220-1102 Practice Question: Selective wipe removes only MDM-managed corporate…
A sales representative reports that their company-enrolled personal smartphone was lost at an airport. The device contains both personal photos and corporate email. The IT department needs to protect corporate data without destroying personal content. Which action should the technician take FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA A+ distinguishes between remote wipe (full factory reset, erases everything) and selective wipe (removes only MDM-managed apps and profiles). In BYOD scenarios, always perform a selective wipe first — it satisfies the corporate security need without destroying the employee's personal data. A full wipe is appropriate for company-owned devices or if the employee consents.
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
✓
Issue a selective wipe through the MDM portal to remove corporate data only
Mobile Device Management (MDM) platforms support selective wipe (corporate wipe), which removes only corporate data, apps, and profiles while leaving personal data intact. This is the correct first action for a BYOD device owned by the employee. A full remote wipe erases all data including personal photos, which may have legal implications on a personally-owned device. Selective wipe addresses the business requirement (protecting corporate email) without harming the employee's personal content.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Perform a full remote wipe on the device immediately
Why it's wrong here
Performing a full remote wipe on a personally-owned device irretrievably deletes the employee's personal photos, apps, and files, which is disproportionately destructive for a BYOD environment and may violate the organization's acceptable-use policy. Such a wipe is a last-resort action reserved for cases where the device holds highly sensitive unmanaged data and no separation is possible. Instead, MDM selective wipe should be used to remove only corporate data while preserving the owner's personal information.
- ✗
Contact the mobile carrier to suspend the device's SIM
Why it's wrong here
Having the carrier suspend the SIM card only terminates the device's cellular voice and data connectivity, leaving it fully functional over Wi-Fi and able to access any cached corporate email, documents, or MDM-managed apps. The carrier has no visibility into or control over locally stored corporate data, and this step doesn't revoke the device's existing MDM policies or certificates. A selective MDM wipe is required to actually clear the corporate data containers on the device.
- ✓
Issue a selective wipe through the MDM portal to remove corporate data only
Why this is correct
Issuing a selective wipe through the MDM portal is the correct first action because it removes only the organization's managed container—corporate email profiles, VPN configurations, certificates, and business apps—while preserving all personal data on the employee's own phone. This aligns with the principle of data separation in BYOD, ensuring that lost or stolen devices don't expose company data without infringing on user privacy. The MDM server confirms the wipe and revokes corporate access, making this the most secure and proportionate response.
- ✗
Disable the employee's Active Directory account to block corporate access
Why it's wrong here
Disabling the Active Directory account revokes the user's ability to authenticate to corporate network resources, but it does nothing to the device's locally cached email, documents, or credentials. Because the phone is BYOD, it likely isn't domain-joined, so the AD account is not the gatekeeper for on-device data. A selective wipe via MDM is necessary to purge cached corporate content.
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Data Classification Levels
Key term
BYOD
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is a policy allowing employees to use their personal devices for work tasks, increasing flexibility but introducing security and management challenges.
Key term
Bring Your Own Device
A policy allowing employees to use their personal laptops, smartphones, or tablets for work tasks instead of using company-issued equipment.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1102 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 220-1102 exam.