CIS Microsoft Azure Foundations Benchmark v2.1.0

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.1 Security Defaults Security Defaults

Security defaults in Microsoft Entra ID make it easier to be secure and help protect your organization. Security defaults contain preconfigured security settings for common attacks. Security defaults is available to everyone. The goal is to ensure that all organizations have a basic level of security enabled at no extra cost. You may turn on security defaults in the Azure portal.

If your tenant was created on or after October 22, 2019, security defaults may already be enabled in your tenant.

From Azure Portal To ensure security defaults is enabled in your directory: 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 2. Browse to Microsoft Entra ID > Properties. 3. Select Manage security defaults. 4. Verify the Enable security defaults toggle is Enabled.

This recommendation should be implemented initially and then may be overridden by other service/product specific CIS Benchmarks. Administrators should also be aware that certain configurations in Microsoft Entra ID may impact other Microsoft services such as Microsoft 365.

Manual

Security defaults provide secure default settings that we manage on behalf of organizations to keep customers safe until they are ready to manage their own identity security settings. For example, doing the following: - Requiring all users and admins to register for MFA. - Challenging users with MFA - when necessary, based on factors such as location, device, role, and task. - Disabling authentication from legacy authentication clients, which can’t do MFA.

From Azure Portal To enable security defaults in your directory: 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 1. Browse to Microsoft Entra ID > Properties 1. Select Manage security defaults 1. Set the Enable security defaults to Enabled 1. Select Save

This recommendation differs from the Microsoft 365 Benchmark. This is because the potential impact associated with disabling Security Defaults is dependent upon the security settings implemented in the environment. It is recommended that organizations disabling Security Defaults implement appropriate security settings to replace the settings configured by Security Defaults.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.1 Security Defaults Security Defaults

Enable multi-factor authentication for all roles, groups, and users that have write access or permissions to Azure resources. These include custom created objects or built-in roles such as; - Service Co-Administrators - Subscription Owners - Contributors

By default, multi-factor authentication is disabled for all users.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select the Microsoft Entra ID blade 1. Select Users 1. Take note of all users with the role Service Co-Administrators, Owners or Contributors 1. Click on the Per-User MFA button in the top row menu 1. Ensure that MULTI-FACTOR AUTH STATUS is Enabled for all noted users From REST API For Every Subscription, For Every Tenant Step 1: Identify Users with Administrative Access 1. List All Users Using Microsoft Graph API: GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users Capture id and corresponding userPrincipalName ('$uid', '$userPrincipalName') 2. List all Role Definitions Using Azure management API: https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/:subscriptionId/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/roleDefinitions?api-version=2017-05-01 Capture Role Definition IDs/Name ('$name') and role names ('$properties/roleName') where properties/roleName contains (Owner or *contributor or admin ) 3. List All Role Assignments (Mappings $A.uid to $B.name) Using Azure Management API: GET https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/:subscriptionId/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/roleassignments?api-version=2017-10-01-preview Find all administrative roles ($B.name) in Properties/roleDefinitionId mapped with user ids ($A.id) in Properties/principalId where Properties/principalType == User 4. Now Match ($CProperties/principalId) with $A.uid and get $A.userPrincipalName save this as D.userPrincipalName Step 2: Run MSOL PowerShell command: Get-MsolUser -All | where {$_.StrongAuthenticationMethods.Count -eq 0} | Select-Object -Property UserPrincipalName If the output contains any of the $D.userPrincipalName, then this recommendation is non-compliant. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: e3e008c3-56b9-4133-8fd7-d3347377402a - Name: 'Accounts with owner permissions on Azure resources should be MFA enabled' - Policy ID: 931e118d-50a1-4457-a5e4-78550e086c52 - Name: 'Accounts with write permissions on Azure resources should be MFA enabled'

Users would require two forms of authentication before any access is granted. Additional administrative time will be required for managing dual forms of authentication when enabling multi-factor authentication.

Manual

Multi-factor authentication requires an individual to present a minimum of two separate forms of authentication before access is granted. Multi-factor authentication provides additional assurance that the individual attempting to gain access is who they claim to be. With multi-factor authentication, an attacker would need to compromise at least two different authentication mechanisms, increasing the difficulty of compromise and thus reducing the risk.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID blade 1. Select Users 1. Take note of all users with the role Service Co-Administrators, Owners or Contributors 1. Click on the Per-User MFA button in the top row menu 1. Check the box next to each noted user 1. Click Enable under quick steps in the right-hand panel 1. Click enable multi-factor auth 1. Click close Other Options within Azure Portal Follow Microsoft Azure documentation and enable multi-factor authentication in your environment. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/tutorial-enable-azure-mfa Enabling and configuring MFA with conditional access policy is a multi-step process. Here are some additional resources on the process within Entra ID to enable multi-factor authentication for users within your subscriptions with conditional access policy. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/conditional-access/howto-conditional-access-policy-admin-mfa https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/howto-mfa-getstarted#enable-multi-factor-authentication-with-conditional-access https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/howto-mfa-mfasettings

Please note that at the time of writing, there is no API, Azure CLI or Powershell mechanism available to programmatically conduct security assessment or remediation for this recommendation. The only option is MSOL.

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

1.1 Security Defaults Security Defaults

Enable multi-factor authentication for all non-privileged users.

By default, multi-factor authentication is disabled for all users.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 2. Select the Microsoft Entra ID blade 3. Select Users 4. Take note of all users with the role Service Co-Administrators, Owners or Contributors 5. Click on the Per-User MFA button in the top row menu 6. Check the box next to each noted user 7. Click Enable under quick steps in the right-hand panel 8. Click enable multi-factor auth 9. Click close From REST API For Every Subscription, For Every Tenant Step 1: Identify Users with non-administrative Access 1. List All Users Using Microsoft Graph API: GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users Capture id and corresponding userPrincipalName ($uid, $userPrincipalName) 2. List all Role Definitions Using Azure management API: https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<subscriptionId>/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/roleDefinitions?api-version=2017-05-01 Capture Role Definition IDs/Name ($name) and role names ($properties/roleName) where properties/roleName does NOT contain (Owner or *contributor or admin ) 3. List All Role Assignments (Mappings $A.uid to $B.name) Using Azure Management API: GET https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<subscriptionId>/providers/Microsoft.Authorization/roleassignments?api-version=2017-10-01-preview Find all non-administrative roles ($B.name) in Properties/roleDefinationId mapped with user ids ($A.id) in Properties/principalId where Properties/principalType == User D> Now Match ($CProperties/principalId) with $A.uid and get $A.userPrincipalName save this as D.userPrincipleName Step 2: Run MSOL PowerShell command: Get-MsolUser -All | where {$_.StrongAuthenticationMethods.Count -eq 0} | Select-Object -Property UserPrincipalName If the output contains any of the $D.userPrincipleName, then this recommendation is non-compliant. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 81b3ccb4-e6e8-4e4a-8d05-5df25cd29fd4 - Name: 'Accounts with read permissions on Azure resources should be MFA enabled'

Users would require two forms of authentication before any access is granted. Also, this requires an overhead for managing dual forms of authentication.

Manual

Multi-factor authentication requires an individual to present a minimum of two separate forms of authentication before access is granted. Multi-factor authentication provides additional assurance that the individual attempting to gain access is who they claim to be. With multi-factor authentication, an attacker would need to compromise at least two different authentication mechanisms, increasing the difficulty of compromise and thus reducing the risk.

Follow Microsoft Azure documentation and enable multi-factor authentication in your environment. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/tutorial-enable-azure-mfa Enabling and configuring MFA is a multi-step process. Here are some additional resources on the process within Microsoft Entra ID: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/conditional-access/howto-conditional-access-policy-admin-mfa https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/authentication/howto-mfa-getstarted#enable-multi-factor-authentication-with-conditional-access https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/entra/identity/authentication/howto-mfa-mfasettings

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.1 Security Defaults Security Defaults

Do not allow users to remember multi-factor authentication on devices.

By default, Allow users to remember multi-factor authentication on devices they trust is disabled.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Click the Per-user MFA button on the top bar 1. Click on service settings 1. Ensure that Allow users to remember multi-factor authentication on devices they trust is not enabled

For every login attempt, the user will be required to perform multi-factor authentication.

Manual

Remembering Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for devices and browsers allows users to have the option to bypass MFA for a set number of days after performing a successful sign-in using MFA. This can enhance usability by minimizing the number of times a user may need to perform two-step verification on the same device. However, if an account or device is compromised, remembering MFA for trusted devices may affect security. Hence, it is recommended that users not be allowed to bypass MFA.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Click the Per-user MFA button on the top bar 1. Click on service settings 1. Uncheck the box next to Allow users to remember multi-factor authentication on devices they trust

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.2 Conditional Access

Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access allows an organization to configure Named locations and configure whether those locations are trusted or untrusted. These settings provide organizations the means to specify Geographical locations for use in conditional access policies, or define actual IP addresses and IP ranges and whether or not those IP addresses and/or ranges are trusted by the organization.

By default, no locations are configured under the Named locations blade within the Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access blade.

From Azure Portal 1. In the Azure Portal, navigate to Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access 1. Click on Manage 1. Click on Named Locations Ensure there are IP ranges location settings configured and marked as Trusted From PowerShell Get-AzureADMSNamedLocationPolicy In the output from the above command, for each Named location group, make sure at least one entry contains the IsTrusted parameter with a value of True. Otherwise, if there is no output as a result of the above command or all of the entries contain the IsTrusted parameter with an empty value, a NULL value, or a value of False, the results are out of compliance with this check.

When configuring Named locations, the organization can create locations using Geographical location data or by defining source IP addresses or ranges. Configuring Named locations using a Country location does not provide the organization the ability to mark those locations as trusted, and any Conditional Access policy relying on those Countries location setting will not be able to use the All trusted locations setting within the Conditional Access policy. They instead will have to rely on the Select locations setting. This may add additional resource requirements when configuring, and will require thorough organizational testing. In general, Conditional Access policies may completely prevent users from authenticating to Microsoft Entra ID, and thorough testing is recommended. To avoid complete lockout, a 'Break Glass' account with full Global Administrator rights is recommended in the event all other administrators are locked out of authenticating to Microsoft Entra ID. This 'Break Glass' account should be excluded from Conditional Access Policies and should be configured with the longest pass phrase feasible. This account should only be used in the event of an emergency and complete administrator lockout.

Manual

Defining trusted source IP addresses or ranges helps organizations create and enforce Conditional Access policies around those trusted or untrusted IP addresses and ranges. Users authenticating from trusted IP addresses and/or ranges may have less access restrictions or access requirements when compared to users that try to authenticate to Microsoft Entra ID from untrusted locations or untrusted source IP addresses/ranges.

From Azure Portal 1. Navigate to the Microsoft Entra ID Conditional Access Blade 1. Click on the Named locations blade 1. Within the Named locations blade, click on IP ranges location 1. Enter a name for this location setting in the Name text box 1. Click on the + sign 1. Add an IP Address Range in CIDR notation inside the text box that appears 1. Click on the Add button 1. Repeat steps 5 through 7 for each IP Range that needs to be added 1. If the information entered are trusted ranges, select the Mark as trusted location check box 1. Once finished, click on Create From PowerShell Create a new trusted IP-based Named location policy [System.Collections.Generic.List`1[Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.IpRange]]$ipRanges = @() $ipRanges.Add(<first IP range in CIDR notation>) $ipRanges.Add(<second IP range in CIDR notation>) $ipRanges.Add(<third IP range in CIDR notation>) New-AzureADMSNamedLocationPolicy -OdataType #microsoft.graph.ipNamedLocation -DisplayName <name of IP Named location policy> -IsTrusted $true -IpRanges $ipRanges Set an existing IP-based Named location policy to trusted Set-AzureADMSNamedLocationPolicy -PolicyId <ID of the policy> -OdataType #microsoft.graph.ipNamedLocation -IsTrusted $true

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.2 Conditional Access

CAUTION: If these policies are created without first auditing and testing the result, misconfiguration can potentially lock out administrators or create undesired access issues. Conditional Access Policies can be used to block access from geographic locations that are deemed out-of-scope for your organization or application. The scope and variables for this policy should be carefully examined and defined.

This policy does not exist by default.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home open the Portal menu in the top left, and select Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Scroll down in the menu on the left, and select Security. 1. Select on the left side Conditional Access. 1. Select the policy you wish to audit, then: - Under Assignments, Review the Users and Groups for the personnel the policy will apply to - Under Assignments, Review the Cloud apps or actions for the systems the policy will apply to - Under Conditions, Review the Include locations for those that should be blocked - Under Conditions, Review the Exclude locations for those that should be allowed (Note: locations set up in the previous recommendation for Trusted Location should be in the Exclude list.) - Under Access Controls > Grant - Confirm that Block Access is selected. From Azure CLI As of this writing there are no subcommands for Conditional Access Policies within the Azure CLI From PowerShell $conditionalAccessPolicies = Get-AzureADMSConditionalAccessPolicy foreach($policy in $conditionalAccessPolicies) {$policy | Select-Object @{N='Policy ID'; E={$policy.id}}, @{N=Included Locations; E={$policy.Conditions.Locations.IncludeLocations}}, @{N=Excluded Locations; E={$policy.Conditions.Locations.ExcludeLocations}}, @{N=BuiltIn GrantControls; E={$policy.GrantControls.BuiltInControls}}} Make sure there is at least 1 row in the output of the above PowerShell command that contains Block under the BuiltIn GrantControls column and location IDs under the Included Locations and Excluded Locations columns. If not, a policy containing these options has not been created and is considered a finding.

Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2 is required. Limiting access geographically will deny access to users that are traveling or working remotely in a different part of the world. A point-to-site or site to site tunnel such as a VPN is recommended to address exceptions to geographic access policies.

Manual

Conditional Access, when used as a deny list for the tenant or subscription, is able to prevent ingress or egress of traffic to countries that are outside of the scope of interest (e.g.: customers, suppliers) or jurisdiction of an organization. This is an effective way to prevent unnecessary and long-lasting exposure to international threats such as APTs.

From Azure Portal Part 1 of 2 - Create the policy and enable it in Report-only mode. 1. From Azure Home open the portal menu in the top left, and select Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Scroll down in the menu on the left, and select Security. 1. Select on the left side Conditional Access. 1. Click the + New policy button, then: 1. Provide a name for the policy. 1. Under Assignments, select Users or workload identities then: - Under Include, select All users - Under Exclude, check Users and groups and only select emergency access accounts and service accounts (NOTE: Service accounts are excluded here because service accounts are non-interactive and cannot complete MFA) 1. Under Assignments, select Cloud apps or actions then: - Under Include, select All cloud apps - Leave Exclude blank unless you have a well defined exception 1. Under Conditions, select Locations then: - Select Include, then add entries for locations for those that should be blocked - Select Exclude, then add entries for those that should be allowed (IMPORTANT: Ensure that all Trusted Locations are in the Exclude list.) 1. Under Access Controls, select Grant and Confirm that Block Access is selected. 1. Set Enable policy to Report-only. 1. Click Create. NOTE: The policy is not yet 'live,' since Report-only is being used to audit the effect of the policy. Part 2 of 2 - Confirm that the policy is not blocking access that should be granted, then toggle to On. 1. With your policy now in report-only mode, return to the Microsoft Entra blade and click on Sign-in logs. 1. Review the recent sign-in events - click an event then review the event details (specifically the Report-only tab) to ensure: - The sign-in event you're reviewing occurred after turning on the policy in report-only mode - The policy name from step 5 above is listed in the Policy Name column - The Result column for the new policy shows that the policy was Not applied (indicating the location origin was not blocked) 1. If the above conditions are present, navigate back to the policy name in Conditional Access and open it. 1. Toggle the policy from Report-only to On. 1. Click Save. From PowerShell First, set up the conditions objects values before updating an existing conditional access policy or before creating a new one. You may need to use additional PowerShell cmdlets to retrieve specific IDs such as the Get-AzureADMSNamedLocationPolicy which outputs the Location IDs for use with conditional access policies. $conditions = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessConditionSet $conditions.Applications = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessApplicationCondition $conditions.Applications.IncludeApplications = <All | Office365 | app ID | @(app ID 1, app ID 2, etc...> $conditions.Applications.ExcludeApplications = <Office365 | app ID | @(app ID 1, app ID 2, etc...)> $conditions.Users = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessUserCondition $conditions.Users.IncludeUsers = <All | None | GuestsOrExternalUsers | Specific User ID | @(User ID 1, User ID 2, etc.)> $conditions.Users.ExcludeUsers = <GuestsOrExternalUsers | Specific User ID | @(User ID 1, User ID 2, etc.)> $conditions.Users.IncludeGroups = <group ID | All | @(Group ID 1, Group ID 2, etc...)> $conditions.Users.ExcludeGroups = <group ID | @(Group ID 1, Group ID 2, etc...)> $conditions.Users.IncludeRoles = <Role ID | All | @(Role ID 1, Role ID 2, etc...)> $conditions.Users.ExcludeRoles = <Role ID | @(Role ID 1, Role ID 2, etc...)> $conditions.Locations = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessLocationCondition $conditions.Locations.IncludeLocations = <Location ID | @(Location ID 1, Location ID 2, etc...) > $conditions.Locations.ExcludeLocations = <AllTrusted | Location ID | @(Location ID 1, Location ID 2, etc...)> $controls = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.Open.MSGraph.Model.ConditionalAccessGrantControls $controls._Operator = OR $controls.BuiltInControls = block Next, update the existing conditional access policy with the condition set options configured with the previous commands. Set-AzureADMSConditionalAccessPolicy -PolicyId <policy ID> -Conditions $conditions -GrantControls $controls To create a new conditional access policy that complies with this best practice, run the following commands after creating the condition set above New-AzureADMSConditionalAccessPolicy -Name Policy Name -State <enabled|disabled> -Conditions $conditions -GrantControls $controls

These policies should be tested by using the What If tool in the References. Setting these can and will create issues with logging in for users until they use an MFA device linked to their accounts. Further testing can also be done via the insights and reporting resource in References which monitors Azure sign ins.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.2 Conditional Access

For designated users, they will be prompted to use their multi-factor authentication (MFA) process on login.

By default, MFA is not enabled for any administrative accounts.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home open the Portal Menu in the top left, and select Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Select Security. 1. Select Conditional Access. 1. Select the policy you wish to audit. 1. View under Users and Groups the corresponding users and groups to whom the policy is applied. Be certain the emergency access account is not in the list. 1. View under Exclude to determine which Users and groups to whom the policy is not applied.

There is an increased cost, as Conditional Access policies require Microsoft Entra ID P1. Similarly, MFA may require additional overhead to maintain. There is also a potential scenario in which the multi-factor authentication method can be lost, and administrative users are no longer able to log in. For this scenario, there should be an emergency access account. Please see References for creating this.

