From 9ae9b2882ac902c330b74e4313aca61b9aadb5e2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: shakey63 <39632422+shakey63@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2025 10:52:48 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] Update defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide.md --- ...for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide.md | 54 ++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-) diff --git a/articles/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide.md b/articles/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide.md index 8b20b9b4e..1a3d56dfc 100644 --- a/articles/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide.md +++ b/articles/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide.md @@ -1,23 +1,23 @@ --- -title: Defender for Cloud Planning and Operations Guide -description: This document helps you to plan before adopting Defender for Cloud and considerations regarding daily operations. +Title: Defender for Cloud Planning and Operations Guide +Description: This document helps you plan before adopting Defender for Cloud. Considerations regarding daily operations are also discussed. ms.topic: concept-article -ms.date: 05/16/2024 +ms.date: 20/06/2025 #customer intent: As a reader, I want to understand the planning and operations considerations for adopting Defender for Cloud and how it fits into my organization's security requirements and cloud management model. I also want to learn about the security roles, access controls, security policies, data collection, and storage in Defender for Cloud. --- -# Planning and operations guide +# Planning and Operations Guide -This guide is for information technology (IT) professionals, IT architects, information security analysts, and cloud administrators planning to use Defender for Cloud. +This guide is for Information Technology (IT) professionals, IT architects, information security analysts, and cloud administrators planning to use Defender for Cloud. -## Planning guide +## Planning Guide This guide provides the background for how Defender for Cloud fits into your organization's security requirements and cloud management model. It's important to understand how different individuals or teams in your organization use the service to meet secure development and operations, monitoring, governance, and incident response needs. The key areas to consider when planning to use Defender for Cloud are: - Security Roles and Access Controls - Security Policies and Recommendations - Data Collection and Storage -- Onboarding non-Azure resources +- Onboarding non-Azure Resources - Ongoing Security Monitoring - Incident Response @@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ In the next section, you'll learn how to plan for each one of those areas and ap > [!NOTE] > Read [Defender for Cloud common questions](faq-general.yml) for a list of common questions that can also be useful during the designing and planning phase. -## Security roles and access controls +## Security Roles and Access Controls Depending on the size and structure of your organization, multiple individuals and teams might use Defender for Cloud to perform different security-related tasks. In the following diagram, you have an example of fictitious personas and their respective roles and security responsibilities: -:::image type="content" source="./media/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide-fig01-new.png" alt-text="Conceptual image that shows various people and the roles that they fill in an organization."::: +Note: Image not found Defender for Cloud enables these individuals to meet these various responsibilities. For example: @@ -68,9 +68,9 @@ Defender for Cloud enables these individuals to meet these various responsibilit - Work with Cloud Workload Owner to apply remediation. -Defender for Cloud uses [Azure role-based access control (Azure Role-based access control)](/azure/role-based-access-control/role-assignments-portal), which provides [built-in roles](/azure/role-based-access-control/built-in-roles) that can be assigned to users, groups, and services in Azure. When a user opens Defender for Cloud, they only see information related to resources they have access to. Which means the user is assigned the role of Owner, Contributor, or Reader to the subscription or resource group that a resource belongs to. In addition to these roles, there are two roles specific to Defender for Cloud: +Defender for Cloud uses [Azure role-based access control (Azure Role-based access control)](/azure/role-based-access-control/role-assignments-portal), which provides [built-in roles](/azure/role-based-access-control/built-in-roles) that can be assigned to users, groups, and services in Azure. When a user opens Defender for Cloud, they only see information related to resources they have access to. The user is assigned the role of Owner, Contributor, or Reader to the subscription or resource group that a resource belongs to. In addition to these roles, there are two roles specific to Defender for Cloud: -- **Security reader**: a user that belongs to this role is able to view only Defender for Cloud configurations, which include recommendations, alerts, policy, and health, but it won't be able to make changes. +- **Security reader**: a user that belongs to this role is able to view only Defender for Cloud configurations, which include recommendations, alerts, policy, and health. However, the user won't be able to make changes. - **Security admin**: same as security reader but it can also update the security policy, dismiss recommendations and alerts. @@ -108,12 +108,12 @@ Some other important information to consider: - Only subscription and resource group Owners and Contributors can apply security recommendations for a resource. -When planning access control using Azure Role-based access control for Defender for Cloud, make sure you understand who in your organization needs access to Defender for Cloud the tasks they'll perform. Then you can configure Azure Role-based access control properly. +When planning access control using Azure Role-based access control for Defender for Cloud, make sure you understand who in your organization needs access to Defender for Cloud for the tasks they'll perform. Then you can configure Azure Role-based access control properly. > [!NOTE] > We recommend that you assign the least permissive role needed for users to complete their tasks. For example, users who only need to view information about the security state of resources but not take action, such as applying recommendations or editing policies, should be assigned the Reader role. -## Security policies and recommendations +## Security Policies and Recommendations A security policy defines the desired configuration of your workloads and helps ensure compliance with company or regulatory security requirements. In Defender for Cloud, you can define policies for your Azure subscriptions, which can be tailored to the type of workload or the sensitivity of data. @@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ Defenders for Cloud policies contain the following components: > [!NOTE] > Specifying a security contact ensures that Azure can reach the right person in your organization if a security incident occurs. Read [Provide security contact details in Defender for Cloud](configure-email-notifications.md) for more information