Migrating to Azure brings powerful advantages, but also new security challenges. Often, with the switch to the cloud, there are overlooked settings, over-permissioned accounts and misconfigurations that can quietly expose your environment to threats. By understanding the following risks and taking proactive steps, you can strengthen your security posture and minimize vulnerabilities before they become a serious threat.
Protect Entra ID Accounts
Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) is Azure’s identity and access management system. These accounts should have proper protections in place to ensure accounts are secure. Accounts using the default configuration are not enough in this evolving threat environment. Use the following tips to reduce your threat vectors.
Tips to Mitigate:
- Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all accounts
- Utilize conditional access policies to access resources
- Limit accounts to users required to perform their job requirements
Limit Global Admins
The Global Administrator role has access to all of your Azure environments (subscriptions). Frequently, this role is assigned to users that have no valid reasons to have it. This can increase the risk of compromise, downtime, and unapproved changes. Also, this would violate industry standard of “Least Privilege”
Tips to Mitigate:
- Utilize separate accounts for privileged access and regular access
- Use a Privileged Identity Management tool to grant temporary, approved, and logged access
- Perform frequent (at least semi-annually) access reviews
Secure Publicly Accessible APIs
APIs and web services can inadvertently be left exposed to the internet. This can create entry points for threat actors if not properly secured. Without proper restrictions or authentication mechanisms, attackers can exploit APIs to gain access to sensitive information, execute commands, or launch denial of service attacks.
Tips to Mitigate:
- Use Azure API Management to control and secure API access
- Utilize strong authentication protocols to verify the identity of users or applications
- Regularly scan and audit public IPs
Enable Proper Alerting and Monitoring
Without robust alerting and monitoring in place, security incidents, misconfigurations, or unwanted behavior can go undetected. The lack of visibility delays detection and response, increasing the impact of a breach or outage.
Tips to Mitigate:
- Enable Azure Monitor and Log Analytics to centralize telemetry and logs
- Use Microsoft Azure’s Defender for Cloud for threat detection and remediation recommendations
- Utilize a SIEM like Microsoft Sentinel to enable real-time threat response
Lack of Network Security Groups (NSGs)
NSGs are essential for controlling inbound and outbound traffic to Azure resources. With overly permissive rules, or unconfigured NSGs, your environment may be vulnerable to unauthorized access, lateral movement, and potential exploitation.
Tips to Mitigate:
- Deny all traffic by default and only allow required traffic
- Use Azure Policy to enforce NSG configurations across subscriptions
- Regularly review and update NSG rules to reflect current requirements
Building a More Secure Azure Environment
Author: Adam Lisowski | [email protected]
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