Manual

Enabling multi-factor authentication is a recommended setting to limit the use of Administrative accounts to authenticated personnel.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home open the Portal Menu in top left, and select Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Select Security. 1. Select Conditional Access. 1. Click + New policy. 1. Enter a name for the policy. 1. Select Users or workload identities. 1. Check Users and groups. 1. Select administrative groups this policy should apply to and click Select. 1. Under Exclude, check Users and groups. 1. Select users this policy not should apply to and click Select. 1. Select Cloud apps or actions. 1. Select All cloud apps. 1. Select Grant. 1. Under Grant access, check Require multifactor authentication and click Select. 1. Set Enable policy to Report-only. 1. Click Create. After testing the policy in report-only mode, update the Enable policy setting from Report-only to On.

These policies should be tested by using the What If tool in the References. Setting these can and will create issues with logging in for users until they use an MFA device linked to their accounts. Further testing can also be done via the insights and reporting resource in References which monitors Azure sign ins.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.2 Conditional Access

For designated users, they will be prompted to use their multi-factor authentication (MFA) process on logins.

MFA is not enabled by default.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home open the Portal Menu in the top left, and select Microsoft Entra ID. 2. Scroll down in the menu on the left, and select Security. 3. Select on the left side Conditional Access. 4. Select the policy you wish to audit. 5. View under Users and Groups the corresponding users and groups to whom the policy is applied. 6. View under Exclude to determine which users and groups to whom the policy is not applied.

There is an increased cost, as Conditional Access policies require Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2. Similarly, this may require additional overhead to maintain if users lose access to their MFA.

Manual

Enabling multi-factor authentication is a recommended setting to limit the potential of accounts being compromised and limiting access to authenticated personnel.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home open Portal menu in the top left, and select Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Select Security. 1. Select Conditional Access. 1. Click + New policy. 1. Enter a name for the policy. 1. Select Users or workload identities. 1. Under Include, select All users. 1. Under Exclude, check Users and groups. 1. Select users this policy should not apply to and click Select. 1. Select Cloud apps or actions. 1. Select All cloud apps. 1. Select Grant. 1. Under Grant access, check Require multifactor authentication and click Select. 1. Set Enable policy to Report-only. 1. Click Create. After testing the policy in report-only mode, update the Enable policy setting from Report-only to On.

These policies should be tested by using the What If tool in the References. Setting these can and will create issues with logging in for users until they use an MFA device linked to their accounts. Further testing can also be done via the insights and reporting resource the in References which monitors Azure sign ins.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.2 Conditional Access

For designated users, they will be prompted to use their multi-factor authentication (MFA) process on login.

MFA is not enabled by default.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu in the top left, and select Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Select Security. 1. Select on the left side Conditional Access. 1. Select the policy you wish to audit. 1. View under Users and Groups the corresponding users and groups to whom the policy is applied. 1. View under Exclude to determine which users and groups to whom the policy is not applied.

There is an increased cost, as Conditional Access policies require Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2. Similarly, they may require additional overhead to maintain if users lose access to their MFA.

Manual

Enabling multi-factor authentication is a recommended setting to limit the potential of accounts being compromised and limiting access to authenticated personnel.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu in the top left, and select Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Select Security 1. Select Conditional Access. 1. Click + New policy. 1. Enter a name for the policy. 1. Select Users or workload identities. 1. Under Include, select All users. 1. Under Exclude, check Users and groups. 1. Select users this policy should not apply to and click Select. 1. Select Cloud apps or actions. 1. Select All cloud apps. 1. Select Conditions. 1. Select Sign-in risk. 1. Update the Configure toggle to Yes. 1. Check the sign-in risk level this policy should apply to, e.g. High and Medium. 1. Select Done. 1. Click the blue text under Grant access and check Require multifactor authentication then click the Select button. 1. Click the blue text under Session then check Sign-in frequency and select Every time and click the Select button. 1. Set Enable policy to Report-only. 1. Click Create. After testing the policy in report-only mode, update the Enable policy setting from Report-only to On.

These policies should be tested by using the What If tool in the References. Setting these can and will create issues with logging in for users until they use an MFA device linked to their accounts. Further testing can also be done via the insights and reporting resource the in References which monitors Azure sign ins.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.2 Conditional Access

This recommendation ensures that users accessing the Windows Azure Service Management API (i.e. Azure Powershell, Azure CLI, Azure Resource Manager API, etc.) are required to use multifactor authentication (MFA) credentials when accessing resources through the Windows Azure Service Management API.

MFA is not enabled by default for administrative actions.

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure Admin Portal dashboard, open Microsoft Entra ID. 1. In the menu on the left of the Entra ID blade, click Security. 1. In the menu on the left of the Security blade, click Conditional Access. 1. In the menu on the left of the Conditional Access blade, click Policies. 1. Click on the name of the policy you wish to audit. 1. Click the blue text under Users. 1. Under the Include section of Users, review Users and Groups to ensure that All Users is selected. 1. Under the Exclude section of Users, review the Users and Groups that are excluded from the policy (NOTE: this should be limited to break-glass emergency access accounts, non-interactive service accounts, and other carefully considered exceptions). 1. On the left side, click the blue text under Target Resources. 1. Select what this policy applies to should have Cloud apps selected. 1. Under the Include section of Target Resources, the Select apps radio button should be selected. 1. Click the blue text under Select. 1. From the select prompt that appears, the checkbox for Windows Azure Service Management API should be checked.

Conditional Access policies require Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2 licenses. Similarly, they may require additional overhead to maintain if users lose access to their MFA. Any users or groups which are granted an exception to this policy should be carefully tracked, be granted only minimal necessary privileges, and conditional access exceptions should be regularly reviewed or investigated.

Manual

Administrative access to the Windows Azure Service Management API should be secured with a higher level of scrutiny to authenticating mechanisms. Enabling multifactor authentication is recommended to reduce the potential for abuse of Administrative actions, and to prevent intruders or compromised admin credentials from changing administrative settings. IMPORTANT: While this recommendation allows exceptions to specific Users or Groups, they should be very carefully tracked and reviewed for necessity on a regular interval through an Access Review process. It is important that this rule be built to include All Users to ensure that all users not specifically excepted will be required to use MFA to access the Azure Service Management API.

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure Admin Portal dashboard, open Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Click Security in the Entra ID blade. 1. Click Conditional Access in the Security blade. 1. Click Policies in the Conditional Access blade. 1. Click + New policy. 1. Enter a name for the policy. 1. Click the blue text under Users. 1. Under Include, select All users. 1. Under Exclude, check Users and groups. 1. Select users or groups to be exempted from this policy (e.g. break-glass emergency accounts, and non-interactive service accounts) then click the Select button. 1. Click the blue text under Target Resources. 1. Under Include, click the Select apps radio button. 1. Click the blue text under Select. 1. Check the box next to Windows Azure Service Management APIs then click the Select button. 1. Click the blue text under Grant. 1. Under Grant access check the box for Require multifactor authentication then click the Select button. 1. Before creating, set Enable policy to Report-only. 1. Click Create. After testing the policy in report-only mode, update the Enable policy setting from Report-only to On.

These policies should be tested by using the What If tool in the References. Setting these can and will create issues with administrators changing settings until they use an MFA device linked to their accounts. An emergency access account is recommended for this eventuality if all administrators are locked out. Please see the documentation in the references for further information. Similarly further testing can also be done via the insights and reporting resource in References which monitors Azure sign ins.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

1.2 Conditional Access

This recommendation ensures that users accessing Microsoft Admin Portals (i.e. Microsoft 365 Admin, Microsoft 365 Defender, Exchange Admin Center, Azure Portal, etc.) are required to use multifactor authentication (MFA) credentials when logging into an Admin Portal.

MFA is not enabled by default for administrative actions.

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure Admin Portal dashboard, open Microsoft Entra ID. 1. In the menu on the left of the Entra ID blade, click Security. 1. In the menu on the left of the Security blade, click Conditional Access. 1. In the menu on the left of the Conditional Access blade, click Policies. 1. Click on the name of the policy you wish to audit. 1. Click the blue text under Users. 1. Under the Include section of Users, review Users and Groups to ensure that All Users is selected. 1. Under the Exclude section of Users, review the Users and Groups that are excluded from the policy (NOTE: this should be limited to break-glass emergency access accounts, non-interactive service accounts, and other carefully considered exceptions). 1. On the left side, click the blue text under Target Resources. 1. Select what this policy applies to should have Cloud apps selected. 1. Under the Include section of Target Resources, the Select apps radio button should be selected. 1. Click the blue text under Select. 1. From the select prompt that appears, the checkbox for Microsoft Admin Portals should be checked.

Conditional Access policies require Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2 licenses. Similarly, they may require additional overhead to maintain if users lose access to their MFA. Any users or groups which are granted an exception to this policy should be carefully tracked, be granted only minimal necessary privileges, and conditional access exceptions should be reviewed or investigated.

Manual

Administrative Portals for Microsoft Azure should be secured with a higher level of scrutiny to authenticating mechanisms. Enabling multifactor authentication is recommended to reduce the potential for abuse of Administrative actions, and to prevent intruders or compromised admin credentials from changing administrative settings. IMPORTANT: While this recommendation allows exceptions to specific Users or Groups, they should be very carefully tracked and reviewed for necessity on a regular interval through an Access Review process. It is important that this rule be built to include All Users to ensure that all users not specifically excepted will be required to use MFA to access Admin Portals.

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure Admin Portal dashboard, open Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Click Security in the Entra ID blade. 1. Click Conditional Access in the Security blade. 1. Click Policies in the Conditional Access blade. 1. Click + New policy. 1. Enter a name for the policy. 1. Click the blue text under Users. 1. Under Include, select All users. 1. Under Exclude, check Users and groups. 1. Select users or groups to be exempted from this policy (e.g. break-glass emergency accounts, and non-interactive service accounts) then click the Select button. 1. Click the blue text under Target Resources. 1. Under Include, click the Select apps radio button. 1. Click the blue text under Select. 1. Check the box next to Microsoft Admin Portals then click the Select button. 1. Click the blue text under Grant. 1. Under Grant access check the box for Require multifactor authentication then click the Select button. 1. Before creating, set Enable policy to Report-only. 1. Click Create. After testing the policy in report-only mode, update the Enable policy setting from Report-only to On.

These policies should be tested by using the What If tool in the References. Setting these can and will create issues with administrators changing settings until they use an MFA device linked to their accounts. An emergency access account is recommended for this eventuality if all administrators are locked out. Please see the documentation in the references for further information. Similarly further testing can also be done via the insights and reporting resource in References which monitors Azure sign ins.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Require administrators or appropriately delegated users to create new tenants.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Select User settings 1. Ensure that Restrict non-admin users from creating tenants is set to Yes From PowerShell Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Identity.SignIns Connect-MgGraph -Scopes 'Policy.ReadWrite.Authorization' Get-MgPolicyAuthorizationPolicy | Select-Object -ExpandProperty DefaultUserRolePermissions | Format-List Review the DefaultUserRolePermissions section of the output. Ensure that AllowedToCreateTenants is not True.

Enforcing this setting will ensure that only authorized users are able to create new tenants.

Manual

It is recommended to only allow an administrator to create new tenants. This prevent users from creating new Microsoft Entra ID or Azure AD B2C tenants and ensures that only authorized users are able to do so.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Select User settings 1. Set Restrict non-admin users from creating tenants to Yes From PowerShell Import-Module Microsoft.Graph.Identity.SignIns Connect-MgGraph -Scopes 'Policy.ReadWrite.Authorization' Select-MgProfile -Name beta $params = @{ DefaultUserRolePermissions = @{ AllowedToCreateTenants = $false } } Update-MgPolicyAuthorizationPolicy -AuthorizationPolicyId -BodyParameter $params

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Microsoft Entra ID is extended to include Azure AD B2B collaboration, allowing you to invite people from outside your organization to be guest users in your cloud account and sign in with their own work, school, or social identities. Guest users allow you to share your company's applications and services with users from any other organization, while maintaining control over your own corporate data. Work with external partners, large or small, even if they don't have Azure AD or an IT department. A simple invitation and redemption process lets partners use their own credentials to access your company's resources as a guest user. Guest users in every subscription should be review on a regular basis to ensure that inactive and unneeded accounts are removed.

By default no guest users are created.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Click on Add filter 1. Select User type 1. Select Guest from the Value dropdown 1. Click Apply 1. Audit the listed guest users From Azure CLI az ad user list --query [?userType=='Guest'] Ensure all users listed are still required and not inactive. From Azure PowerShell Get-AzureADUser |Where-Object {$_.UserType -like Guest} |Select-Object DisplayName, UserPrincipalName, UserType -Unique From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: e9ac8f8e-ce22-4355-8f04-99b911d6be52 - Name: 'Guest accounts with read permissions on Azure resources should be removed' - Policy ID: 94e1c2ac-cbbe-4cac-a2b5-389c812dee87 - Name: 'Guest accounts with write permissions on Azure resources should be removed' - Policy ID: 339353f6-2387-4a45-abe4-7f529d121046 - Name: 'Guest accounts with owner permissions on Azure resources should be removed'

Before removing guest users, determine their use and scope. Like removing any user, there may be unforeseen consequences to systems if it is deleted.

Manual

Guest users in the Microsoft Entra ID are generally required for collaboration purposes in Office 365, and may also be required for Azure functions in enterprises with multiple Azure tenants. Guest users are typically added outside your employee on-boarding/off-boarding process and could potentially be overlooked indefinitely, leading to a potential vulnerability. To prevent this, guest users should be reviewed on a regular basis. During this audit, guest users should also be determined to not have administrative privileges.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Click on Add filter 1. Select User type 1. Select Guest from the Value dropdown 1. Click Apply 1. Delete all Guest users that are no longer required or are inactive From Azure CLI Before deleting the user, set it to inactive using the ID from the Audit Procedure to determine if there are any dependent systems. az ad user update --id <exampleaccountid@domain.com> --account-enabled {false} After determining that there are no dependent systems delete the user. Remove-AzureADUser -ObjectId <exampleaccountid@domain.com> From Azure PowerShell Before deleting the user, set it to inactive using the ID from the Audit Procedure to determine if there are any dependent systems. Set-AzureADUser -ObjectId <exampleaccountid@domain.com> -AccountEnabled false After determining that there are no dependent systems delete the user. PS C:\>Remove-AzureADUser -ObjectId <exampleaccountid@domain.com>

It is good practice to use a dynamic security group to manage guest users. To create the dynamic security group: 1. Navigate to the 'Microsoft Entra ID' blade in the Azure Portal 2. Select the 'Groups' item 3. Create new 4. Type of 'dynamic' 5. Use the following dynamic selection rule. (user.userType -eq Guest) 6. Once the group has been created, select access reviews option and create a new access review with a period of monthly and send to relevant administrators for review.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Ensures that two alternate forms of identification are provided before allowing a password reset.

By default, the Number of methods required to reset is set to 2.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Users 1. Select Password reset 1. Then Authentication methods 1. Ensure that Number of methods required to reset is set to 2

There may be administrative overhead, as users who lose access to their secondary authentication methods will need an administrator with permissions to remove it. There will also need to be organization-wide security policies and training to teach administrators to verify the identity of the requesting user so that social engineering can not render this setting useless.

Manual

A Self-service Password Reset (SSPR) through Azure Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) ensures the user's identity is confirmed using two separate methods of identification. With multiple methods set, an attacker would have to compromise both methods before they could maliciously reset a user's password.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Users 1. Select Password reset 1. Then Authentication methods 1. Set the Number of methods required to reset to 2

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Microsoft Azure provides a Global Banned Password policy that applies to Azure administrative and normal user accounts. This is not applied to user accounts that are synced from an on-premise Active Directory unless Microsoft Entra ID Connect is used and you enable EnforceCloudPasswordPolicyForPasswordSyncedUsers. Please see the list in default values on the specifics of this policy. To further password security, it is recommended to further define a custom banned password policy.

By default the custom bad password list is not 'Enabled'. Organizational-specific terms can be added to the custom banned password list, such as the following examples: - Brand names - Product names - Locations, such as company headquarters - Company-specific internal terms - Abbreviations that have specific company meaning - Months and weekdays with your company's local languages The default Azure bad password policy is already applied to your resources which applies the following basic requirements: Characters allowed: - Uppercase characters (A - Z) - Lowercase characters (a - z) - Numbers (0 - 9) - Symbols: - @ # $ % ^ & * - _ ! + = [ ] { } | \ : ' , . ? / ` ~ ( ) ; < > - blank space Characters not allowed: - Unicode characters - Password length Passwords require - A minimum of eight characters - A maximum of 256 characters Password complexity: Passwords require three out of four of the following categories: - Uppercase characters - Lowercase characters - Numbers - Symbols Note: Password complexity check isn't required for Education tenants. Password not recently used: - When a user changes or resets their password, the new password can't be the same as the current or recently used passwords. - Password isn't banned by Entra ID Password Protection. - The password can't be on the global list of banned passwords for Azure AD Password Protection, or on the customizable list of banned passwords specific to your organization.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID. 1. Select 'Security'. 1. Under Manage, select Authentication Methods. 1. Select Password Protection. 1. Ensure Enforce custom list is set to Yes. 1. Scroll through the list to view the enforced passwords.

Increasing needed password complexity might increase overhead on administration of user accounts. Licensing requirement for Global Banned Password List and Custom Banned Password list requires Microsoft Entra ID P1 or P2. On-premises Active Directory Domain Services users that are not synchronized to Microsoft Entra ID also benefit from Microsoft Entra ID Password Protection based on existing licensing for synchronized users.

Manual

Enabling this gives your organization further customization on what secure passwords are allowed. Setting a bad password list enables your organization to fine-tune its password policy further, depending on your needs. Removing easy-to-guess passwords increases the security of access to your Azure resources.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Security. 1. Under Manage, select Authentication Methods. 1. Select Password Protection. 1. Set the Enforce custom list option to Yes. 1. Double click the custom banned password list to add a string.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Ensure that the number of days before users are asked to re-confirm their authentication information is not set to 0.

By default, the Number of days before users are asked to re-confirm their authentication information is set to 180 days.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Users 1. Select Password reset 1. Then Registration 1. Ensure that Number of days before users are asked to re-confirm their authentication information is not set to 0

Users will be prompted for their multifactor authentication at the duration set here.

Manual

This setting is necessary if you have setup 'Require users to register when signing in option'. If authentication re-confirmation is disabled, registered users will never be prompted to re-confirm their existing authentication information. If the authentication information for a user changes, such as a phone number or email, then the password reset information for that user reverts to the previously registered authentication information.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Users 1. Select Password reset 1. Then Registration 1. Set the Number of days before users are asked to re-confirm their authentication information to your organization-defined frequency.

