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220-1202 Practice Question: During a security audit, a technician discovers…
During a security audit, a technician discovers that an employee used a hammer to destroy several old hard drives. The drives are now in pieces, but the organization's policy mandates 'secure data destruction' for compliance. Which additional step should the technician take?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is assuming that any physical damage (hammering) equals secure destruction; the exam tests whether you know that intact platters or fragments can retain recoverable data and must be verified and shredded.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Visually inspect the platters for scratches and breaks, then shred any intact platters.
Physical destruction via hammering may leave intact platters or fragments that still hold readable data, so the technician must verify the platters are actually damaged and shred any that remain intact. This ensures the destruction is truly secure and compliant with the 'secure data destruction' policy. Documentation alone does not guarantee data is unrecoverable.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Document the destruction and consider it complete.
Why it's wrong here
Documenting destruction merely records that an action was performed, but it does not provide verifiable proof that the data is truly unrecoverable. For security audits and compliance requirements, it is critical to confirm the actual destruction of data, not just the intent or process. Without physical verification, there remains a significant risk that data could still be extracted from the media, rendering the documentation insufficient.
- ✗
Use a degausser on the remaining pieces.
Why it's wrong here
Degaussing is a method designed to destroy data on intact magnetic storage media by exposing it to a powerful magnetic field, randomizing the magnetic domains. If the hard drive is already broken into 'pieces,' the degausser may not uniformly affect all fragments, especially if they are small or non-magnetic components. This method is impractical and unreliable for physically fragmented media, as it cannot guarantee complete data destruction across all remnants.
- ✓
Visually inspect the platters for scratches and breaks, then shred any intact platters.
Why this is correct
Visually inspecting the platters is a crucial step to confirm that the data-bearing surfaces have been sufficiently damaged, such as by deep scratches or complete breakage. If any platters remain intact or only partially compromised, data recovery could still be possible. Shredding any remaining intact platters ensures complete physical destruction, rendering data unrecoverable and providing undeniable proof of destruction, which is essential for meeting stringent security and compliance standards.
- ✗
Run a data recovery tool on the pieces to see if data remains.
Why it's wrong here
Running a data recovery tool is designed for logically damaged or partially functional storage devices, not for physically shattered components. Attempting to use such software on 'pieces' of a hard drive is impractical because the necessary electrical connections and coherent data structures are absent. Furthermore, it risks damaging the recovery equipment and cannot provide reliable verification of data destruction on physically fragmented media; physical damage requires physical verification.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This 220-1202 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1202 exam.