1. First Principles of Security, Compliance, and Identity

Before touching a single Microsoft product name, you need three mental models firmly in place: what security is actually trying to accomplish, why compliance is a continuous discipline rather than a one-time checkbox, and why identity — not the network firewall — has become the real front line of defense. Every subsequent phase in this guide is really just "here's how Microsoft implements this idea," so getting these three ideas right now pays off across the entire exam.