Introduction Of Practical Azure Security
Azure Security comes to cloud-hosted applications, security isn’t a one-size-fits-all. Platform security is Microsoft’s responsibility, but it’s up to you and your customers to adopt the various tools and services offered in Azure to protect the hosted applications. The main focus here is keeping your customers’ data confidential, integrity, and availability. In this chapter, we’ll look at some tools and services you’ll need to include in your Practical Azure Security Infrastructure as a Service (Azure IaaS) architecture to protect your environment
Azure Resource Access Control
Defining resource security boundaries is one of the most critical design aspects of any architecture. In the case of Microsoft Azure, resource security boundaries are defined at tiers. Tier 1 is the subscription tier, Tier 2 is resource groups, and Tier 3 is individual resources. All permissions assigned at tier 1 are inherited by the child resources.
Resource Group Segregation
In the ARM model, resource groups were introduced as a logical way to group resources. For Practical Azure Security instance, all the resources in a particular environment – say, DevTest or production – can be added to separate resource groups. Different subscriptions for different environments provide the highest level of isolation, but it may not be feasible to manage and run a large volume of subscriptions. Therefore, resource groups can be used to aggregate resources and manage them as a single entity. For example, you can extract the deployment details into an ARM template for redeployment in the future. All resources deployed in the ARM model must be assigned to a resource group, whether you choose to use an existing one or create a new one.
Resource Locks
A resource lock protects resources from accidental change or deletion. A resource lock is implemented at the subscription level, resource group level, or resource level. The two types of resource locks are read-only and delete-only. The read-only lock is implemented when the resource is applied to the scope. It prevents users from deleting or updating any resource when the lock is applied to the resource group. The delete-only lock protects the resource from accidental deletion. A resource lock protects resources from accidental change or deletion. A resource lock is implemented at the subscription level, resource group level, or resource level. The two types of resource locks are read-only and delete-only. The read-only lock is implemented when the resource is applied to the scope. It prevents users from deleting or updating any resource when the lock is applied to the resource group. The delete-only lock protects the resource from accidental deletion.
Azure VM Security
The Practical Azure Security security of a network-connected VM can be controlled by tools and configurations at both the network and the storage layers. The management plane security is controlled by RBAC as mentioned above. RBAC determines who has the privilege to make changes to the VM from the Azure portal. In all security configurations, the thumb rule is to use the principle of least privilege. Only administrators or users who need to access the VM can do so. Only the minimum privileges are required to carry out their tasks. The data plane security of the VM is related to the controls implemented at both network and storage layers.
Azure Networking Security Boundaries
The Azure virtual network as such is a security boundary, where VMs in one VNet are by default isolated from VMs in the other VNets, unless communication is explicitly allowed through VPN connections or peer-to-peer connections. There are additional security measures such as NSG, network virtualization appliances, unidirectional devices (UDDs), etc., that can be used to strengthen security.
DDoS Protection
DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) is a type of DDoS protection that Azure implements. It protects the platform against targeted DDoS attacks, but it’s important to note that it’s a platform-layer DDoS protection, meaning it can’t be configured by the user. In the event of a DDoS attack on an endpoint, Practical Azure Security will take the necessary steps to limit the attack to that endpoint and not affect any other systems. The default DDoS protection mechanism is called
Virtual Appliances
Network Virtual Appliances (NVAs) offer advanced security capabilities when compared to the native capabilities offered by NSG and UDRs (User-defined Routing). Virtual appliances provide the following security capabilities: Intrusion Detection/Prevention Advanced Firewall and Routing Vulnerability Management and Analysis Application Protection and Antivirus Management Network Traffic Monitoring Network Optimization A number of third party vendors offer NVAs on the Azure Marketplace. NVAs can be purchased on a pay as you go model or with BYOL. The BYOL model is useful for migration scenarios where an organization uses network devices from third party vendors and wants to bring the same capabilities in Azure. An organization can reuse existing investments in these devices by deploying virtual appliances using the same licenses. For example, an organization has an existing investment in Cisco devices (e.g. firewall, WAN optimization, etc.) and wants to implement the same architecture into Azure. To begin, the organization can search for Cisco appliances in Azure Marketplace. All available devices are listed with the types of licensing models. Once the device is selected, the organization can then deploy with the configuration.
Virtual Network Service Endpoints
VNet service service endpoints limit access to Azure storage resources such as SQL Database, Cosmos DB, SQL Data Warehouse, etc. by only allowing traffic from a particular VNet to access those resources. This helps to enforce security posture in the architectures where those resources are deployed. Azure VNet service endpoint has the following advantages: Access from a public IP address is limited and traffic is secured through VNet View Figure 8-26 Architecture using NSG for Azure Chapter 8 Practice of Azure Security VNet traffic flows through the Azure backbone and helps to optimize traffic when forcing tunneling is used to send internet-bound traffic through on-premises devices Easily configure VNet service endpoint with a single click from the Azure management portal Eliminates the need for reserving public IP address and firewall to secure access to Azure resources
Summary
Practical Azure Security should be built-in from the ground up into Azure architecture and include compute, storage and network components. In addition to built-in tools and features, such as NSG (Network Security Guard), VNet Service Endpoints (VNet Service Endpoints), disk encryption, OMS (On-Demand Security Management), and security centers, 3rd party virtual appliances (VPNs) can be used to protect hosted environments.
interview questions of Practical Azure Security
- Can you provide an example of how you’ve implemented role-based access control (RBAC) within an Azure environment to manage user permissions effectively?
- How do you ensure secure data transmission and storage within Azure, including encryption methods you’ve employed?
- Describe your experience with configuring and managing Azure Security Center for real-time threat detection and response.
- Can you discuss your approach to securing Azure virtual networks (VNets) and implementing network security groups (NSGs) to control traffic flow?
- How have you integrated Azure Key Vault into your security strategy for secure key management and secrets storage?
- Share your experience with implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for enhanced user authentication in Azure Active Directory (AAD).
- Describe a scenario where you’ve used Azure Sentinel for Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) capabilities to detect and respond to security incidents.
- What measures do you take to ensure compliance with industry standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS within Azure environments?
- Can you provide examples of how you’ve configured Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery for disaster recovery and business continuity?
- How do you stay updated on the latest Azure security threats and best practices to continuously improve the security posture of your Azure deployments?
