manage personal plugins while organization-wide plugin publishing remains restricted to Owners.

Question 10

A security engineer needs to connect Security Copilot to an external API that requires authentication. Which statement is most accurate?

A. Every API plugin must use anonymous authentication.

B. Security Copilot automatically converts every API to Microsoft Entra authentication.

C. The plugin’s authentication configuration should match the authentication requirements of the underlying API.

D. API plugins cannot connect to authenticated APIs.

Answer: C

Explanation: API plugins can use supported authentication approaches appropriate to the API, including scenarios involving API keys, basic authentication, and OAuth authorization code flow. The authentication configuration must correspond to how the target API is secured.