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Ensure that users are notified on their primary and secondary emails on password resets.

By default, Notify users on password resets? is set to Yes.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Go to Password reset 1. Under Manage, select Notifications 1. Ensure that Notify users on password resets? is set to Yes

Users will receive emails alerting them to password changes to both their primary and secondary emails.

Manual

User notification on password reset is a proactive way of confirming password reset activity. It helps the user to recognize unauthorized password reset activities.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Select Password reset 1. Under Manage, select Notifications 1. Set Notify users on password resets? to Yes

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Ensure that all Global Administrators are notified if any other administrator resets their password.

By default, Notify all admins when other admins reset their password? is set to No.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Select Password reset 1. Under Manage, select Notifications 1. Ensure that notify all admins when other admins reset their password? is set to Yes

All Global Administrators will receive a notification from Azure every time a password is reset. This is useful for auditing procedures to confirm that there are no out of the ordinary password resets for Global Administrators. There is additional overhead, however, in the time required for Global Administrators to audit the notifications. This setting is only useful if all Global Administrators pay attention to the notifications, and audit each one.

Manual

Global Administrator accounts are sensitive. Any password reset activity notification, when sent to all Global Administrators, ensures that all Global administrators can passively confirm if such a reset is a common pattern within their group. For example, if all Global Administrators change their password every 30 days, any password reset activity before that may require administrator(s) to evaluate any unusual activity and confirm its origin.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Select Password reset 1. Under Manage, select Notifications 1. Set Notify all admins when other admins reset their password? to Yes

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Require administrators to provide consent for applications before use.

By default, Users consent for applications is set to Allow user consent for apps.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Enterprise Applications 1. Select Consent and permissions 1. Select User consent settings 1. Ensure User consent for applications is set to Do not allow user consent From PowerShell Connect-MsolService Get-MsolCompanyInformation | Select-Object UsersPermissionToUserConsentToAppEnabled Command should return UsersPermissionToUserConsentToAppEnabled with the value of False

Enforcing this setting may create additional requests that administrators need to review.

Manual

If Microsoft Entra ID is running as an identity provider for third-party applications, permissions and consent should be limited to administrators or pre-approved. Malicious applications may attempt to exfiltrate data or abuse privileged user accounts.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Enterprise Applications 1. Select Consent and permissions 1. Select User consent settings 1. Set User consent for applications to Do not allow user consent 1. Click save

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

Allow users to provide consent for selected permissions when a request is coming from a verified publisher.

By default, User consent for applications is set to Allow user consent for apps.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Enterprise Applications 1. Select Consent and permissions 1. Select User consent settings 1. Under User consent for applications, ensure Allow user consent for apps from verified publishers, for selected permissions is selected From PowerShell Connect-MsolService Get-MsolCompanyInformation | Select-Object UsersPermissionToUserConsentToAppEnabled Command should return UsersPermissionToUserConsentToAppEnabled with the value of False

Enforcing this setting may create additional requests that administrators need to review.

Manual

If Microsoft Entra ID is running as an identity provider for third-party applications, permissions and consent should be limited to administrators or pre-approved. Malicious applications may attempt to exfiltrate data or abuse privileged user accounts.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Enterprise Applications 1. Select Consent and permissions 1. Select User consent settings 1. Under User consent for applications, select Allow user consent for apps from verified publishers, for selected permissions 1. Select Save From PowerShell Connect-MsolService Set-MsolCompanyInformation --UsersPermissionToUserConsentToAppEnabled $False

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Require administrators to provide consent for the apps before use.

By default, Users can add gallery apps to My Apps is set to No.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Enterprise applications 1. Select User settings 1. Ensure that Users can add gallery apps to My Apps is set to No

Can cause additional requests to administrators that need to be fulfilled quite often.

Manual

Unless Microsoft Entra ID is running as an identity provider for third-party applications, do not allow users to use their identity outside of your cloud environment. User profiles contain private information such as phone numbers and email addresses which could then be sold off to other third parties without requiring any further consent from the user.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Enterprise applications 1. Select User settings 1. Set Users can add gallery apps to My Apps to No

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Require administrators or appropriately delegated users to register third-party applications.

By default, Users can register applications is set to Yes.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Select User settings 1. Ensure that Users can register applications is set to No From PowerShell Connect-MsolService Get-MsolCompanyInformation | Select-Object UsersPermissionToCreateLOBAppsEnabled Command should return UsersPermissionToCreateLOBAppsEnabled with the value of False

Enforcing this setting will create additional requests for approval that will need to be addressed by an administrator. If permissions are delegated, a user may approve a malevolent third party application, potentially giving it access to your data.

Manual

It is recommended to only allow an administrator to register custom-developed applications. This ensures that the application undergoes a formal security review and approval process prior to exposing Microsoft Entra ID data. Certain users like developers or other high-request users may also be delegated permissions to prevent them from waiting on an administrative user. Your organization should review your policies and decide your needs.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Users 1. Select User settings 1. Set Users can register applications to No From PowerShell Connect-MsolService Set-MsolCompanyInformation -UsersPermissionToCreateLOBAppsEnabled $False

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Limit guest user permissions.

By default, Guest user access restrictions is set to Guest users have limited access to properties and memberships of directory objects.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then External Identities 1. Select External collaboration settings 1. Under Guest user access, ensure that Guest user access restrictions is set to Guest user access is restricted to properties and memberships of their own directory objects From PowerShell 1. Enter the following Get-AzureADMSAuthorizationPolicy Which will give a result like: Id : authorizationPolicy OdataType : Description : Used to manage authorization related settings across the company. DisplayName : Authorization Policy EnabledPreviewFeatures : {} GuestUserRoleId : 10dae51f-b6af-4016-8d66-8c2a99b929b3 PermissionGrantPolicyIdsAssignedToDefaultUserRole : {user-default-legacy} If the GuestUserRoleID property does not equal 2af84b1e-32c8-42b7-82bc-daa82404023b then it is not set to most restrictive.

This may create additional requests for permissions to access resources that administrators will need to approve. According to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/enterprise-users/users-restrict-guest-permissions#services-currently-not-supported Service without current support might have compatibility issues with the new guest restriction setting. - Forms - Project - Yammer - Planner in SharePoint

Manual

Limiting guest access ensures that guest accounts do not have permission for certain directory tasks, such as enumerating users, groups or other directory resources, and cannot be assigned to administrative roles in your directory. Guest access has three levels of restriction. 1. Guest users have the same access as members (most inclusive), 2. Guest users have limited access to properties and memberships of directory objects (default value), 3. Guest user access is restricted to properties and memberships of their own directory objects (most restrictive). The recommended option is the 3rd, most restrictive: Guest user access is restricted to their own directory object.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then External Identities 1. Select External collaboration settings 1. Under Guest user access, change Guest user access restrictions to be Guest user access is restricted to properties and memberships of their own directory objects From PowerShell 1. From a PowerShell session enter Set-AzureADMSAuthorizationPolicy -GuestUserRoleId '2af84b1e-32c8-42b7-82bc-daa82404023b' 1. Check that the setting was applied by entering Get-AzureADMSAuthorizationPolicy 1. Make certain that the GuestUserRoleId is equal to the earlier entered value of 2af84b1e-32c8-42b7-82bc-daa82404023b.

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

Restrict invitations to users with specific administrative roles only.

By default, Guest invite restrictions is set to Anyone in the organization can invite guest users including guests and non-admins

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then External Identities 1. External collaboration settings 1. Under Guest invite settings, for Guest invite restrictions, ensure that that Only users assigned to specific admin roles can invite guest users is selected Note: This setting has 4 levels of restriction, which include: - Anyone in the organization can invite guest users including guests and non-admins (most inclusive), - Member users and users assigned to specific admin roles can invite guest users including guests with member permissions, - Only users assigned to specific admin roles can invite guest users, - No one in the organization can invite guest users including admins (most restrictive).

With the option of Only users assigned to specific admin roles can invite guest users selected, users with specific admin roles will be in charge of sending invitations to the external users, requiring additional overhead by them to manage user accounts. This will mean coordinating with other departments as they are onboarding new users.

Manual

Restricting invitations to users with specific administrator roles ensures that only authorized accounts have access to cloud resources. This helps to maintain Need to Know permissions and prevents inadvertent access to data. By default the setting Guest invite restrictions is set to Anyone in the organization can invite guest users including guests and non-admins. This would allow anyone within the organization to invite guests and non-admins to the tenant, posing a security risk.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then External Identities 1. Select External collaboration settings 1. Under Guest invite settings, for Guest invite restrictions, ensure that Only users assigned to specific admin roles can invite guest users is selected

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Restrict access to the Microsoft Entra ID administration center to administrators only. NOTE: This only affects access to the Entra ID administrator's web portal. This setting does not prohibit privileged users from using other methods such as Rest API or Powershell to obtain sensitive information from Microsoft Entra ID.

By default, Restrict access to Microsoft Entra admin center is set to No

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Users 1. Select User settings 1. Ensure that Restrict access to Microsoft Entra admin center is set to Yes

All administrative tasks will need to be done by Administrators, causing additional overhead in management of users and resources.

Manual

The Microsoft Entra ID administrative center has sensitive data and permission settings. All non-administrators should be prohibited from accessing any Microsoft Entra ID data in the administration center to avoid exposure.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Users 1. Select User settings 1. Set Restrict access to Microsoft Entra admin center to Yes

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

Restrict access to group web interface in the Access Panel portal.

By default, Restrict user ability to access groups features in the Access Pane is set to No

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Groups 1. Select General under Settings 1. Ensure that Restrict user ability to access groups features in My Groups is set to Yes

Setting to Yes could create administrative overhead by customers seeking certain group memberships that will have to be manually managed by administrators with appropriate permissions.

Manual

Self-service group management enables users to create and manage security groups or Office 365 groups in Microsoft Entra ID. Unless a business requires this day-to-day delegation for some users, self-service group management should be disabled. Any user can access the Access Panel, where they can reset their passwords, view their information, etc. By default, users are also allowed to access the Group feature, which shows groups, members, related resources (SharePoint URL, Group email address, Yammer URL, and Teams URL). By setting this feature to 'Yes', users will no longer have access to the web interface, but still have access to the data using the API. This is useful to prevent non-technical users from enumerating groups-related information, but technical users will still be able to access this information using APIs.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Groups 1. Select General under Settings 1. Ensure that Restrict user ability to access groups features in My Groups is set to Yes

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

Restrict security group creation to administrators only.

By default, Users can create security groups in Azure portals, API or PowerShell is set to Yes

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Groups 1. Select General under Settings 1. Ensure that Users can create security groups in Azure portals, API or PowerShell is set to No

Enabling this setting could create a number of requests that would need to be managed by an administrator.

Manual

When creating security groups is enabled, all users in the directory are allowed to create new security groups and add members to those groups. Unless a business requires this day-to-day delegation, security group creation should be restricted to administrators only.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Groups 1. Select General under Settings 1. Set Users can create security groups in Azure portals, API or PowerShell to No

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

Restrict security group management to administrators only.

By default, Owners can manage group membership requests in the Access Panel is set to No.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Groups 1. Select General in settings 4. Ensure that Owners can manage group membership requests in the Access Panel is set to No

Group Membership for user accounts will need to be handled by Admins and cause administrative overhead.

Manual

Restricting security group management to administrators only prohibits users from making changes to security groups. This ensures that security groups are appropriately managed and their management is not delegated to non-administrators.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Groups 1. Select General in settings 1. Set Owners can manage group membership requests in the Access Panel to No

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

Restrict Microsoft 365 group creation to administrators only.

By default, Users can create Microsoft 365 groups in Azure portals, API or PowerShell is set to Yes.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Groups 1. Select General in setting 1. Ensure that Users can create Microsoft 365 groups in Azure portals, API or PowerShell is set to No

Enabling this setting could create a number of requests that would need to be managed by an administrator.

Manual

Restricting Microsoft 365 group creation to administrators only ensures that creation of Microsoft 365 groups is controlled by the administrator. Appropriate groups should be created and managed by the administrator and group creation rights should not be delegated to any other user.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Then Groups 1. Select General in settings 1. Set Users can create Microsoft 365 groups in Azure portals, API or PowerShell to No

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

Joining or registering devices to Microsoft Entra ID should require Multi-factor authentication.

By default, Require Multi-Factor Authentication to register or join devices with Microsoft Entra is set to No.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Devices 1. Select Device settings 1. Ensure that Require Multi-Factor Authentication to register or join devices with Microsoft Entra is set to Yes

A slight impact of additional overhead, as Administrators will now have to approve every access to the domain.

Manual

Multi-factor authentication is recommended when adding devices to Microsoft Entra ID. When set to Yes, users who are adding devices from the internet must first use the second method of authentication before their device is successfully added to the directory. This ensures that rogue devices are not added to the domain using a compromised user account. Note: Some Microsoft documentation suggests to use conditional access policies for joining a domain from certain whitelisted networks or devices. Even with these in place, using Multi-Factor Authentication is still recommended, as it creates a process for review before joining the domain.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Entra ID 1. Select Devices 1. Select Device settings 1. Set Require Multi-Factor Authentication to register or join devices with Microsoft Entra to Yes

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

The principle of least privilege should be followed and only necessary privileges should be assigned instead of allowing full administrative access.

By default, no custom owner roles are created.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 1. Select Subscriptions. 1. Select Access control (IAM). 1. Select Roles. 1. Click Type and select CustomRole from the drop down menu. 1. Select View next to a role. 1. Select JSON. 1. Check for assignableScopes set to the subscription, and actions set to *. 1. Repeat steps 6-8 for each custom role. From Azure CLI List custom roles: az role definition list --custom-role-only True Check for entries with assignableScope of the subscription, and an action of * From PowerShell Connect-AzAccount Get-AzRoleDefinition |Where-Object {($_.IsCustom -eq $true) -and ($_.Actions.contains('*'))} Check the output for AssignableScopes value set to the subscription. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: a451c1ef-c6ca-483d-87ed-f49761e3ffb5 - Name: 'Audit usage of custom RBAC roles'

Subscriptions will need to be handled by Administrators with permissions.

Automated

Classic subscription admin roles offer basic access management and include Account Administrator, Service Administrator, and Co-Administrators. It is recommended the least necessary permissions be given initially. Permissions can be added as needed by the account holder. This ensures the account holder cannot perform actions which were not intended.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 1. Select Subscriptions. 1. Select Access control (IAM). 1. Select Roles. 1. Click Type and select CustomRole from the drop down menu. 1. Check the box next to each role which grants subscription administrator privileges. 1. Select Remove. 1. Select Yes. From Azure CLI List custom roles: az role definition list --custom-role-only True Check for entries with assignableScope of the subscription, and an action of *. To remove a violating role: az role definition delete --name <role name> Note that any role assignments must be removed before a custom role can be deleted. Ensure impact is assessed before deleting a custom role granting subscription administrator privileges.

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

Resource locking is a powerful protection mechanism that can prevent inadvertent modification/deletion of resources within Azure subscriptions/Resource Groups and is a recommended NIST configuration.

From Azure Portal 1. In the Azure portal, open a subscription or resource group where you want to view assigned roles. 2. Select Access control (IAM) 3. Select Roles 4. Search for the custom role named <role_name> Ex. from remediation Resource Lock Administrator 5. Ensure that the role is assigned to the appropriate users.

By adding this role, specific permissions may be granted for managing just resource locks rather than needing to provide the wide Owner or User Access Administrator role, reducing the risk of the user being able to do unintentional damage.

Manual

Given the resource lock functionality is outside of standard Role Based Access Control(RBAC), it would be prudent to create a resource lock administrator role to prevent inadvertent unlocking of resources.

From Azure Portal 1. In the Azure portal, open a subscription or resource group where you want the custom role to be assigned. 2. Select Access control (IAM). 3. Click Add. 4. Select Add custom role. 5. In the Custom Role Name field enter Resource Lock Administrator. 6. In the Description field enter Can Administer Resource Locks. 7. For Baseline permissions select Start from scratch 8. Select next. 9. In the Permissions tab select Add permissions. 10. In the Search for a permission box, type in Microsoft.Authorization/locks to search for permissions. 11. Select the check box next to the permission Microsoft.Authorization/locks. 12. Select Add. 13. Select Review + create. 14. Select Create. 15. Assign the newly created role to the appropriate user. From PowerShell: Below is a power shell definition for a resource lock administrator role created at an Azure Management group level Import-Module Az.Accounts Connect-AzAccount $role = Get-AzRoleDefinition User Access Administrator $role.Id = $null $role.Name = Resource Lock Administrator $role.Description = Can Administer Resource Locks $role.Actions.Clear() $role.Actions.Add(Microsoft.Authorization/locks/*) $role.AssignableScopes.Clear() * Scope at the Management group level Management group $role.AssignableScopes.Add(/providers/Microsoft.Management/managementGroups/MG-Name) New-AzRoleDefinition -Role $role Get-AzureRmRoleDefinition Resource Lock Administrator

Level 2

1 Identity and Access Management

Users who are set as subscription owners are able to make administrative changes to the subscriptions and move them into and out of Microsoft Entra ID.

By default Subscription leaving Microsoft Entra ID directory and Subscription entering Microsoft Entra ID directory are set to Allow everyone (default)

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure Portal Home select the portal menu 1. Select Subscriptions 1. In the Advanced options drop-down menu, select Manage Policies 1. Ensure Subscription leaving Microsoft Entra ID directory and Subscription entering Microsoft Entra ID directory are set to Permit no one

Subscriptions will need to have these settings turned off to be moved.

Manual

Permissions to move subscriptions in and out of Microsoft Entra ID directory must only be given to appropriate administrative personnel. A subscription that is moved into an Microsoft Entra ID directory may be within a folder to which other users have elevated permissions. This prevents loss of data or unapproved changes of the objects within by potential bad actors.

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure Portal Home select the portal menu 1. Select Subscriptions 1. In the Advanced options drop-down menu, select Manage Policies 1. Under Subscription leaving Microsoft Entra ID directory and Subscription entering Microsoft Entra ID directory select Permit no one

Level 1

1 Identity and Access Management

This recommendation aims to maintain a balance between security and operational efficiency by ensuring that a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 users are assigned the Global Administrator role in Microsoft Entra ID. Having at least two Global Administrators ensures redundancy, while limiting the number to four reduces the risk of excessive privileged access.

1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 2. Select Microsoft Entra ID 3. Select Roles and Administrators 4. Select Global Administrator 5. Ensure less than 5 users are actively assigned the role. 6. Ensure that at least 2 users are actively assigned the role.

Implementing this recommendation may require changes in administrative workflows or the redistribution of roles and responsibilities. Adequate training and awareness should be provided to all Global Administrators.

