The answer is to configure the 'Require device to be marked as compliant' grant control in your Conditional Access policy. This setting works by checking the compliance status that Microsoft Intune reports to Azure AD during authentication, ensuring that only devices meeting your organization’s Intune compliance policies—such as requiring encryption, a minimum OS version, or an acceptable threat level—can access corporate email in Exchange Online. On the Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect exam, this tests your understanding of how Conditional Access integrates with device management; a common trap is confusing this with the “Require approved client app” control, which focuses on app identity rather than device health. Remember that “compliant” always ties back to Intune’s policy evaluation, not just device ownership or domain join. A helpful memory tip: think of the device as needing a “health badge” from Intune—if it fails the check, the gate stays closed.
SC-100 Practice Question: Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities
This SC-100 practice question tests your understanding of design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Your organization uses Microsoft Intune to manage devices and wants to ensure that only compliant devices can access corporate email. Which conditional access policy setting should you configure?
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
Option A is correct because the 'Require device to be marked as compliant' setting in a Conditional Access policy enforces that only devices meeting your Intune compliance policies (e.g., encryption, OS version, threat level) can access corporate email. This setting checks the device's compliance status reported by Intune to Azure AD during authentication, blocking non-compliant devices before they reach Exchange Online.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 device to be marked as compliant
Why this is correct
This grant control ensures only Intune compliant devices can access corporate resources.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Require approved client app
Why it's wrong here
Approved client app is for app-level protection, not device compliance.
✗
Require Multi-Factor Authentication
Why it's wrong here
MFA is an additional authentication factor, not device compliance.
✗
Require domain join
Why it's wrong here
Domain join is for hybrid Azure AD joined devices, which may not cover all compliance requirements.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'Require approved client app' (which controls app-level access) with device compliance, thinking that restricting the app is sufficient to secure email, but it does not enforce device health or configuration.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Intune compliance policies are evaluated by the Intune service and the compliance status is written to the device object in Azure AD via the Microsoft Graph. When a Conditional Access policy with 'Require device to be marked as compliant' is applied, Azure AD checks the device's compliance claim during token issuance; if the device is non-compliant, the token is denied and the user is redirected to the Intune Company Portal to remediate. A real-world scenario is a lost or rooted Android device that passes MFA but fails the compliance check for 'Rooted device' — the policy blocks email access even though the user authenticated successfully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this SC-100 question in full detail.
Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities — This question tests Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Require device to be marked as compliant — Option A is correct because the 'Require device to be marked as compliant' setting in a Conditional Access policy enforces that only devices meeting your Intune compliance policies (e.g., encryption, OS version, threat level) can access corporate email. This setting checks the device's compliance status reported by Intune to Azure AD during authentication, blocking non-compliant devices before they reach Exchange Online.
What should I do if I get this SC-100 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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