Mastering Azure Security with Microsoft Defender for Cloud: Improve Your Secure Posture

In this comprehensive article, we’ll explore how you can leverage the powerful features of Microsoft Defender for Cloud to enhance the security posture of your Azure environment. By the end of this post, you’ll have a deep understanding of how to use vulnerability assessment for virtual machines and containers, automate recommendation workflows, and access your secure score data using Azure Resource Graph (ARG).

Vulnerability Assessment for Virtual Machines

Microsoft Defender for Cloud’s integrated vulnerability assessment solution, powered by Qualys, allows you to quickly deploy a comprehensive vulnerability scanning tool on your Azure virtual machines without any additional configuration or costs. Once deployed, the scanner continuously assesses all the installed applications on your VMs, identifies vulnerabilities, and presents the findings directly in the Defender for Cloud console.

To get started, navigate to the Recommendations page in Defender for Cloud and look for the ‘Machines should have a vulnerability assessment solution’ recommendation. This is a Quick Fix recommendation that allows you to easily deploy the Qualys VM extension on your selected machines. After the extension is installed, the scanner will start collecting artifacts, sending them to the Qualys cloud service, and the findings will be reported back to Defender for Cloud within 24 hours.

You can then view and remediate the vulnerability findings by exploring the ‘Machines should have vulnerability findings resolved’ recommendation. This will show you a detailed list of the identified vulnerabilities, including their descriptions, impact, severity, and the necessary remediation steps.

Vulnerability Assessment for Containers

In addition to virtual machines, Defender for Cloud also provides vulnerability scanning for container images in your Azure Container Registry (ACR). The service scans images that are pushed, imported, or pulled within the last 30 days, and then surfaces the detailed findings in the ‘Vulnerabilities in Azure Container Registry images should be remediated’ recommendation.

To simulate a vulnerable container image, you can use the Azure Cloud Shell to build and push a sample ‘hello-world’ image to your ACR instance. After the scan is complete (usually within 15 minutes), you’ll be able to view the identified vulnerabilities and their associated details in the Defender for Cloud recommendations.

Automating Recommendations with Workflow Automation

Security teams often need to implement various workflows for incident response, such as notifying stakeholders, launching change management processes, and applying specific remediation steps. Defender for Cloud’s workflow automation feature allows you to trigger these workflows in real-time, based on security alerts or recommendations.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the process of creating a new Logic App that will send an email notification whenever a recommendation is created or triggered. By configuring a workflow automation instance in Defender for Cloud, you can ensure that the appropriate parties are notified and can take timely action to address the identified security concerns.

Accessing Your Secure Score via Azure Resource Graph

The Azure Secure Score is a crucial metric for evaluating your overall security posture. Defender for Cloud makes this data available through Azure Resource Graph (ARG), allowing you to efficiently query and calculate your secure score, both at the individual security control level and across multiple subscriptions.

We’ll demonstrate how to use ARG to retrieve your current secure score, the maximum possible score, and the score as a percentage. Additionally, you’ll learn how to query the status of all the security controls, including the number of unhealthy resources, current scores, and maximum scores. This information can be invaluable for understanding your security landscape and prioritizing remediation efforts.

Creating Governance Rules and Assigning Owners

While security teams are responsible for improving the overall security posture, they may not always have the resources or authority to directly implement security recommendations. By creating governance rules and assigning owners, you can establish accountability and transparency, empowering your organization to drive continuous improvements to its security posture.

In this article, you’ll learn how to configure governance rules in Defender for Cloud, including setting the severity, due dates, and responsible owners for each recommendation. This will ensure that the appropriate stakeholders are notified and can take timely action to address the identified security concerns.

Conclusion

By leveraging the comprehensive capabilities of Microsoft Defender for Cloud, you can significantly enhance the security of your Azure environment. From deploying integrated vulnerability assessments and automating recommendation workflows to accessing detailed secure score data and establishing governance rules, this article has provided you with the knowledge and tools to master Azure security and improve your organization’s overall security posture.

To learn more, be sure to check out the official article and the blog post mentioned in the content.

Happy securing!