Manual

The Global Administrator role has extensive privileges across all services in Microsoft Entra ID. The Global Administrator role should never be used in regular daily activities; administrators should have a regular user account for daily activities, and a separate account for administrative responsibilities. Limiting the number of Global Administrators helps mitigate the risk of unauthorized access, reduces the potential impact of human error, and aligns with the principle of least privilege to reduce the attack surface of an Azure tenant. Conversely, having at least two Global Administrators ensures that administrative functions can be performed without interruption in case of unavailability of a single admin.

If more 4 users are assigned: 1. Remove Global Administrator role for users which do not or no longer require the role. 2. Assign Global Administrator role via PIM which can be activated when required. 3. Assign more granular roles to users to conduct their duties. If only one user is assigned: 1. Provide the Global Administrator role to a trusted user or create a break glass admin account.

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Servers enables threat detection for Servers, providing threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and behavior analytics in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

By default, Microsoft Defender plan is off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select Defender plans 5. Ensure Servers Status is set to On. From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing show -n VirtualMachines --query pricingTier If the tenant is licensed and enabled, the output should indicate Standard From PowerShell Run the following command: Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'VirtualMachines' |Select-Object Name,PricingTier If the tenant is licensed and enabled, the -PricingTier parameter will indicate Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 4da35fc9-c9e7-4960-aec9-797fe7d9051d - Name: 'Azure Defender for servers should be enabled'

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Servers in Microsoft Defender for Cloud incurs an additional cost per resource.

Automated

Enabling Microsoft Defender for Servers allows for greater defense-in-depth, with threat detection provided by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select Defender plans 5. Set Server Status to On 6. Select Save From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing create -n VirtualMachines --tier 'standard' From PowerShell Run the following command: Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'VirtualMachines' -PricingTier 'Standard'

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Turning on Microsoft Defender for App Service enables threat detection for App Service, providing threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and behavior analytics in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

By default, Microsoft Defender plan is off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select Defender plans 5. Ensure Status is On for App Service From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing show -n AppServices Ensure -PricingTier is set to Standard From PowerShell Run the following command: Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'AppServices' |Select-Object Name,PricingTier Ensure the -PricingTier is set to Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 2913021d-f2fd-4f3d-b958-22354e2bdbcb - Name: 'Azure Defender for App Service should be enabled'

Turning on Microsoft Defender for App Service incurs an additional cost per resource.

Automated

Enabling Microsoft Defender for App Service allows for greater defense-in-depth, with threat detection provided by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select Defender plans 5. Set App Service Status to On 6. Select Save From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing create -n Appservices --tier 'standard' From PowerShell Run the following command: Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name AppServices -PricingTier Standard

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL Databases enables threat detection for Managed Instance Azure SQL databases, providing threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and behavior analytics in Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

By default, Microsoft Defender plan is off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Click Select types > in the row for Databases. 6. Ensure the radio button next to Azure SQL Databases is set to On. From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing show -n SqlServers Ensure -PricingTier is set to Standard From PowerShell Run the following command: Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'SqlServers' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier Ensure the -PricingTier is set to Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 7fe3b40f-802b-4cdd-8bd4-fd799c948cc2 - Name: 'Azure Defender for Azure SQL Database servers should be enabled' - Policy ID: abfb7388-5bf4-4ad7-ba99-2cd2f41cebb9 - Name: 'Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected SQL Managed Instances'

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL Databases incurs an additional cost per resource.

Automated

Enabling Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL Databases allows for greater defense-in-depth, includes functionality for discovering and classifying sensitive data, surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities, and detecting anomalous activities that could indicate a threat to your database.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Click Select types > in the row for Databases. 6. Set the radio button next to Azure SQL Databases to On. 7. Select Continue. 8. Select Save. From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing create -n SqlServers --tier 'standard' From PowerShell Run the following command: Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'SqlServers' -PricingTier 'Standard'

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Turning on Microsoft Defender for SQL servers on machines enables threat detection for SQL servers on machines, providing threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and behavior analytics in Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

By default, Microsoft Defender plan is off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Click Select types > in the row for Databases. 6. Ensure the radio button next to SQL servers on machines is set to On. From Azure CLI Ensure Defender for SQL is licensed with the following command: az security pricing show -n SqlServerVirtualMachines Ensure the 'PricingTier' is set to 'Standard' From PowerShell Run the following command: Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'SqlServerVirtualMachines' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier Ensure the 'PricingTier' is set to 'Standard' From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 6581d072-105e-4418-827f-bd446d56421b - Name: 'Azure Defender for SQL servers on machines should be enabled' - Policy ID: abfb4388-5bf4-4ad7-ba82-2cd2f41ceae9 - Name: 'Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected Azure SQL servers'

Turning on Microsoft Defender for SQL servers on machines incurs an additional cost per resource.

Automated

Enabling Microsoft Defender for SQL servers on machines allows for greater defense-in-depth, functionality for discovering and classifying sensitive data, surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities, and detecting anomalous activities that could indicate a threat to your database.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Click Select types > in the row for Databases. 6. Set the radio button next to SQL servers on machines to On. 7. Select Continue. 8. Select Save. From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing create -n SqlServerVirtualMachines --tier 'standard' From PowerShell Run the following command: Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'SqlServerVirtualMachines' -PricingTier 'Standard'

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Open-source relational databases enables threat detection for Open-source relational databases, providing threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and behavior analytics in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

By default, Microsoft Defender plan is off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 1. Select Environment Settings blade. 1. Click on the subscription name. 1. Select the Defender plans blade. 1. Click Select types > in the row for Databases. 1. Ensure the radio button next to Open-source relational databases is set to On. From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing show -n OpenSourceRelationalDatabases --query pricingTier From PowerShell Get-AzSecurityPricing | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq 'OpenSourceRelationalDatabases'} | Select-Object Name, PricingTier Ensure output for Name PricingTier is OpenSourceRelationalDatabases Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 0a9fbe0d-c5c4-4da8-87d8-f4fd77338835 - Name: 'Azure Defender for open-source relational databases should be enabled'

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Open-source relational databases incurs an additional cost per resource.

Automated

Enabling Microsoft Defender for Open-source relational databases allows for greater defense-in-depth, with threat detection provided by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Click Select types > in the row for Databases. 6. Set the radio button next to Open-source relational databases to On. 7. Select Continue. 8. Select Save. From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing create -n 'OpenSourceRelationalDatabases' --tier 'standard' From PowerShell Use the below command to enable Standard pricing tier for Open-source relational databases set-azsecuritypricing -name OpenSourceRelationalDatabases -pricingtier Standard

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Microsoft Defender for Azure Cosmos DB scans all incoming network requests for threats to your Azure Cosmos DB resources.

By default, Microsoft Defender for Azure Cosmos DB is not enabled.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings blade 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select the Defender plans blade 5. On the Database row click on Select types > 6. Ensure the radio button next to Azure Cosmos DB is set to On. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is Standard az security pricing show -n CosmosDbs --query pricingTier From PowerShell Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'CosmosDbs' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier Ensure output of -PricingTier is Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: adbe85b5-83e6-4350-ab58-bf3a4f736e5e - Name: 'Microsoft Defender for Azure Cosmos DB should be enabled'

Enabling Microsoft Defender for Azure Cosmos DB requires enabling Microsoft Defender for your subscription. Both will incur additional charges.

Automated

In scanning Azure Cosmos DB requests within a subscription, requests are compared to a heuristic list of potential security threats. These threats could be a result of a security breach within your services, thus scanning for them could prevent a potential security threat from being introduced.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. On the Database row click on Select types >. 6. Set the radio button next to Azure Cosmos DB to On. 7. Click Continue. 8. Click Save. From Azure CLI Run the following command: az security pricing create -n 'CosmosDbs' --tier 'standard' From PowerShell Use the below command to enable Standard pricing tier for Azure Cosmos DB Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'CosmosDbs' -PricingTier 'Standard

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Storage enables threat detection for Storage, providing threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and behavior analytics in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

By default, Microsoft Defender plan is off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Ensure Status is set to On for Storage. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is Standard az security pricing show -n StorageAccounts From PowerShell Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'StorageAccounts' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier Ensure output for Name PricingTier is StorageAccounts Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 308fbb08-4ab8-4e67-9b29-592e93fb94fa - Name: 'Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) should be enabled'

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Storage incurs an additional cost per resource.

Automated

Enabling Microsoft Defender for Storage allows for greater defense-in-depth, with threat detection provided by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Set Status to On for Storage. 6. Select Save. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is Standard az security pricing create -n StorageAccounts --tier 'standard' From PowerShell Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'StorageAccounts' -PricingTier 'Standard'

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Containers enables threat detection for Container Registries including Kubernetes, providing threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and behavior analytics in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud. The following services will be enabled for container instances: - Defender agent in Azure - Azure Policy for Kubernetes - Agentless discovery for Kubernetes - Agentless container vulnerability assessment

By default, Microsoft Defender for Containers is off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select Defender plans. 5. Ensure On is set under Status for Containers. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the commands below indicates Standard pricing. For legacy Defender for Container Registries instances: az security pricing show --name ContainerRegistry --query pricingTier For new Defender for Containers instances: az security pricing show --name Containers --query pricingTier From PowerShell Ensure the output of the commands below indicates Standard pricing. For legacy Defender for Container Registries instances: Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'ContainerRegistry' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier For new Defender for Containers instances: Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'Containers' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 1c988dd6-ade4-430f-a608-2a3e5b0a6d38 - Name: 'Microsoft Defender for Containers should be enabled'

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Containers incurs an additional cost per resource.

Automated

Enabling Microsoft Defender for Container Registries allows for greater defense-in-depth, with threat detection provided by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select Defender plans. 5. Set Status to On for Containers. 6. Click Save. From Azure CLI (Note: 'ContainerRegistry' has been deprecated and is replaced by 'Containers') Use the below command to enable Standard pricing tier for Containers. az security pricing create -n 'Containers' --tier 'standard' From PowerShell (Note: 'ContainerRegistry' has been deprecated and is replaced by 'Containers') Use the below command to enable Standard pricing tier for Containers. Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'Containers' -PricingTier 'Standard'

Deprecation of previous product plans 'Container registries' and 'Kubernetes' plans for Microsoft Defender are being deprecated and replaced with 'Containers' or Microsoft Defender for Containers.

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Key Vault enables threat detection for Key Vault, providing threat intelligence, anomaly detection, and behavior analytics in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

By default, Microsoft Defender plan is off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings blade 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select the Defender plans blade 5. Ensure Status is set to On for Key Vault. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is Standard az security pricing show -n 'KeyVaults' --query 'PricingTier' From PowerShell Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'KeyVaults' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier Ensure output for PricingTier is Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 0e6763cc-5078-4e64-889d-ff4d9a839047 - Name: 'Azure Defender for Key Vault should be enabled'

Turning on Microsoft Defender for Key Vault incurs an additional cost per resource.

Automated

Enabling Microsoft Defender for Key Vault allows for greater defense-in-depth, with threat detection provided by the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC).

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings blade 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select the Defender plans blade 5. Select On under Status for Key Vault. 6. Select Save. From Azure CLI Enable Standard pricing tier for Key Vault: az security pricing create -n 'KeyVaults' --tier 'Standard' From PowerShell Enable Standard pricing tier for Key Vault: Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'KeyVaults' -PricingTier 'Standard'

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

[NOTE: As of August 1, customers with an existing subscription to Defender for DNS can continue to use the service, but new subscribers will receive alerts about suspicious DNS activity as part of Defender for Servers P2.] Microsoft Defender for DNS scans all network traffic exiting from within a subscription.

By default, Microsoft Defender for DNS is not enabled.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings blade 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select the Defender plans blade 5. Ensure Status is set to On for DNS. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is Standard az security pricing show -n 'DNS' --query 'PricingTier' From PowerShell Get-AzSecurityPricing --Name 'DNS' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier Ensure output of PricingTier is Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: bdc59948-5574-49b3-bb91-76b7c986428d - Name: 'Azure Defender for DNS should be enabled'

Enabling Microsoft Defender for DNS requires enabling Microsoft Defender for your subscription. Both will incur additional charges, with Defender for DNS being a small amount per million queries.

Automated

DNS lookups within a subscription are scanned and compared to a dynamic list of websites that might be potential security threats. These threats could be a result of a security breach within your services, thus scanning for them could prevent a potential security threat from being introduced.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Select On under Status for DNS. 6. Select Save. From Powershell Enable Standard pricing tier for DNS: az security pricing create -n 'DNS' --tier 'Standard' From PowerShell Enable Standard pricing tier for DNS: Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'DNS' -PricingTier 'Standard'

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Microsoft Defender for Resource Manager scans incoming administrative requests to change your infrastructure from both CLI and the Azure portal.

By default, Microsoft Defender for Resource Manager is not enabled.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud 2. Select Environment Settings blade 3. Click on the subscription name 4. Select the Defender plans blade 5. Ensure Status is set to On for Resource Manager. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is Standard az security pricing show -n 'Arm' --query 'PricingTier' From Azure PowerShell Get-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'Arm' | Select-Object Name,PricingTier Ensure the output of PricingTier is Standard From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: c3d20c29-b36d-48fe-808b-99a87530ad99 - Name: 'Azure Defender for Resource Manager should be enabled'

Enabling Microsoft Defender for Resource Manager requires enabling Microsoft Defender for your subscription. Both will incur additional charges.

Automated

Scanning resource requests lets you be alerted every time there is suspicious activity in order to prevent a security threat from being introduced.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 2. Select Environment Settings blade. 3. Click on the subscription name. 4. Select the Defender plans blade. 5. Select On under Status for Resource Manager. 6. Select `Save. From Azure CLI Use the below command to enable Standard pricing tier for Defender for Resource Manager az security pricing create -n 'Arm' --tier 'Standard' From PowerShell Use the below command to enable Standard pricing tier for Defender for Resource Manager Set-AzSecurityPricing -Name 'Arm' -PricingTier 'Standard'

Level 1

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Ensure that the latest OS patches for all virtual machines are applied.

By default, patches are not automatically deployed.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Then the Recommendations blade 1. Ensure that there are no recommendations for Apply system updates Alternatively, you can employ your own patch assessment and management tool to periodically assess, report and install the required security patches for your OS. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: bd876905-5b84-4f73-ab2d-2e7a7c4568d9 - Name: '[Preview]: Machines should be configured to periodically check for missing system updates'

Running Microsoft Defender for Cloud incurs additional charges for each resource monitored. Please see attached reference for exact charges per hour.

Automated

Windows and Linux virtual machines should be kept updated to: - Address a specific bug or flaw - Improve an OS or application’s general stability - Fix a security vulnerability Microsoft Defender for Cloud retrieves a list of available security and critical updates from Windows Update or Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), depending on which service is configured on a Windows VM. The security center also checks for the latest updates in Linux systems. If a VM is missing a system update, the security center will recommend system updates be applied.

Follow Microsoft Azure documentation to apply security patches from the security center. Alternatively, you can employ your own patch assessment and management tool to periodically assess, report, and install the required security patches for your OS.

Level 1

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

The Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark (or MCSB) is an Azure Policy Initiative containing many security policies to evaluate resource configuration against best practice recommendations. If a policy in the MCSB is set with effect type Disabled, it is not evaluated and may prevent administrators from being informed of valuable security recommendations.

By default, the MCSB policy initiative is associated to all subscriptions and most policies will have an effect of Audit. Some policies will have a default effect of Disabled.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Then Environment Settings 1. Select the appropriate Subscription 1. Click on Security Policy in the left column. 1. Click on Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark 1. Click Add Filter and select Effect 1. Check the Disabled box to search for all disabled policies 1. Click Apply If no Policies are shown, no Policies are in Disabled status and no remediation is necessary. If any Policies remain in the list, the policy Effect should be changed to Audit.

Policies within the MCSB default to an effect of Audit and will evaluate - but not enforce - policy recommendations. Ensuring these policies are set to Audit simply ensures that the evaluation occurs to allow administrators to understand where an improvement may be possible. Administrators will need to determine if the recommendations are relevant and desirable for their environment, then manually take action to resolve the status if desired.

Manual

A security policy defines the desired configuration of resources in your environment and helps ensure compliance with company or regulatory security requirements. The MCSB Policy Initiative a set of security recommendations based on best practices and is associated with every subscription by default. When a policy Effect is set to Audit, policies in the MCSB ensure that Defender for Cloud evaluates relevant resources for supported recommendations. To ensure that policies within the MCSB are not being missed when the Policy Initiative is evaluated, none of the policies should have an Effect of Disabled.

From Azure Portal Part A - List all disabled policies 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Then Environment Settings 1. Select the appropriate Subscription 1. Click on Security Policy in the left column. 1. Click on Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark 1. Click Add Filter and select Effect 1. Check the Disabled box to search for all disabled policies 1. Click Apply Part B - Remediate Policy Effect For each policy that remains in the list: 1. Click the blue ellipses ... to the right of the policy name 1. Click Manage effect and parameters 1. Under Policy Effect, select the Audit radio button 1. Click Save 1. Click Refresh Repeat Part B - Remediate Policy Effect until no more policies are listed.

Level 1

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Enable automatic provisioning of the monitoring agent to collect security data.

By default, Automatic provisioning of monitoring agent is set to On.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Then Environment Settings 1. Select a subscription 1. Click on Settings & Monitoring 1. Ensure that Log Analytics agent/Azure Monitor agent is set to On Repeat the above for any additional subscriptions. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is On az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X GET -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<subscriptionID>/providers/Microsoft.Security/autoProvisioningSettings?api-version=2017-08-01-preview' | jq '.|.value[] | select(.name==default)'|jq '.properties.autoProvision' Using PowerShell Connect-AzAccount Get-AzSecurityAutoProvisioningSetting | Select-Object Name, AutoProvision Ensure output for Id Name AutoProvision is /subscriptions//providers/Microsoft.Security/autoProvisioningSettings/default default On From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 475aae12-b88a-4572-8b36-9b712b2b3a17 - Name: 'Auto provisioning of the Log Analytics agent should be enabled on your subscription'

Automated

When Log Analytics agent for Azure VMs is turned on, Microsoft Defender for Cloud provisions the Microsoft Monitoring Agent on all existing supported Azure virtual machines and any new ones that are created. The Microsoft Monitoring Agent scans for various security-related configurations and events such as system updates, OS vulnerabilities, endpoint protection, and provides alerts.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Select Environment Settings 1. Select a subscription 1. Click on Settings & Monitoring 1. Ensure that Log Analytics agent for Azure VMs is set to On Repeat the above for any additional subscriptions. From Azure CLI Use the below command to set Automatic provisioning of monitoring agent to On. az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X PUT -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/subscriptionID/providers/Microsoft.Security/autoProvisioningSettings/default?api-version=2017-08-01-preview -d@input.json' Where input.json contains the Request body json data as mentioned below. { id: /subscriptions/<Your_Subscription_Id>/providers/Microsoft.Security/autoProvisioningSettings/default, name: default, type: Microsoft.Security/autoProvisioningSettings, properties: { autoProvision: On } }

• Excluding any of the entries in input.json may disable the specific setting by default - Microsoft has recently changed APIs to get and Update Automatic Provisioning Setting. This recommendation is updated accordingly.