on how to enable this recommendation. -### Security policies definitions and recommendations +### Security Policies Definitions and Recommendations Defender for Cloud automatically creates a default security policy for each of your Azure subscriptions. You can edit the policy in Defender for Cloud or use Azure Policy to create new definitions, define more policies, and assign policies across management groups. Management groups can represent the entire organization or a business unit within the organization. You can monitor policy compliance across these management groups. @@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ Before configuring security policies, review each of the [security recommendatio - Determine who in your organization is responsible for monitoring and remediating new recommendations. -## Data collection and storage +## Data Collection and Storage Defender for Cloud uses the Log Analytics agent and the Azure Monitor Agent to collect security data from your virtual machines. [Data collected](monitoring-components.md) from this agent is stored in your Log Analytics workspaces. @@ -170,15 +170,17 @@ If your agent reports to a workspace other than the **default** workspace, any D > [!NOTE] > Microsoft makes strong commitments to protect the privacy and security of this data. Microsoft adheres to strict compliance and security guidelines—from coding to operating a service. For more information about data handling and privacy, read [Defender for Cloud Data Security](data-security.md). -## Onboard non-Azure resources +## Onboard Non-Azure Resources -Defender for Cloud can monitor the security posture of your non-Azure computers but you need to first onboard these resources. Read [Onboard non-Azure computers](quickstart-onboard-machines.md) for more information on how to onboard non-Azure resources. +Defender for Cloud can monitor the security posture of your non-Azure computers but you need to first onboard these resources. Read [Onboard non-Azure computers](quickstart-onboard-machines.md) for more information on how to onboard Non-Azure Resources. ## Ongoing security monitoring After initial configuration and application of Defender for Cloud recommendations, the next step is considering Defender for Cloud operational processes. -The Defender for Cloud Overview provides a unified view of security across all your Azure resources and any non-Azure resources you've connected. This example shows an environment with many issues to resolve: +The Defender for Cloud Overview provides a unified view of security across all your Azure resources and any Non-Azure resources you've connected. This example shows an environment with many issues to resolve: + +Image below not found :::image type="content" source="./media/overview-page/overview.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Defender for Cloud's overview page." lightbox="./media/overview-page/overview.png"::: @@ -187,9 +189,9 @@ The Defender for Cloud Overview provides a unified view of security across all y When you first opt in to use Defender for Cloud for your current Azure environment, make sure that you review all recommendations, which can be done in the **Recommendations** page. -Plan to visit the threat intelligence option as part of your daily security operations. There you can identify security threats against the environment, such as identify if a particular computer is part of a botnet. +Plan to visit the threat intelligence option as part of your daily security operations. There you can identify security threats against the environment, such as identifying if a particular computer is part of a botnet. -### Monitor for new or changed resources +### Monitor for New or Changed Resources Most Azure environments are dynamic, with resources regularly being created, spun up or down, reconfigured, and changed. Defender for Cloud helps ensure that you have visibility into the security state of these new resources. @@ -197,20 +199,22 @@ When you add new resources (VMs, SQL DBs) to your Azure environment, Defender fo You should also regularly monitor existing resources for configuration changes that could have created security risks, drift from recommended baselines, and security alerts. -### Harden access and applications +### Harden Access and Applications -As part of your security operations, you should also adopt preventative measures to restrict access to VMs, and control the applications that are running on VMs. By locking down inbound traffic to your Azure VMs, you're reducing the exposure to attacks, and at the same time providing easy access to connect to VMs when needed. Use [just-in-time VM access](just-in-time-access-usage.yml) access feature to hardening access to your VMs. +As part of your security operations, you should also adopt preventive measures to restrict access to VMs, and control the applications that are running on VMs. By locking down inbound traffic to your Azure VMs, you're reducing the exposure to attacks, and at the same time providing easy access to connect to VMs when needed. Use the [just-in-time VM access](just-in-time-access-usage.yml) access feature to harden access to your VMs. -## Incident response +## Incident Response Defender for Cloud detects and alerts you to threats as they occur. Organizations should monitor for new security alerts and take action as needed to investigate further or remediate the attack. For more information on how Defender for Cloud threat protection works, read [How Defender for Cloud detects and responds to threats](alerts-overview.md#detect-threats). Although we can't create your Incident Response plan, we'll use Microsoft Azure Security Response in the Cloud lifecycle as the foundation for incident response stages. The stages of incident response in the cloud lifecycle are: +Image below not found + :::image type="content" source="./media/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide-fig5-1.png" alt-text="Stages of the incident response in the cloud lifecycle."::: > [!NOTE] -> You can use the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) [Computer Security Incident Handling Guide](https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-61r2.pdf) as a reference to assist you building your own. +> You can use the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) [Computer Security Incident Handling Guide](https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-61r2.pdf) as a reference to assist you in building your own. You can use Defender for Cloud alerts during the following stages: @@ -224,6 +228,8 @@ Each Security Alert provides information that can be used to better understand t The following example shows a suspicious RDP activity taking place: +Image below not found + :::image type="content" source="./media/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide/defender-for-cloud-planning-and-operations-guide-fig5-ga.png" alt-text="Screenshot of a suspicious activity report while it is taking place."::: This page shows the details regarding the time that the attack took place, the source hostname, the target VM and also gives recommendation steps. In some circumstances, the source information of the attack might be empty. Read [Missing Source Information in Defender for Cloud alerts](/archive/blogs/azuresecurity/missing-source-information-in-azure-security-center-alerts) for more information about this type of behavior.