AZ-500 Secure identity and access Practice Question
Your company uses Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft Intune for mobile device management. You need to ensure that only devices that are compliant with your security policies can access corporate email. You configure a Conditional Access policy targeting Exchange Online. Which grant control should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse device compliance with device join status (hybrid Microsoft Entra ID join) or authentication strength (MFA), not realizing that Intune compliance is a separate attribute that must be explicitly required in the grant control.
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
✓
Require device to be marked as compliant
The scenario requires that only devices compliant with security policies can access corporate email. The 'Require device to be marked as compliant' grant control in Conditional Access checks the device compliance status reported by Microsoft Intune. If the device is not compliant, access to Exchange Online is blocked, ensuring policy enforcement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Require multifactor authentication
Why it's wrong here
Multifactor authentication verifies the user's identity via an additional factor (e.g., phone or authenticator app) but does not evaluate the device's compliance state. A non-compliant device can still pass MFA if the user's credentials and second factor are valid, so this grant control fails to block devices that lack required patching, encryption, or other Intune policies.
- ✓
Require device to be marked as compliant
Why this is correct
This grant control checks the device compliance status reported by Microsoft Intune/Microsoft Entra ID, ensuring the device meets policies such as OS version, disk encryption, and jailbreak detection. Only devices marked as compliant by Intune are allowed access, which directly enforces the requirement to block non-compliant devices.
- ✗
Block access
Why it's wrong here
Block access is a blanket denial that prevents all users and devices—including compliant ones—from accessing the resource. It does not selectively evaluate device compliance; rather, it would stop every authentication attempt, making it ineffective for a scenario where only non-compliant devices should be denied.
- ✗
Require hybrid Microsoft Entra ID joined device
Why it's wrong here
Requiring a hybrid Microsoft Entra ID joined device checks the device's join state (domain membership plus Microsoft Entra ID registration), not its compliance with Intune policies. A device can be hybrid Microsoft Entra ID joined yet still be non-compliant—for example, missing security updates or lacking BitLocker encryption—so this control does not ensure the device meets compliance requirements.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AZ-500 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 AZ-500 exam.