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Enable automatic provisioning of vulnerability assessment for machines on both Azure and hybrid (Arc enabled) machines.

By default, Automatic provisioning of monitoring agent is set to Off.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Then Environment Settings 1. Select a subscription 1. Click on Settings & Monitoring 1. Ensure that Vulnerability assessment for machines is set to On Repeat the above for any additional subscriptions.

Additional licensing is required and configuration of Azure Arc introduces complexity beyond this recommendation.

Manual

Vulnerability assessment for machines scans for various security-related configurations and events such as system updates, OS vulnerabilities, and endpoint protection, then produces alerts on threat and vulnerability findings.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Then Environment Settings 1. Select a subscription 1. Click on Settings & Monitoring 1. Ensure that Vulnerability assessment for machines is set to On Repeat the above for any additional subscriptions.

While this feature is generally available as of publication, it is not yet available for Azure Government tenants.

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Enable automatic provisioning of the Microsoft Defender for Containers components.

By default, Microsoft Defender for Containers is disabled. If Defender for Containers is enabled from the Microsoft Defender for Cloud portal, auto provisioning will be enabled.

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure Portal Home page, select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Under Management select Environment Settings 1. Select a subscription 1. Ensure that Containers is set to On Repeat the above for any additional subscriptions. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 1c988dd6-ade4-430f-a608-2a3e5b0a6d38 - Name: 'Microsoft Defender for Containers should be enabled'

Microsoft Defender for Containers will require additional licensing.

Automated

As with any compute resource, Container environments require hardening and run-time protection to ensure safe operations and detection of threats and vulnerabilities.

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure Portal Home page, select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Under Management, select Environment Settings 1. Select a subscription 1. Set Containers to On

Level 1

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Enable security alert emails to subscription owners.

By default, Owner is selected

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Then Environment Settings 1. Click on the appropriate Management Group, Subscription, or Workspace 1. Click on Email notifications 1. Ensure that All users with the following roles is set to Owner From Azure CLI Ensure the command below returns state of On and that Owner appears in roles. az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X GET -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$0/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts?api-version=2020-01-01-preview'| jq '.[] | select(.name==default).properties.notificationsByRole'

Automated

Enabling security alert emails to subscription owners ensures that they receive security alert emails from Microsoft. This ensures that they are aware of any potential security issues and can mitigate the risk in a timely fashion.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Click on Environment Settings 1. Click on the appropriate Management Group, Subscription, or Workspace 1. Click on Email notifications 1. In the drop down of the All users with the following roles field select Owner 1. Click Save From Azure CLI Use the below command to set Send email also to subscription owners to On. az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X PUT -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$0/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts/default1?api-version=2017-08-01-preview -d@input.json' Where input.json contains the data below, replacing validEmailAddress with a single email address or multiple comma-separated email addresses: { id: /subscriptions/<Your_Subscription_Id>/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts/default1, name: default1, type: Microsoft.Security/securityContacts, properties: { email: <validEmailAddress>, alertNotifications: On, alertsToAdmins: On, notificationsByRole: Owner } }

Excluding any entries in the input.json properties block disables the specific setting by default.

Level 1

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Microsoft Defender for Cloud emails the subscription owners whenever a high-severity alert is triggered for their subscription. You should provide a security contact email address as an additional email address.

By default, there are no additional email addresses entered.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Click on Environment Settings 1. Click on the appropriate Management Group, Subscription, or Workspace 1. Click on Email notifications 1. Ensure that a valid security contact email address is listed in the Additional email addresses field From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is set not empty and is set with appropriate email ids. az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X GET -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$0/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts?api-version=2020-01-01-preview' | jq '.|.[] | select(.name==default)'|jq '.properties.emails' From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 4f4f78b8-e367-4b10-a341-d9a4ad5cf1c7 - Name: 'Subscriptions should have a contact email address for security issues'

Automated

Microsoft Defender for Cloud emails the Subscription Owner to notify them about security alerts. Adding your Security Contact's email address to the 'Additional email addresses' field ensures that your organization's Security Team is included in these alerts. This ensures that the proper people are aware of any potential compromise in order to mitigate the risk in a timely fashion.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Click on Environment Settings 1. Click on the appropriate Management Group, Subscription, or Workspace 1. Click on Email notifications 1. Enter a valid security contact email address (or multiple addresses separated by commas) in the Additional email addresses field 1. Click Save From Azure CLI Use the below command to set Security contact emails to On. az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X PUT -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$0/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts/default?api-version=2020-01-01-preview -d@input.json' Where input.json contains the data below, replacing validEmailAddress with a single email address or multiple comma-separated email addresses: { id: /subscriptions/<Your_Subscription_Id>/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts/default, name: default, type: Microsoft.Security/securityContacts, properties: { email: <validEmailAddress>, alertNotifications: On, alertsToAdmins: On } }

Excluding any entries in the input.json properties block disables the specific setting by default.

Level 1

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Enables emailing security alerts to the subscription owner or other designated security contact.

By default, Notify about alerts with the following severity (or higher): is set to High.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Click on Environment Settings 1. Click on the appropriate Management Group, Subscription, or Workspace 1. Click on Email notifications 1. Ensure that the Notify about alerts with the following severity (or higher): setting is checked and set to High From Azure CLI Ensure the output of below command is set to true, enter your Subscription ID at the $0 between /subscriptions/<$0>/providers. az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X GET -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$0/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts?api-version=2020-01-01-preview' | jq '.|.[] | select(.name==default)'|jq '.properties.alertNotifications' From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 6e2593d9-add6-4083-9c9b-4b7d2188c899 - Name: 'Email notification for high severity alerts should be enabled'

Automated

Enabling security alert emails ensures that security alert emails are received from Microsoft. This ensures that the right people are aware of any potential security issues and are able to mitigate the risk.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Click on Environment Settings 1. Click on the appropriate Management Group, Subscription, or Workspace 1. Click on Email notifications 1. Under Notification types, check the check box next to Notify about alerts with the following severity (or higher): and select High from the drop down menu 1. Click Save From Azure CLI Use the below command to set Send email notification for high severity alerts to On. az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X PUT -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<$0>/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts/default1?api-version=2017-08-01-preview -d@input.json' Where input.json contains the data below, replacing validEmailAddress with a single email address or multiple comma-separated email addresses: { id: /subscriptions/<Your_Subscription_Id>/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts/default1, name: default1, type: Microsoft.Security/securityContacts, properties: { email: <validEmailAddress>, alertNotifications: On, alertsToAdmins: On } }

Excluding any entries in the input.json properties block disables the specific setting by default. This recommendation has been updated to reflect recent changes to Microsoft REST APIs for getting and updating security contact information.

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

This integration setting enables Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (formerly 'Microsoft Cloud App Security' or 'MCAS' - see additional info) to communicate with Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

With Cloud App Security license, these alerts are enabled by default.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Select Environment Settings blade 1. Click on the subscription name 1. Select the Integrations blade 1. Ensure setting Allow Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps to access my data is selected. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is True az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X GET -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<subscription_ID>/providers/Microsoft.Security/settings?api-version=2021-06-01' | jq '.|.value[] | select(.name==MCAS)'|jq '.properties.enabled' From PowerShell Run the following series of commands to audit this configuration Get-AzAccount Set-AzContext -Subscription <subscription ID> Get-AzSecuritySetting | Select-Object name,enabled |where-object {$_.name -eq MCAS} PowerShell Output - Non-Compliant Name Enabled ---- ------- MCAS False PowerShell Output - Compliant Name Enabled ---- ------- MCAS True

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps works with Standard pricing tier Subscription. Choosing the Standard pricing tier of Microsoft Defender for Cloud incurs an additional cost per resource.

Manual

Microsoft Defender for Cloud offers an additional layer of protection by using Azure Resource Manager events, which is considered to be the control plane for Azure. By analyzing the Azure Resource Manager records, Microsoft Defender for Cloud detects unusual or potentially harmful operations in the Azure subscription environment. Several of the preceding analytics are powered by Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. To benefit from these analytics, subscription must have a Cloud App Security license. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps works only with Standard Tier subscriptions.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 1. Select Environment Settings blade. 1. Select the subscription. 1. Select Integrations. 1. Check Allow Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps to access my data. 1. Select Save. From Azure CLI Use the below command to enable Standard pricing tier for Storage Accounts az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X PUT -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<subscription_ID>/providers/Microsoft.Security/settings/MCAS?api-version=2021-06-01 -d@input.json' Where input.json contains the Request body json data as mentioned below. { id: /subscriptions/<Your_Subscription_Id>/providers/Microsoft.Security/settings/MCAS, kind: DataExportSetting, type: Microsoft.Security/settings, properties: { enabled: true } }

NOTE: Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (MDCA) is formerly known as Microsoft Cloud App Security (MCAS). There are a number of places (e.g. Azure CLI) where the MCAS acronym is still used within Azure.

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

This integration setting enables Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (formerly 'Advanced Threat Protection' or 'ATP' or 'WDATP' - see additional info) to communicate with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. IMPORTANT: When enabling integration between DfE & DfC it needs to be taken into account that this will have some side effects that may be undesirable. 1. For server 2019 & above if defender is installed (default for these server SKU's) this will trigger a deployment of the new unified agent and link to any of the extended configuration in the Defender portal. 1. If the new unified agent is required for server SKU's of Win 2016 or Linux and lower there is additional integration that needs to be switched on and agents need to be aligned.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu 1. Select Microsoft Defender for Cloud 1. Select Environment Settings blade 1. Click on the subscription name 1. Select the Integrations blade 1. Ensure setting Allow Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to access my data is selected. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is True az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X GET -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<subscriptionID>/providers/Microsoft.Security/settings?api-version=2021-06-01' | jq '.|.value[] | select(.name==WDATP)'|jq '.properties.enabled' From PowerShell Run the following commands to login and audit this check Connect-AzAccount Set-AzContext -Subscription <subscriptionID> Get-AzSecuritySetting | Select-Object name,enabled |where-object {$_.name -eq WDATP} PowerShell Output - Non-Compliant Name Enabled ---- ------- WDATP False PowerShell Output - Compliant Name Enabled ---- ------- WDATP True

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint works with Standard pricing tier Subscription. Choosing the Standard pricing tier of Microsoft Defender for Cloud incurs an additional cost per resource.

Manual

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint integration brings comprehensive Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) capabilities within Microsoft Defender for Cloud. This integration helps to spot abnormalities, as well as detect and respond to advanced attacks on endpoints monitored by Microsoft Defender for Cloud. MDE works only with Standard Tier subscriptions.

From Azure Console 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. 1. Select Environment Settings blade. 1. Select the subscription. 1. Select Integrations. 1. Check Allow Microsoft Defender for Endpoint to access my data. 1. Select Save. From Azure CLI Use the below command to enable Standard pricing tier for Storage Accounts az account get-access-token --query {subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X PUT -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<subscriptionID>/providers/Microsoft.Security/settings/WDATP?api-version=2021-06-01 -d@input.json' Where input.json contains the Request body json data as mentioned below. { id: /subscriptions/<Your_Subscription_Id>/providers/Microsoft.Security/settings/WDATP, kind: DataExportSettings, type: Microsoft.Security/settings, properties: { enabled: true } }

IMPORTANT: When enabling integration between DfE & DfC it needs to be taken into account that this will have some side effects that may be undesirable. 1. For server 2019 & above if defender is installed (default for these server SKU's) this will trigger a deployment of the new unified agent and link to any of the extended configuration in the Defender portal. 1. If the new unified agent is required for server SKU's of Win 2016 or Linux and lower there is additional integration that needs to be switched on and agents need to be aligned. NOTE: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE) was formerly known as Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (WDATP). There are a number of places (e.g. Azure CLI) where the WDATP acronym is still used within Azure.

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

An organization's attack surface is the collection of assets with a public network identifier or URI that an external threat actor can see or access from outside your cloud. It is the set of points on the boundary of a system, a system element, system component, or an environment where an attacker can try to enter, cause an effect on, or extract data from, that system, system element, system component, or environment. The larger the attack surface, the harder it is to protect. This tool can be configured to scan your organization's online infrastructure such as specified domains, hosts, CIDR blocks, and SSL certificates, and store them in an Inventory. Inventory items can be added, reviewed, approved, and removed, and may contain enrichments (insights) and additional information collected from the tool's different scan engines and open-source intelligence sources. A Defender EASM workspace will generate an Inventory of publicly exposed assets by crawling and scanning the internet using Seeds you provide when setting up the tool. Seeds can be FQDNs, IP CIDR blocks, and WHOIS records. Defender EASM will generate Insights within 24-48 hours after Seeds are provided, and these insights include vulnerability data (CVEs), ports and protocols, and weak or expired SSL certificates that could be used by an attacker for reconnaisance or exploitation. Results are classified High/Medium/Low and some of them include proposed mitigations.

Microsoft Defender EASM is an optional, paid Azure Resource that must be created and configured inside a Subscription and Resource Group.

To view Defender EASM workspaces created for your Subscriptions, search for EASM in the Azure Portal using the search box.

Microsoft Defender EASM workspaces are currently available as Azure Resources with a 30-day free trial period but can quickly accrue significant charges. The costs are calculated daily as (Number of billable inventory items) x (item cost per day; approximately: $0.017). Estimated cost is not provided within the tool, and users are strongly advised to contact their Microsoft sales representative for pricing and set a calendar reminder for the end of the trial period. For an EASM workspace having an Inventory of 5k-10k billable items (IP addresses, hostnames, SSL certificates, etc) a typical cost might be approximiately $85-170 per day or $2500-5000 USD/month at the time of publication. If the workspace is deleted by the last day of a free trial period, no charges are billed.

Manual

This tool can monitor the externally exposed resources of an organization, provide valuable insights, and export these findings in a variety of formats (including CSV) for use in vulnerability management operations and red/purple team exercises.

To begin remediation, a Microsoft Defender EASM workspace must be created. The resources and inventory items added to this workspace will depend on your environment.

Microsoft added its Defender for External Attack Surface management (EASM) offering to Azure following its 2022 acquisition of EASM SaaS tool company RiskIQ.

Level 2

2 Microsoft Defender

2.2 Microsoft Defender for IoT

Microsoft Defender for IoT acts as a central security hub for IoT devices within your organization.

By default, Microsoft Defender for IoT is not enabled.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to IoT Hub. 2. Select a IoT Hub to validate. 3. Select Overview in Defender for IoT. 4. The Threat prevention and Threat detection screen will appear, if Defender for IoT is Enabled.

Enabling Microsoft Defender for IoT will incur additional charges dependent on the level of usage.

Manual

IoT devices are very rarely patched and can be potential attack vectors for enterprise networks. Updating their network configuration to use a central security hub allows for detection of these breaches.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to IoT Hub. 2. Select a IoT Hub to validate. 3. Select Overview in Defender for IoT. 4. Click on Secure your IoT solution, and complete the onboarding.

There are additional configurations for Microsoft Defender for IoT that allow for types of deployments called hybrid or local. Both run on your physical infrastructure. These are complicated setups and are primarily outside of the scope of a purely Azure benchmark. Please see the references to consider these options for your organization.

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

Enable data encryption in transit.

By default, Secure transfer required is set to Disabled.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, go to Configuration 3. Ensure that Secure transfer required is set to Enabled From Azure CLI Use the below command to ensure the Secure transfer required is enabled for all the Storage Accounts by ensuring the output contains true for each of the Storage Accounts. az storage account list --query [*].[name,enableHttpsTrafficOnly] From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 404c3081-a854-4457-ae30-26a93ef643f9 - Name: 'Secure transfer to storage accounts should be enabled'

Automated

The secure transfer option enhances the security of a storage account by only allowing requests to the storage account by a secure connection. For example, when calling REST APIs to access storage accounts, the connection must use HTTPS. Any requests using HTTP will be rejected when 'secure transfer required' is enabled. When using the Azure files service, connection without encryption will fail, including scenarios using SMB 2.1, SMB 3.0 without encryption, and some flavors of the Linux SMB client. Because Azure storage doesn’t support HTTPS for custom domain names, this option is not applied when using a custom domain name.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, go to Configuration 3. Set Secure transfer required to Enabled From Azure CLI Use the below command to enable Secure transfer required for a Storage Account az storage account update --name <storageAccountName> --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --https-only true

Level 2

3 Storage Accounts

Enabling encryption at the hardware level on top of the default software encryption for Storage Accounts accessing Azure storage solutions.

By default, Infrastructure Encryption is disabled in blob creation.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Portal select the portal menu in the top left. 2. Select Storage Accounts. 3. Click on each storage account within each resource group you wish to audit. 4. In the overview, under Security, ensure Infrastructure encryption is set to Enabled. From Azure CLI az storage blob show \ --account-name <storage-account> \ --container-name <container> \ --name <blob> \ --query properties.serverEncrypted From PowerShell $account = Get-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName <resource-group> ` -Name <storage-account> $blob = Get-AzStorageBlob -Context $account.Context ` -Container <container> ` -Blob <blob> $blob.ICloudBlob.Properties.IsServerEncrypted From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 4733ea7b-a883-42fe-8cac-97454c2a9e4a - Name: 'Storage accounts should have infrastructure encryption'

The read and write speeds to the storage will be impacted if both default encryption and Infrastructure Encryption are checked, as a secondary form of encryption requires more resource overhead for the cryptography of information. This performance impact should be considered in an analysis for justifying use of the feature in your environment. Customer-managed keys are recommended for the most secure implementation, leading to overhead of key management. The key will also need to be backed up in a secure location, as loss of the key will mean loss of the information in the storage.

Automated

Azure Storage automatically encrypts all data in a storage account at the network level using 256-bit AES encryption, which is one of the strongest, FIPS 140-2-compliant block ciphers available. Customers who require higher levels of assurance that their data is secure can also enable 256-bit AES encryption at the Azure Storage infrastructure level for double encryption. Double encryption of Azure Storage data protects against a scenario where one of the encryption algorithms or keys may be compromised. Similarly, data is encrypted even before network transmission and in all backups. In this scenario, the additional layer of encryption continues to protect your data. For the most secure implementation of key based encryption, it is recommended to use a Customer Managed asymmetric RSA 2048 Key in Azure Key Vault.

