Question

Difficulty: HardTroubleshooting Mobile OS Security and Connectivity Issues

An executive returning from an international business trip reports that corporate mobile applications on an enterprise-managed tablet are failing to connect to internal company servers. A security log review reveals that an untrusted third-party root CA certificate was installed on the device while connected to a public hotel network, causing the Mobile Device Management (MDM) client to mark the device as non-compliant and revoke enterprise network access profiles. Which of the following is the FIRST action an administrator should take to resolve the connectivity issue securely?

  1. Remove the untrusted root certificate, verify MDM policy compliance, and re-issue the enterprise security configuration profile.Answer
  2. B
    Contact the mobile service carrier to initiate a remote network reset for international roaming data towers.
  3. C
    Reconfigure the enterprise Wi-Fi access point to use WPA2-Personal with a pre-shared key to bypass compliance validation.
  4. D
    Enable side-loading developer permissions on the device to force the corporate applications to trust the newly added root CA.

Answer

Remove the untrusted root certificate, verify MDM policy compliance, and re-issue the enterprise security configuration profile.
The correct response addresses the actual security violation by removing the untrusted root CA certificate that caused the MDM non-compliance state. Once the unauthorized certificate is removed, forcing an MDM compliance check allows the system to re-issue the necessary enterprise connectivity profiles safely.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the root cause of the non-compliance state
The installation of an untrusted third-party root CA certificate triggered the MDM client's automated remediation policy, revoking corporate access.
Enterprise MDM solutions monitor device compliance and block access when unauthorized payload changes or certificate installations occur.
2
Remediate the unauthorized device state
Delete the untrusted root certificate from the device's credential store.
This removes potential man-in-the-middle exposure and returns the system certificate store to a trusted state.
3
Re-establish compliance and network access
Force an MDM policy compliance check and re-deploy the required enterprise network access profiles.
Once the device passes compliance checks, enterprise network profiles and VPN configurations can be restored safely.

Key Concept

MDM Certificate Compliance and Mobile Security Remediation
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