From Azure Portal 1. During Storage Account creation, in the Encryption tab, check the box next to Enable infrastructure encryption. From Azure CLI Replace the information within <> with appropriate values: az storage account create \ --name <storage-account> \ --resource-group <resource-group> \ --location <location> \ --sku Standard_RAGRS \ --kind StorageV2 \ --require-infrastructure-encryption From PowerShell Replace the information within <> with appropriate values: New-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName <resource_group> ` -AccountName <storage-account> ` -Location <location> ` -SkuName Standard_RAGRS ` -Kind StorageV2 ` -RequireInfrastructureEncryption Enabling Infrastructure Encryption after Storage Account Creation If infrastructure encryption was not enabled on blob storage creation, there is no official way to enable it. Please see the additional information section.

The default service side encryption for Azure Storage is enabled on every block blob, append blob, or page blob that was written to Azure Storage after October 20, 2017. Hardware encryption, however, cannot be enabled on a blob storage after its creation. There are ways to copy all data from a blob storage into another or download and reupload into another blob storage. This could result in data loss and is not recommended.

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

Access Keys authenticate application access requests to data contained in Storage Accounts. A periodic rotation of these keys is recommended to ensure that potentially compromised keys cannot result in a long-term exploitable credential. The Rotation Reminder is an automatic reminder feature for a manual procedure.

By default, Key rotation reminders is not configured.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each Storage Account, go to Access keys 3. Click Set rotation reminder If the checkbox for Enable key rotation reminders is already checked, that Storage Account is compliant. Review the Remind me every field for a desirable periodic setting that fits your security program's needs. From Powershell $rgName = <resource group name for the storage> $accountName = <storage account name> $account = Get-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $rgName -Name $accountName Write-Output $accountName -> Write-Output Expiration Reminder set to: $($account.KeyPolicy.KeyExpirationPeriodInDays) Days Write-Output Key1 Last Rotated: $($account.KeyCreationTime.Key1.ToShortDateString()) Write-Output Key2 Last Rotated: $($account.KeyCreationTime.Key2.ToShortDateString()) If any of the creation dates is empty, then remediation is required, due to the need of at least one rotation of the keys. If the reminder is set, the period in days will be returned. 90 days is the recommendation.

This recommendation only creates a periodic reminder to regenerate access keys. Regenerating access keys can affect services in Azure as well as the organization's applications that are dependent on the storage account. All clients that use the access key to access the storage account must be updated to use the new key.

Manual

Reminders such as those generated by this recommendation will help maintain a regular and healthy cadence for activities which improve the overall efficacy of a security program. Cryptographic key rotation periods will vary depending on your organization's security requirements and the type of data which is being stored in the Storage Account. For example, PCI DSS mandates that cryptographic keys be replaced or rotated 'regularly,' and advises that keys for static data stores be rotated every 'few months.' For the purposes of this recommendation, 90 days will prescribed for the reminder. Review and adjustment of the 90 day period is recommended, and may even be necessary. Your organization's security requirements should dictate the appropriate setting.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 1. For each Storage Account that is not compliant, go to Access keys 1. Click Set rotation reminder 1. Check Enable key rotation reminders 1. In the Send reminders field select Custom, then set the Remind me every field to 90 and the period drop down to Days. 1. Click Save From Powershell $rgName = <resource group name for the storage> $accountName = <storage account name> $account = Get-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $rgName -Name $accountName if ($account.KeyCreationTime.Key1 -eq $null -or $account.KeyCreationTime.Key2 -eq $null){ Write-output (You must regenerate both keys at least once before setting expiration policy) } else { $account = Set-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $rgName -Name $accountName -KeyExpirationPeriodInDay 90 } $account.KeyPolicy.KeyExpirationPeriodInDays

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

For increased security, regenerate storage account access keys periodically.

By default, access keys are not regenerated periodically.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each Storage Account, go to Access keys 3. Review the date in the Last rotated field for each key. If the Last rotated field indicates value greater than 90 day [or greater than your organization's period of validity], the key should be rotated. From Azure CLI 1. Get a list of storage accounts az storage account list --subscription <subscription-id> Make a note of id, name and resourceGroup. 2. For every storage account make sure that key is regenerated in past 90 days. az monitor activity-log list --namespace Microsoft.Storage --offset 90d --query [?contains(authorization.action, 'regenerateKey')] --resource-id <resource id> The output should contain authorization/scope: <your_storage_account> AND authorization/action: Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/regeneratekey/action AND status/localizedValue: Succeeded status/Value: Succeeded

Regenerating access keys can affect services in Azure as well as the organization's applications that are dependent on the storage account. All clients who use the access key to access the storage account must be updated to use the new key.

Manual

When a storage account is created, Azure generates two 512-bit storage access keys which are used for authentication when the storage account is accessed. Rotating these keys periodically ensures that any inadvertent access or exposure does not result from the compromise of these keys. Cryptographic key rotation periods will vary depending on your organization's security requirements and the type of data which is being stored in the Storage Account. For example, PCI DSS mandates that cryptographic keys be replaced or rotated 'regularly,' and advises that keys for static data stores be rotated every 'few months.' For the purposes of this recommendation, 90 days will prescribed for the reminder. Review and adjustment of the 90 day period is recommended, and may even be necessary. Your organization's security requirements should dictate the appropriate setting.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each Storage Account with outdated keys, go to Access keys 3. Click Rotate key next to the outdated key, then click Yes to the prompt confirming that you want to regenerate the access key. After Azure regenerates the Access Key, you can confirm that Access keys reflects a Last rotated date of (0 days ago).

Level 2

3 Storage Accounts

The Storage Queue service stores messages that may be read by any client who has access to the storage account. A queue can contain an unlimited number of messages, each of which can be up to 64KB in size using version 2011-08-18 or newer. Storage Logging happens server-side and allows details for both successful and failed requests to be recorded in the storage account. These logs allow users to see the details of read, write, and delete operations against the queues. Storage Logging log entries contain the following information about individual requests: Timing information such as start time, end-to-end latency, and server latency, authentication details, concurrency information, and the sizes of the request and response messages.

By default storage account queue services are not logged.

From Azure Portal: 1. Go to Storage Accounts. 1. Select the specific Storage Account. 1. Click the Diagnostics settings under the Monitoring section in the left column. 1. Select the queue tab indented below the storage account. Then select the diagnostic setting listed. 1. Ensure StorageRead, StorageWrite, and StorageDelete options are selected under the Logs section and that they are sent to the correct destination. From Azure CLI Ensure the below command's output contains properties delete, read and write set to true. az storage logging show --services q --account-name <storageAccountName> From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 7bd000e3-37c7-4928-9f31-86c4b77c5c45 - Name: 'Configure diagnostic settings for Queue Services to Log Analytics workspace'

Enabling this setting can have a high impact on the cost of the log analytics service and data storage used by logging more data per each request. Do not enable this without determining your need for this level of logging, and do not forget to check in on data usage and projected cost. Some users have seen their logging costs increase from $10 per month to $10,000 per month.

Automated

Storage Analytics logs contain detailed information about successful and failed requests to a storage service. This information can be used to monitor individual requests and to diagnose issues with a storage service. Requests are logged on a best-effort basis. Storage Analytics logging is not enabled by default for your storage account.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts. 1. Select the specific Storage Account. 1. Click the Diagnostics settings under the Monitoring section in the left column. 1. Select the queue tab indented below the storage account. 1. Click + Add diagnostic setting. 1. Select StorageRead, StorageWrite and StorageDelete options under the Logs section to enable Storage Logging for Queue service. 1. Select a destination for your logs to be sent to. From Azure CLI Use the below command to enable the Storage Logging for Queue service. az storage logging update --account-name <storageAccountName> --account-key <storageAccountKey> --services q --log rwd --retention 90

We cannot practically generalize detailed audit log requirements for every queue due to their nature and intent. This recommendation may be applicable to storage account queue services where the security is paramount.

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

Expire shared access signature tokens within an hour.

By default, expiration for shared access signature is set to 8 hours.

Currently, SAS token expiration times cannot be audited. Until Microsoft makes token expiration time a setting rather than a token creation parameter, this recommendation would require a manual verification.

Manual

A shared access signature (SAS) is a URI that grants restricted access rights to Azure Storage resources. A shared access signature can be provided to clients who should not be trusted with the storage account key but for whom it may be necessary to delegate access to certain storage account resources. Providing a shared access signature URI to these clients allows them access to a resource for a specified period of time. This time should be set as low as possible and preferably no longer than an hour.

When generating shared access signature tokens, use start and end time such that it falls within an hour. From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, go to Shared access signature 3. Set Start and expiry date/time within an hour

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

Disallowing public network access for a storage account overrides the public access settings for individual containers in that storage account for Azure Resource Manager Deployment Model storage accounts. Azure Storage accounts that use the classic deployment model will be retired on August 31, 2024.

By default, Public Network Access is set to Enabled from all networks for the Storage Account.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, under the Security + networking section, click Networking 3. Ensure the Public Network Access setting is set to Disabled. From Azure CLI Ensure publicNetworkAccess is Disabled az storage account show --name <storage-account> --resource-group <resource-group> --query {publicNetworkAccess:publicNetworkAccess} From PowerShell For each Storage Account, ensure PublicNetworkAccess is Disabled Get-AzStorageAccount -Name <storage account name> -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> |select PublicNetworkAccess From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: b2982f36-99f2-4db5-8eff-283140c09693 - Name: 'Storage accounts should disable public network access'

Access will have to be managed using shared access signatures or via Azure AD RBAC.

Automated

The default network configuration for a storage account permits a user with appropriate permissions to configure public network access to containers and blobs in a storage account. Keep in mind that public access to a container is always turned off by default and must be explicitly configured to permit anonymous requests. It grants read-only access to these resources without sharing the account key, and without requiring a shared access signature. It is recommended not to provide public network access to storage accounts until, and unless, it is strongly desired. A shared access signature token or Azure AD RBAC should be used for providing controlled and timed access to blob containers.

From Azure Portal First, follow Microsoft documentation and create shared access signature tokens for your blob containers. Then, 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, under the Security + networking section, click Networking 3. Set Public Network Access to Disabled. From Azure CLI Set 'Public Network Access' to Disabled on the storage account az storage account update --name <storage-account> --resource-group <resource-group> --public-network-access Disabled From PowerShell For each Storage Account, run the following to set the PublicNetworkAccess setting to Disabled Set-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -Name <storage account name> -PublicNetworkAccess Disabled

For classic storage accounts (to be retired on August 31, 2024), each container in the account must be configured to block anonymous access. Either configure all containers or to configure at the storage account level, migrate to the Azure Resource Manager deployment model.

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

Restricting default network access helps to provide a new layer of security, since storage accounts accept connections from clients on any network. To limit access to selected networks, the default action must be changed.

By default, Storage Accounts will accept connections from clients on any network.

From Azure Console 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, Click on the Networking blade. 4. Click the Firewalls and virtual networks heading. 3. Ensure that Allow access from All networks is not selected. From Azure CLI Ensure defaultAction is not set to Allow. az storage account list --query '[*].networkRuleSet' From PowerShell Connect-AzAccount Set-AzContext -Subscription <subscription ID> Get-AzStorageAccountNetworkRuleset -ResourceGroupName <resource group> -Name <storage account name> |Select-Object DefaultAction PowerShell Result - Non-Compliant DefaultAction : Allow PowerShell Result - Compliant DefaultAction : Deny From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 34c877ad-507e-4c82-993e-3452a6e0ad3c - Name: 'Storage accounts should restrict network access' - Policy ID: 2a1a9cdf-e04d-429a-8416-3bfb72a1b26f - Name: 'Storage accounts should restrict network access using virtual network rules'

All allowed networks will need to be whitelisted on each specific network, creating administrative overhead. This may result in loss of network connectivity, so do not turn on for critical resources during business hours.

Automated

Storage accounts should be configured to deny access to traffic from all networks (including internet traffic). Access can be granted to traffic from specific Azure Virtual networks, allowing a secure network boundary for specific applications to be built. Access can also be granted to public internet IP address ranges to enable connections from specific internet or on-premises clients. When network rules are configured, only applications from allowed networks can access a storage account. When calling from an allowed network, applications continue to require proper authorization (a valid access key or SAS token) to access the storage account.

From Azure Console 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, Click on the Networking blade 4. Click the Firewalls and virtual networks heading. 5. Ensure that you have elected to allow access from Selected networks 6. Add rules to allow traffic from specific network. 7. Click Save to apply your changes. From Azure CLI Use the below command to update default-action to Deny. az storage account update --name <StorageAccountName> --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --default-action Deny

Level 2

3 Storage Accounts

Some Azure services that interact with storage accounts operate from networks that can't be granted access through network rules. To help this type of service work as intended, allow the set of trusted Azure services to bypass the network rules. These services will then use strong authentication to access the storage account. If the Allow trusted Azure services exception is enabled, the following services are granted access to the storage account: Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery, Azure DevTest Labs, Azure Event Grid, Azure Event Hubs, Azure Networking, Azure Monitor, and Azure SQL Data Warehouse (when registered in the subscription).

By default, Storage Accounts will accept connections from clients on any network.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, Click on the Networking blade 3. Click on the Firewalls and virtual networks heading. 4. Ensure that Enabled from selected virtual networks and IP addresses is selected. 5. Ensure that Allow Azure services on the trusted services list to access this storage account is checked in Exceptions. From Azure CLI Ensure bypass contains AzureServices az storage account list --query '[*].networkRuleSet' From PowerShell Connect-AzAccount Set-AzContext -Subscription <subscription ID> Get-AzStorageAccountNetworkRuleset -ResourceGroupName <resource group> -Name <storage account name> |Select-Object Bypass If the resultant output from the above command shows 'NULL', that storage account configuration is out of compliance with this check. If the result of the above command shows 'AzureServices', that storage account configuration is in compliance with this check. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: c9d007d0-c057-4772-b18c-01e546713bcd - Name: 'Storage accounts should allow access from trusted Microsoft services'

This creates authentication credentials for services that need access to storage resources so that services will no longer need to communicate via network request. There may be a temporary loss of communication as you set each Storage Account. It is recommended to not do this on mission-critical resources during business hours.

Automated

Turning on firewall rules for storage account will block access to incoming requests for data, including from other Azure services. We can re-enable this functionality by enabling Trusted Azure Services through networking exceptions.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, Click on the Networking blade 3. Click on the Firewalls and virtual networks heading. 4. Ensure that Enabled from selected virtual networks and IP addresses is selected. 5. Under the 'Exceptions' label, enable check box for Allow Azure services on the trusted services list to access this storage account. 6. Click Save to apply your changes. From Azure CLI Use the below command to update Azure services. az storage account update --name <StorageAccountName> --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --bypass AzureServices

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

Use private endpoints for your Azure Storage accounts to allow clients and services to securely access data located over a network via an encrypted Private Link. To do this, the private endpoint uses an IP address from the VNet for each service. Network traffic between disparate services securely traverses encrypted over the VNet. This VNet can also link addressing space, extending your network and accessing resources on it. Similarly, it can be a tunnel through public networks to connect remote infrastructures together. This creates further security through segmenting network traffic and preventing outside sources from accessing it.

By default, Private Endpoints are not created for Storage Accounts.

From Azure Portal 1. Open the Storage Accounts blade. 1. For each listed Storage Account, perform the following check: 1. Under the Security + networking heading, click on Networking. 1. Click on the Private Endpoint Connections tab at the top of the networking window. 1. Ensure that for each VNet that the Storage Account must be accessed from, a unique Private Endpoint is deployed and the Connection State for each Private Endpoint is Approved Repeat the procedure for each Storage Account. From PowerShell $storageAccount = Get-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroup '<ResourceGroupName>' -Name '<storageaccountname>' Get-AzPrivateEndpoint -ResourceGroup '<ResourceGroupName>'|Where-Object {$_.PrivateLinkServiceConnectionsText -match $storageAccount.id} If the results of the second command returns information, the Storage Account is using a Private Endpoint and complies with this Benchmark, otherwise if the results of the second command are empty, the Storage Account generates a finding. From Azure CLI az storage account show --name '<storage account name>' --query privateEndpointConnections[0].id If the above command returns data, the Storage Account complies with this Benchmark, otherwise if the results are empty, the Storage Account generates a finding. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 6edd7eda-6dd8-40f7-810d-67160c639cd9 - Name: 'Storage accounts should use private link'

There is no cost in deploying VNets between Azure resources. If improperly implemented, it may result in loss of critical network traffic.

Automated

Securing traffic between services through encryption protects the data from easy interception and reading.

From Azure Portal 1. Open the Storage Accounts blade 1. For each listed Storage Account, perform the following: 1. Under the Security + networking heading, click on Networking 1. Click on the Private Endpoint Connections tab at the top of the networking window 1. Click the +Private endpoint button 1. In the 1 - Basics tab/step: - Enter a name that will be easily recognizable as associated with the Storage Account (Note: The Network Interface Name will be automatically completed, but you can customize it if needed.) - Ensure that the Region matches the region of the Storage Account - Click Next 1. In the 2 - Resource tab/step: - Select the target sub-resource based on what type of storage resource is being made available - Click Next 1. In the 3 - Virtual Network tab/step: - Select the Virtual network that your Storage Account will be connecting to - Select the Subnet that your Storage Account will be connecting to - (Optional) Select other network settings as appropriate for your environment - Click Next 1. In the 4 - DNS tab/step: - (Optional) Select other DNS settings as appropriate for your environment - Click Next 1. In the 5 - Tags tab/step: - (Optional) Set any tags that are relevant to your organization - Click Next 1. In the 6 - Review + create tab/step: - A validation attempt will be made and after a few moments it should indicate Validation Passed - if it does not pass, double-check your settings before beginning more in depth troubleshooting. - If validation has passed, click Create then wait for a few minutes for the scripted deployment to complete. Repeat the above procedure for each Private Endpoint required within every Storage Account. From PowerShell $storageAccount = Get-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName '<ResourceGroupName>' -Name '<storageaccountname>' $privateEndpointConnection = @{ Name = 'connectionName' PrivateLinkServiceId = $storageAccount.Id GroupID = blob|blob_secondary|file|file_secondary|table|table_secondary|queue|queue_secondary|web|web_secondary|dfs|dfs_secondary } $privateLinkServiceConnection = New-AzPrivateLinkServiceConnection @privateEndpointConnection $virtualNetDetails = Get-AzVirtualNetwork -ResourceGroupName '<ResourceGroupName>' -Name '<name>' $privateEndpoint = @{ ResourceGroupName = '<ResourceGroupName>' Name = '<PrivateEndpointName>' Location = '<location>' Subnet = $virtualNetDetails.Subnets[0] PrivateLinkServiceConnection = $privateLinkServiceConnection } New-AzPrivateEndpoint @privateEndpoint From Azure CLI az network private-endpoint create --resource-group <ResourceGroupName --location <location> --name <private endpoint name> --vnet-name <VNET Name> --subnet <subnet name> --private-connection-resource-id <storage account ID> --connection-name <private link service connection name> --group-id <blob|blob_secondary|file|file_secondary|table|table_secondary|queue|queue_secondary|web|web_secondary|dfs|dfs_secondary>

A NAT gateway is the recommended solution for outbound internet access.

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

The Azure Storage blobs contain data like ePHI or Financial, which can be secret or personal. Data that is erroneously modified or deleted by an application or other storage account user will cause data loss or unavailability. It is recommended that both Azure Containers with attached Blob Storage and standalone containers with Blob Storage be made recoverable by enabling the soft delete configuration. This is to save and recover data when blobs or blob snapshots are deleted.

When a new storage account is created, soft delete for containers and blob storage is by default disabled.

From Azure Portal: 1. From the Azure home page, open the hamburger menu in the top left or click on the arrow pointing right with 'More services' underneath. 2. Select Storage. 3. Select Storage Accounts. 4. For each Storage Account, navigate to Data protection in the left scroll column. 5. Ensure that soft delete is checked for both blobs and containers. Also check if the retention period is a sufficient length for your organization. From Azure CLI Blob Storage: Ensure that the output of the below command contains enabled status as true and days is not empty or null az storage blob service-properties delete-policy show --account-name <StorageAccountName> --account-key <accountkey> Azure Containers: Make certain that the --enable-container-delete-retention is 'true'. az storage account blob-service-properties show --account-name <StorageAccountName> --account-key <accountkey> --resource-group <resource_group> From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: ea39f60f-9f00-473c-8604-be5eac4bb088 - Name: 'Configure blob soft delete on a storage account'

Additional storage costs may be incurred as snapshots are retained.

Automated

Containers and Blob Storage data can be incorrectly deleted. An attacker/malicious user may do this deliberately in order to cause disruption. Deleting an Azure Storage blob causes immediate data loss. Enabling this configuration for Azure storage ensures that even if blobs/data were deleted from the storage account, Blobs/data objects are recoverable for a particular time which is set in the Retention policies, ranging from 7 days to 365 days.

From Azure Portal 1. From the Azure home page, open the hamburger menu in the top left or click on the arrow pointing right with 'More services' underneath. 2. Select Storage. 3. Select Storage Accounts. 4. For each Storage Account, navigate to Data protection in the left scroll column. 5. Check soft delete for both blobs and containers. Set the retention period to a sufficient length for your organization. From Azure CLI Update blob storage retention days in below command az storage blob service-properties delete-policy update --days-retained <RetentionDaysValue> --account-name <StorageAccountName> --account-key <AccountKey> --enable true Update container retention with the below command az storage account blob-service-properties update --enable-container-delete-retention true --container-delete-retention-days <days> --account-name <storage-account> --resource-group <resource_group> --account-key <AccountKey>

Level 2

3 Storage Accounts

Enable sensitive data encryption at rest using Customer Managed Keys (CMK) rather than Microsoft Managed keys.

By default, Encryption type is set to Microsoft Managed Keys.

From Azure Console: 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, go to Encryption 3. Ensure that Encryption type is set to Customer Managed Keys From PowerShell Connect-AzAccount Set-AzContext -Subscription <subscription id> Get-AzStorageAccount |Select-Object -ExpandProperty Encryption PowerShell Results - Non-Compliant ... KeySource : Microsoft.Storage ... PowerShell Results - Compliant ... KeySource : Microsoft.Keyvault ... From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 6fac406b-40ca-413b-bf8e-0bf964659c25 - Name: 'Storage accounts should use customer-managed key for encryption'

If the key expires by setting the 'activation date' and 'expiration date', the user must rotate the key manually. Using Customer Managed Keys may also incur additional man-hour requirements to create, store, manage, and protect the keys as needed.

Manual

By default, data in the storage account is encrypted using Microsoft Managed Keys at rest. All Azure Storage resources are encrypted, including blobs, disks, files, queues, and tables. All object metadata is also encrypted. If you want to control and manage this encryption key yourself, however, you can specify a customer-managed key. That key is used to protect and control access to the key that encrypts your data. You can also choose to automatically update the key version used for Azure Storage encryption whenever a new version is available in the associated Key Vault.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, go to Encryption 3. Set Customer Managed Keys 4. Select the Encryption key and enter the appropriate setting value 5. Click Save

Level 2

3 Storage Accounts

The Storage Blob service provides scalable, cost-efficient object storage in the cloud. Storage Logging happens server-side and allows details for both successful and failed requests to be recorded in the storage account. These logs allow users to see the details of read, write, and delete operations against the blobs. Storage Logging log entries contain the following information about individual requests: timing information such as start time, end-to-end latency, and server latency; authentication details; concurrency information; and the sizes of the request and response messages.

By default, storage account blob service logging is disabled for read, write, and delete operations.

From Azure Portal 1. From the default portal page select Storage Accounts. 2. Select the specific Storage Account. 3. Click the Diagnostics settings under the Monitoring section in the left column. 4. Select the 'blob' tab indented below the storage account. Then select the diagnostic setting listed. 5. Ensure StorageRead, StorageWrite, and StorageDelete options are selected under the Logging section and that they are sent to the correct destination. From Azure CLI Ensure the below command's output contains properties delete, read and write set to true. az storage logging show --services b --account-name <storageAccountName> From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: b4fe1a3b-0715-4c6c-a5ea-ffc33cf823cb - Name: 'Configure diagnostic settings for Blob Services to Log Analytics workspace'

Being a level 2, enabling this setting can have a high impact on the cost of data storage used for logging more data per each request. Do not enable this without determining your need for this level of logging or forget to check in on data usage and projected cost.

Automated

Storage Analytics logs contain detailed information about successful and failed requests to a storage service. This information can be used to monitor each individual request to a storage service for increased security or diagnostics. Requests are logged on a best-effort basis. Storage Analytics logging is not enabled by default for your storage account.

From Azure Portal 1. From the default portal page select Storage Accounts. 2. Select the specific Storage Account. 3. Click the Diagnostics settings under the Monitoring section in the left column. 4. Select the 'blob' tab indented below the storage account. 5. Click '+ Add diagnostic setting'. 6. Select StorageRead, StorageWrite and StorageDelete options under the Logging section to enable Storage Logging for Blob service. 7. Select a destination for your logs to be sent to. From Azure CLI Use the below command to enable the Storage Logging for Blob service. az storage logging update --account-name <storageAccountName> --account-key <storageAccountKey> --services b --log rwd --retention 90

We cannot practically generalize detailed audit log requirements for every blob due to their nature and intent. This recommendation may be applicable to storage account blob service where the security is paramount.

Level 2

3 Storage Accounts

Azure Table storage is a service that stores structured NoSQL data in the cloud, providing a key/attribute store with a schema-less design. Storage Logging happens server-side and allows details for both successful and failed requests to be recorded in the storage account. These logs allow users to see the details of read, write, and delete operations against the tables. Storage Logging log entries contain the following information about individual requests: timing information such as start time, end-to-end latency, and server latency; authentication details; concurrency information; and the sizes of the request and response messages.

By default, storage account table service logging is disabled for read, write, an delete operations

From Azure Portal 1. From the default portal page select Storage Accounts. 2. Select the specific Storage Account. 3. Click the Diagnostics settings under the Monitoring section in the left column. 4. Select the 'table' tab indented below the storage account. Then select the diagnostic setting listed. 5. Ensure StorageRead, StorageWrite, and StorageDelete options are selected under the Logging section and that they are sent to the correct destination. From Azure CLI Ensure the below command's output contains properties delete, read and write set to true. az storage logging show --services t --account-name <storageAccountName> From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 2fb86bf3-d221-43d1-96d1-2434af34eaa0 - Name: 'Configure diagnostic settings for Table Services to Log Analytics workspace'

Being a level 2, enabling this setting can have a high impact on the cost of data storage used for logging more data per each request. Do not enable this without determining your need for this level of logging or forget to check in on data usage and projected cost.

Automated

Storage Analytics logs contain detailed information about successful and failed requests to a storage service. This information can be used to monitor each individual request to a storage service for increased security or diagnostics. Requests are logged on a best-effort basis. Storage Analytics logging is not enabled by default for your storage account.

From Azure Portal 1. From the default portal page select Storage Accounts. 2. Select the specific Storage Account. 3. Click the Diagnostics settings under the Monitoring section in the left column. 4. Select the 'table' tab indented below the storage account. 5. Click '+ Add diagnostic setting'. 6. Select StorageRead, StorageWrite and StorageDelete options under the Logging section to enable Storage Logging for Table service. 7. Select a destination for your logs to be sent to. From Azure CLI Use the below command to enable the Storage Logging for Table service. az storage logging update --account-name <storageAccountName> --account-key <storageAccountKey> --services t --log rwd --retention 90

We cannot practically generalize detailed audit log requirements for every table due to their nature and intent. This recommendation may be applicable to storage account table service where the security is paramount.

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

In some cases, Azure Storage sets the minimum TLS version to be version 1.0 by default. TLS 1.0 is a legacy version and has known vulnerabilities. This minimum TLS version can be configured to be later protocols such as TLS 1.2.

If a storage account is created through the portal, the MinimumTlsVersion property for that storage account will be set to TLS 1.2. If a storage account is created through PowerShell or CLI, the MinimumTlsVersion property for that storage account will not be set, and defaults to TLS 1.0.

From Azure Console 1. Login to Azure Portal using https://portal.azure.com 2. Go to Storage Accounts 3. Click on each Storage Account 4. Under Setting section, Click on Configuration 5. Ensure that the minimum TLS version is set to be Version 1.2 From Azure CLI Get a list of all storage accounts and their resource groups az storage account list | jq '.[] | {name, resourceGroup}' Then query the minimumTLSVersion field az storage account show \ --name <storage-account> \ --resource-group <resource-group> \ --query minimumTlsVersion \ --output tsv From Azure PowerShell To get the minimum TLS version, run the following command: (Get-AzStorageAccount -Name <STORAGEACCOUNTNAME> -ResourceGroupName <RESOURCEGROUPNAME>).MinimumTlsVersion From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: fe83a0eb-a853-422d-aac2-1bffd182c5d0 - Name: 'Storage accounts should have the specified minimum TLS version'

When set to TLS 1.2 all requests must leverage this version of the protocol. Applications leveraging legacy versions of the protocol will fail.

Automated

TLS 1.0 has known vulnerabilities and has been replaced by later versions of the TLS protocol. Continued use of this legacy protocol affects the security of data in transit.

From Azure Console 1. Login to Azure Portal using https://portal.azure.com 2. Go to Storage Accounts 3. Click on each Storage Account 4. Under Setting section, Click on Configuration 5. Set the minimum TLS version to be Version 1.2 From Azure CLI az storage account update \ --name <storage-account> \ --resource-group <resource-group> \ --min-tls-version TLS1_2 From Azure PowerShell To set the minimum TLS version, run the following command: Set-AzStorageAccount -AccountName <STORAGEACCOUNTNAME> ` -ResourceGroupName <RESOURCEGROUPNAME> ` -MinimumTlsVersion TLS1_2

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

Cross Tenant Replication in Azure allows data to be replicated across multiple Azure tenants. While this feature can be beneficial for data sharing and availability, it also poses a significant security risk if not properly managed. Unauthorized data access, data leakage, and compliance violations are potential risks. Disabling Cross Tenant Replication ensures that data is not inadvertently replicated across different tenant boundaries without explicit authorization.

For new storage accounts created after Dec 15, 2023 cross tenant replication is not enabled.

From Azure Portal Login to the Azure Portal using https://portal.azure.com 1. Navigate to Storage Accounts 2. For each storage account, on the left blade under Data Management, click on Object replication 3. Select Advanced settings 3. Make sure Allow cross-tenant replication is not checked From Azure CLI az storage account list --query [*].[name,allowCrossTenantReplication] The value of false should be returned for each storage account listed. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 92a89a79-6c52-4a7e-a03f-61306fc49312 - Name: 'Storage accounts should prevent cross tenant object replication'

Disabling Cross Tenant Replication may affect data availability and sharing across different Azure tenants. Ensure that this change aligns with your organizational data sharing and availability requirements.

Automated

Disabling Cross Tenant Replication minimizes the risk of unauthorized data access and ensures that data governance policies are strictly adhered to. This control is especially critical for organizations with stringent data security and privacy requirements, as it prevents the accidental sharing of sensitive information.

From Azure Portal 1. Navigate to Storage Accounts 1. For each storage account, on the left blade under Data Management, click on Object replication 1. Click on Advanced settings and untick Allow cross-tenant replication 1. Click on OK From Azure CLI Replace the information within <> with appropriate values: az storage account update --name <storageAccountName> --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --allow-cross-tenant-replication false

Level 1

3 Storage Accounts

The Azure Storage setting ‘Allow Blob Anonymous Access’ (aka allowBlobPublicAccess) controls whether anonymous access is allowed for blob data in a storage account. When this property is set to True, it enables public read access to blob data, which can be convenient for sharing data but may carry security risks. When set to False, it disallows public access to blob data, providing a more secure storage environment.

Disabled

From Azure Portal: 1. Open the Storage Accounts blade 1. Click on a Storage Account 1. In the storage account menu pane, under the Settings section, click Configuration. 1. Under Allow Blob Anonymous Access ensure that the selected setting is Disabled. Repeat these steps for each Storage Account. From Azure CLI: For every storage account in scope: az storage account show --Name <yourStorageAccountName> --query allowBlobPublicAccess Ensure that every storage account in scope returns false for the allowBlobPublicAccess setting. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 13502221-8df0-4414-9937-de9c5c4e396b - Name: 'Configure your Storage account public access to be disallowed'

Additional consideration may be required for exceptional circumstances where elements of a storage account require public accessibility. In these circumstances, it is highly recommended that all data stored in the public facing storage account be reviewed for sensitive or potentially compromising data, and that sensitive or compromising data is never stored in these storage accounts.

Automated

If Allow Blob Anonymous Access is enabled, blobs can be accessed by adding the blob name to the URL to see the contents. An attacker can enumerate a blob using methods, such as brute force, and access them. Exfiltration of data by brute force enumeration of items from a storage account may occur if this setting is set to 'Enabled'.

From Azure Portal: 1. Open the Storage Accounts blade 1. Click on a Storage Account 1. In the storage account menu pane, under the Settings section, click Configuration. 1. Under Allow Blob Anonymous Access, select Disabled. Repeat these steps for each Storage Account. From Powershell: For every storage account in scope, run the following: $storageAccount = Get-AzStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName <yourResourceGroup> -Name <yourStorageAccountName> $storageAccount.AllowBlobPublicAccess = $false Set-AzStorageAccount -InputObject $storageAccount

Azure Storage accounts that use the classic deployment model will be retired on August 31, 2024.

Level 1

4 Database Services

4.1 SQL Server - Auditing

Enable auditing on SQL Servers.

By default, Enable Azure SQL Auditing is set to Off.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers 2. For each server instance 3. Click on Auditing 4. Ensure that Enable Azure SQL Auditing is set to On From PowerShell Get the list of all SQL Servers Get-AzSqlServer For each Server Get-AzSqlServerAudit -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> -ServerName <SQLServerName> Ensure that BlobStorageTargetState, EventHubTargetState, or LogAnalyticsTargetState is set to Enabled. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: a6fb4358-5bf4-4ad7-ba82-2cd2f41ce5e9 - Name: 'Auditing on SQL server should be enabled'

Automated

The Azure platform allows a SQL server to be created as a service. Enabling auditing at the server level ensures that all existing and newly created databases on the SQL server instance are audited. Auditing policy applied on the SQL database does not override auditing policy and settings applied on the particular SQL server where the database is hosted. Auditing tracks database events and writes them to an audit log in the Azure storage account. It also helps to maintain regulatory compliance, understand database activity, and gain insight into discrepancies and anomalies that could indicate business concerns or suspected security violations.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers 2. Select the SQL server instance 3. Under Security, click Auditing 4. Click the toggle next to Enable Azure SQL Auditing 5. Select an Audit log destination 6. Click Save From PowerShell Get the list of all SQL Servers Get-AzSqlServer For each Server, enable auditing and set the retention for at least 90 days. Log Analytics Example Set-AzSqlServerAudit -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <SQL Server name> -RetentionInDays <Number of Days to retain the audit logs, should be 90days minimum> -LogAnalyticsTargetState Enabled -WorkspaceResourceId /subscriptions/<subscription ID>/resourceGroups/insights-integration/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/<workspace name> Event Hub Example Set-AzSqlServerAudit -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <SQL Server name> -EventHubTargetState Enabled -EventHubName <Event Hub name> -EventHubAuthorizationRuleResourceId <Event Hub Authorization Rule Resource ID> Blob Storage Example* Set-AzSqlServerAudit -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <SQL Server name> -BlobStorageTargetState Enabled -StorageAccountResourceId /subscriptions/<subscription_ID>/resourceGroups/<Resource_Group>/providers/Microsoft.Stora ge/storageAccounts/<Storage Account name>

• A server policy applies to all existing and newly created databases on the server. - If server blob auditing is enabled, it always applies to the database. The database will be audited, regardless of the database auditing settings. Auditing type table is already deprecated leaving only type blob available. - Enabling blob auditing on the database, in addition to enabling it on the server, does not override or change any of the settings of the server blob auditing. Both audits will exist side by side. In other words, the database is audited twice in parallel; once by the server policy and once by the database policy.

Level 1

4 Database Services

4.1 SQL Server - Auditing

Ensure that no SQL Databases allow ingress from 0.0.0.0/0 (ANY IP).

By default, Allow access to Azure Services is set to NO.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers 2. For each SQL server 3. Click on Networking 4. Ensure that Allow Azure services and resources to access this server is Unchecked 5. Ensure that no firewall rule exists with - Start IP of 0.0.0.0 - or other combinations which allows access to wider public IP ranges From Azure CLI List all SQL servers az sql server list For each SQL server run the following command az sql server firewall-rule list --resource-group <resource group name> --server <sql server name> Ensure the output does not contain any firewall allow rules with a source of 0.0.0.0, or any rules named AllowAllWindowsAzureIps From PowerShell Get the list of all SQL Servers Get-AzSqlServer For each Server Get-AzSqlServerFirewallRule -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> Ensure that StartIpAddress is not set to 0.0.0.0, /0 or other combinations which allows access to wider public IP ranges including Windows Azure IP ranges. Also ensure that FirewallRuleName doesn't contain AllowAllWindowsAzureIps which is the rule created when the Allow Azure services and resources to access this server setting is enabled for that SQL Server. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 1b8ca024-1d5c-4dec-8995-b1a932b41780 - Name: 'Public network access on Azure SQL Database should be disabled'

Disabling Allow Azure services and resources to access this server will break all connections to SQL server and Hosted Databases unless custom IP specific rules are added in Firewall Policy.

Automated

Azure SQL Server includes a firewall to block access to unauthorized connections. More granular IP addresses can be defined by referencing the range of addresses available from specific datacenters. By default, for a SQL server, a Firewall exists with StartIp of 0.0.0.0 and EndIP of 0.0.0.0 allowing access to all the Azure services. Additionally, a custom rule can be set up with StartIp of 0.0.0.0 and EndIP of 255.255.255.255 allowing access from ANY IP over the Internet. In order to reduce the potential attack surface for a SQL server, firewall rules should be defined with more granular IP addresses by referencing the range of addresses available from specific datacenters.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers 2. For each SQL server 3. Click on Networking 4. Uncheck the checkbox for Allow Azure services and resources to access this server 5. Set firewall rules to limit access to only authorized connections From Azure CLI Disable default firewall rule Allow access to Azure services: az sql server firewall-rule delete --resource-group <resource group> --server <sql server name> --name AllowAllWindowsAzureIps Remove a custom firewall rule: az sql server firewall-rule delete --resource-group <resource group> --server <sql server name> --name <firewall rule name> Create a firewall rule: az sql server firewall-rule create --resource-group <resource group> --server <sql server name> --name <firewall rule name> --start-ip-address <IP Address other than 0.0.0.0> --end-ip-address <IP Address other than 0.0.0.0 or 255.255.255.255> Update a firewall rule: az sql server firewall-rule update --resource-group <resource group> --server <sql server name> --name <firewall rule name> --start-ip-address <IP Address other than 0.0.0.0> --end-ip-address <IP Address other than 0.0.0.0 or 255.255.255.255> From PowerShell Disable Default Firewall Rule Allow access to Azure services : Remove-AzSqlServerFirewallRule -FirewallRuleName AllowAllWindowsAzureIps -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> Remove a custom Firewall rule: Remove-AzSqlServerFirewallRule -FirewallRuleName <firewall rule name> -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> Set the appropriate firewall rules: Set-AzSqlServerFirewallRule -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> -FirewallRuleName <firewall rule name> -StartIpAddress <IP Address other than 0.0.0.0> -EndIpAddress <IP Address other than 0.0.0.0 or 255.255.255.255>

Firewall rules configured on individual SQL Database using Transact-sql overrides the rules set on SQL server. Azure does not provide any Powershell, API, CLI, Portal option to check database level firewall rules, and so far Transact-SQL is the only way to check for the same. For comprehensive control over egress traffic on SQL Databases, Firewall rules should be checked using SQL client.

Level 2

4 Database Services

4.1 SQL Server - Auditing

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with Customer-managed key support provides increased transparency and control over the TDE Protector, increased security with an HSM-backed external service, and promotion of separation of duties. With TDE, data is encrypted at rest with a symmetric key (called the database encryption key) stored in the database or data warehouse distribution. To protect this data encryption key (DEK) in the past, only a certificate that the Azure SQL Service managed could be used. Now, with Customer-managed key support for TDE, the DEK can be protected with an asymmetric key that is stored in the Azure Key Vault. The Azure Key Vault is a highly available and scalable cloud-based key store which offers central key management, leverages FIPS 140-2 Level 2 validated hardware security modules (HSMs), and allows separation of management of keys and data for additional security. Based on business needs or criticality of data/databases hosted on a SQL server, it is recommended that the TDE protector is encrypted by a key that is managed by the data owner (Customer-managed key).

By Default, Microsoft managed TDE protector is enabled for a SQL server.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers For the desired server instance 2. Click On Transparent data encryption 3. Ensure that Customer-managed key is selected 4. Ensure Make selected key the default TDE protector is checked From Azure CLI az account get-access-token --query {subscripton:subscription,accessToken:accessToken} --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X GET -H Authorization: Bearer $1 -H Content-Type: application/json https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$0/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Sql/servers/{serverName}/encryptionProtector?api-version=2015-05-01-preview' Ensure the output of the command contains properties kind set to azurekeyvault serverKeyType set to AzureKeyVault uri is not null From PowerShell Get-AzSqlServerTransparentDataEncryptionProtector -ServerName <ServerName> -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> Ensure the output of the command contains properties Type set to AzureKeyVault ServerKeyVaultKeyName set to KeyVaultName_KeyName_KeyIdentifierVersion KeyId set to KeyIdentifier From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 0a370ff3-6cab-4e85-8995-295fd854c5b8 - Name: 'SQL servers should use customer-managed keys to encrypt data at rest' - Policy ID: ac01ad65-10e5-46df-bdd9-6b0cad13e1d2 - Name: 'SQL managed instances should use customer-managed keys to encrypt data at rest'

Once TDE protector is encrypted with a Customer-managed key, it transfers entire responsibility of respective key management on to you, and hence you should be more careful about doing any operations on the particular key in order to keep data from corresponding SQL server and Databases hosted accessible. When deploying Customer Managed Keys, it is prudent to ensure that you also deploy an automated toolset for managing these keys (this should include discovery and key rotation), and Keys should be stored in an HSM or hardware backed keystore, such as Azure Key Vault. As far as toolsets go, check with your cryptographic key provider, as they may well provide one as an add-on to their service.

Automated

Customer-managed key support for Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) allows user control of TDE encryption keys and restricts who can access them and when. Azure Key Vault, Azure’s cloud-based external key management system, is the first key management service where TDE has integrated support for Customer-managed keys. With Customer-managed key support, the database encryption key is protected by an asymmetric key stored in the Key Vault. The asymmetric key is set at the server level and inherited by all databases under that server.

From Azure Console 1. Go to SQL servers For the desired server instance 2. Click On Transparent data encryption 3. Set Transparent data encryption to Customer-managed key 4. Browse through your key vaults to Select an existing key or create a new key in the Azure Key Vault. 5. Check Make selected key the default TDE protector From Azure CLI Use the below command to encrypt SQL server's TDE protector with a Customer-managed key az sql server tde-key set --resource-group <resourceName> --server <dbServerName> --server-key-type {AzureKeyVault} --kid <keyIdentifier> From PowerShell Use the below command to encrypt SQL server's TDE protector with a Customer-managed Key Vault key Set-AzSqlServerTransparentDataEncryptionProtector -Type AzureKeyVault -KeyId <KeyIdentifier> -ServerName <ServerName> -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> Select Y when prompted

• This configuration is audited or can be done only on SQL server. The same configuration will be in effect on SQL Databases hosted on SQL Server. - Ensuring TDE is protected by a Customer-managed key on SQL Server does not ensure the encryption of SQL Databases. Transparent Data Encryption : Data Encryption (ON/OFF) setting on individual SQL Database decides whether database is encrypted or not.

Level 1

4 Database Services

4.1 SQL Server - Auditing

Use Microsoft Entra authentication for authentication with SQL Database to manage credentials in a single place.

Entra ID Authentication for SQL Database/Server is not enabled by default

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers 2. For each SQL server, click on Microsoft Entra admin under the Settings section 3. Ensure that a value has been set for Admin Name under the Microsoft Entra admin section From Azure CLI To list SQL Server Admins on a specific server: az sql server ad-admin list --resource-group <resource-group> --server <server> From PowerShell Print a list of all SQL Servers to find which one you want to audit Get-AzSqlServer Audit a list of Administrators on a Specific Server Get-AzSqlServerActiveDirectoryAdministrator -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> Ensure Output shows DisplayName set to AD account. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 1f314764-cb73-4fc9-b863-8eca98ac36e9 - Name: 'An Azure Active Directory administrator should be provisioned for SQL servers'

This will create administrative overhead with user account and permission management. For further security on these administrative accounts, you may want to consider licensing which supports features like Multi Factor Authentication.

Automated

Microsoft Entra authentication is a mechanism to connect to Microsoft Azure SQL Database and SQL Data Warehouse by using identities in the Microsoft Entra ID directory. With Entra ID authentication, identities of database users and other Microsoft services can be managed in one central location. Central ID management provides a single place to manage database users and simplifies permission management. - It provides an alternative to SQL Server authentication. - Helps stop the proliferation of user identities across database servers. - Allows password rotation in a single place. - Customers can manage database permissions using external (Entra ID) groups. - It can eliminate storing passwords by enabling integrated Windows authentication and other forms of authentication supported by Microsoft Entra. - Entra ID authentication uses contained database users to authenticate identities at the database level. - Entra ID supports token-based authentication for applications connecting to SQL Database. - Entra ID authentication supports ADFS (domain federation) or native user/password authentication for a local Active Directory without domain synchronization. - Entra ID supports connections from SQL Server Management Studio that use Active Directory Universal Authentication, which includes Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). MFA includes strong authentication with a range of easy verification options — phone call, text message, smart cards with pin, or mobile app notification.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers 2. For each SQL server, click on Microsoft Entra admin 3. Click on Set admin 4. Select an admin 5. Click Save From Azure CLI az ad user show --id For each Server, set AD Admin az sql server ad-admin create --resource-group <resource group name> --server <server name> --display-name <display name> --object-id <object id of user> From PowerShell For each Server, set Entra ID Admin Set-AzSqlServerActiveDirectoryAdministrator -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> -DisplayName <Display name of AD account to set as DB administrator>

NOTE - Assigning an Administrator in Entra ID is just the first step. When using Entra ID for central authentication there are many other groups and roles that need to be configured base on the needs of your organization. The How-to Guides should be used to determine what roles should be assigned and what groups should be created to manage permissions and access to resources.

Level 1

4 Database Services

4.1 SQL Server - Auditing

Enable Transparent Data Encryption on every SQL server.

By default, Data encryption is set to On.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL databases 2. For each DB instance 3. Click on Transparent data encryption 4. Ensure that Data encryption is set to On From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command is Enabled az sql db tde show --resource-group <resourceGroup> --server <dbServerName> --database <dbName> --query status From PowerShell Get a list of SQL Servers. Get-AzSqlServer For each server, list the databases. Get-AzSqlDatabase -ServerName <SQL Server Name> -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> For each database not listed as a Master database, check for Transparent Data Encryption. Get-AzSqlDatabaseTransparentDataEncryption -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -ServerName <SQL Server Name> -DatabaseName <Database Name> Make sure DataEncryption is Enabled for each database except the Master database. From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 17k78e20-9358-41c9-923c-fb736d382a12 - Name: 'Transparent Data Encryption on SQL databases should be enabled'

Automated

Azure SQL Database transparent data encryption helps protect against the threat of malicious activity by performing real-time encryption and decryption of the database, associated backups, and transaction log files at rest without requiring changes to the application.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL databases 2. For each DB instance 3. Click on Transparent data encryption 4. Set Data encryption to On From Azure CLI Use the below command to enable Transparent data encryption for SQL DB instance. az sql db tde set --resource-group <resourceGroup> --server <dbServerName> --database <dbName> --status Enabled From PowerShell Use the below command to enable Transparent data encryption for SQL DB instance. Set-AzSqlDatabaseTransparentDataEncryption -ResourceGroupName <Resource Group Name> -ServerName <SQL Server Name> -DatabaseName <Database Name> -State 'Enabled' Note: - TDE cannot be used to encrypt the logical master database in SQL Database. The master database contains objects that are needed to perform the TDE operations on the user databases. - Azure Portal does not show master databases per SQL server. However, CLI/API responses will show master databases.

• Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) can be enabled or disabled on individual SQL Database level and not on the SQL Server level. - TDE cannot be used to encrypt the logical master database in SQL Database. The master database contains objects that are needed to perform the TDE operations on the user databases.

Level 1

4 Database Services

4.1 SQL Server - Auditing

SQL Server Audit Retention should be configured to be greater than 90 days.

By default, SQL Server audit storage is disabled.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers 2. For each server instance 3. Click on Auditing 4. If storage is selected, expand Advanced properties 5. Ensure Retention (days) setting is greater than 90 days or 0 for unlimited retention. From PowerShell Get the list of all SQL Servers Get-AzSqlServer For each Server Get-AzSqlServerAudit -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> Ensure that RetentionInDays is set to more than 90 Note: If the SQL server is set with LogAnalyticsTargetState setting set to Enabled, run the following additional command. Get-AzOperationalInsightsWorkspace | Where-Object {$_.ResourceId -eq <SQL Server WorkSpaceResourceId>} Ensure that RetentionInDays is set to more than 90 From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: 89099bee-89e0-4b26-a5f4-165451757743 - Name: 'SQL servers with auditing to storage account destination should be configured with 90 days retention or higher'

Automated

Audit Logs can be used to check for anomalies and give insight into suspected breaches or misuse of information and access.

From Azure Portal 1. Go to SQL servers 2. For each server instance 3. Click on Auditing 4. If storage is selected, expand Advanced properties 5. Set the Retention (days) setting greater than 90 days or 0 for unlimited retention. 6. Select Save From PowerShell For each Server, set retention policy to more than 90 days Log Analytics Example Set-AzSqlServerAudit -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <SQL Server name> -RetentionInDays <Number of Days to retain the audit logs, should be more than 90 days> -LogAnalyticsTargetState Enabled -WorkspaceResourceId /subscriptions/<subscription ID>/resourceGroups/insights-integration/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/<workspace name> Event Hub Example Set-AzSqlServerAudit -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <SQL Server name> -EventHubTargetState Enabled -EventHubName <Event Hub name> -EventHubAuthorizationRuleResourceId <Event Hub Authorization Rule Resource ID> Blob Storage Example Set-AzSqlServerAudit -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <SQL Server name> -BlobStorageTargetState Enabled -StorageAccountResourceId /subscriptions/<subscription_ID>/resourceGroups/<Resource_Group>/providers/Microsoft.Stora ge/storageAccounts/<Storage Account name>

Level 1

4 Database Services

4.3 PostgreSQL Database Server. Storage Accounts

Enable SSL connection on PostgreSQL Servers.

By default, secure connectivity is enforced, but some application frameworks may not enable it during deployment.

From Azure Portal 1. Login to Azure Portal using https://portal.azure.com 2. Go to Azure Database for PostgreSQL server 3. For each database, click on Connection security 4. In SSL settings, ensure Enforce SSL connection is set to ENABLED. From Azure CLI Ensure the output of the below command returns Enabled. az postgres server show --resource-group myresourcegroup --name <resourceGroupName> --query sslEnforcement From PowerShell Ensure the output of the below command returns Enabled. Get-AzPostgreSqlServer -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName > -ServerName <ServerName> | Select-Object SslEnforcement From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: d158790f-bfb0-486c-8631-2dc6b4e8e6af - Name: 'Enforce SSL connection should be enabled for PostgreSQL database servers'

Automated

SSL connectivity helps to provide a new layer of security by connecting database server to client applications using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Enforcing SSL connections between database server and client applications helps protect against man in the middle attacks by encrypting the data stream between the server and application.

From Azure Portal 1. Login to Azure Portal using https://portal.azure.com 2. Go to Azure Database for PostgreSQL server 3. For each database, click on Connection security 4. In SSL settings, click on ENABLED to enforce SSL connections 5. Click Save From Azure CLI Use the below command to enforce ssl connection for PostgreSQL Database. az postgres server update --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --name <serverName> --ssl-enforcement Enabled From PowerShell Update-AzPostgreSqlServer -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName > -ServerName <ServerName> -SslEnforcement Enabled

Level 1

4 Database Services

4.3 PostgreSQL Database Server. Storage Accounts

Enable log_checkpoints on PostgreSQL Servers.

By default log_checkpoints is enabled (set to on).

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 1. Go to Azure Database for PostgreSQL servers. 1. For each database, click on Server parameters. 1. Search for log_checkpoints. 1. Ensure that value is set to ON. From Azure CLI Ensure value is set to ON az postgres server configuration show --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --server-name <serverName> --name log_checkpoints From PowerShell Ensure value is set to ON Get-AzPostgreSqlConfiguration -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> -ServerName <ServerName> -Name log_checkpoints From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: eb6f77b9-bd53-4e35-a23d-7f65d5f0e43d - Name: 'Log checkpoints should be enabled for PostgreSQL database servers'

Automated

Enabling log_checkpoints helps the PostgreSQL Database to Log each checkpoint in turn generates query and error logs. However, access to transaction logs is not supported. Query and error logs can be used to identify, troubleshoot, and repair configuration errors and sub-optimal performance.

From Azure Portal 1. From Azure Home select the Portal Menu. 1. Go to Azure Database for PostgreSQL servers. 1. For each database, click on Server parameters. 1. Search for log_checkpoints. 1. Click ON and save. From Azure CLI Use the below command to update log_checkpoints configuration. az postgres server configuration set --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --server-name <serverName> --name log_checkpoints --value on From PowerShell Update-AzPostgreSqlConfiguration -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> -ServerName <ServerName> -Name log_checkpoints -Value on

Level 1

4 Database Services

4.3 PostgreSQL Database Server. Storage Accounts

Enable log_connections on PostgreSQL Servers.

By default log_connections is enabled (set to on).

From Azure Portal 1. Login to Azure Portal using https://portal.azure.com. 2. Go to Azure Database for PostgreSQL servers. 3. For each database, click on Server parameters. 4. Search for log_connections. 5. Ensure that value is set to ON. From Azure CLI Ensure log_connections value is set to ON az postgres server configuration show --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --server-name <serverName> --name log_connections From PowerShell Ensure log_connections value is set to ON Get-AzPostgreSqlConfiguration -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> -ServerName <ServerName> -Name log_connections From Azure Policy If referencing a digital copy of this Benchmark, clicking a Policy ID will open a link to the associated Policy definition in Azure. If referencing a printed copy, you can search Policy IDs from this URL: https://portal.azure.com/#view/Microsoft_Azure_Policy/PolicyMenuBlade/~/Definitions - Policy ID: eb6f77b9-bd53-4e35-a23d-7f65d5f0e442 - Name: 'Log connections should be enabled for PostgreSQL database servers'

Automated

Enabling log_connections helps PostgreSQL Database to log attempted connection to the server, as well as successful completion of client authentication. Log data can be used to identify, troubleshoot, and repair configuration errors and suboptimal performance.

From Azure Portal 1. Login to Azure Portal using https://portal.azure.com. 2. Go to Azure Database for PostgreSQL servers. 3. For each database, click on Server parameters. 4. Search for log_connections. 5. Click ON and save. From Azure CLI Use the below command to update log_connections configuration. az postgres server configuration set --resource-group <resourceGroupName> --server-name <serverName> --name log_connections --value on From PowerShell Use the below command to update log_connections configuration. Update-AzPostgreSqlConfiguration -ResourceGroupName <ResourceGroupName> -ServerName <ServerName> -Name log_connections -Value on