The Most Critical Security Features of Microsoft Azure
According to Microsoft, their cloud computing platforms mitigate a total of 1.5 million attempts to breach their systems daily. That is significant, considering the cost of a data breach to a business averages around $4.24 million according to IBM’s annual Cost of a Data Breach report.
Microsoft has spent the last several years acquiring data security companies for use in their Azure cloud platform. Further, Microsoft invests approximately $1 billion in the protection of their cloud network annually and employs nearly 4,000 dedicated cybersecurity experts full-time, to keep its networks and data secure.
For businesses currently using or considering migrating their data to Azure, it is important to understand the ways Microsoft protects their data. In this article, we’ll be discussing five of the most critical security features of Microsoft Azure, which play a major role in protecting sensitive business data.
1. Encryption
Whether data is at rest or in transit on the platform, Microsoft Azure ensures it is secured by encrypting all data on the network. This means that data is fully encrypted while moving within the Azure cloud network, as well as during external transmission to the devices within the business network.
With this protection, even if a malicious actor intercepts sensitive data during transmission, they would be unable to view the contents. Additionally, data stored on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform can be encrypted while at rest using Azure SQL Database. By encrypting the data written to the Azure network, it can help prevent unauthorized readable access to corporate data, even if a malicious actor hacks into or gains physical control of a disk.
2. Azure Secure Score
Azure Secure Score is a security analytics tool built into Azure Security Center. Secure Score actively monitors the security posture of the cloud and provides network administrators with recommendations to improve overall security. A network’s Secure Score is calculated based on the ratio of healthy resources on the network compared to the overall number of network resources.
3. Identity and Access Management
Microsoft Azure places an emphasis on strict identity and access management controls. Beyond a simple username and password login, Azure can be configured to use multi-factor authentication, single-sign-on (SSO), privileged identity management, and many other capabilities to ensure data is only accessed by the authorized network users. Taking security a step further, Microsoft Azure implements artificial intelligence to detect unusual activities on the network, such as sign ins from unrecognized devices or locations, and notifies administrators by email.
4. Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Defender for Cloud is a multi-purpose tool kit that helps network administrators identify and resolve security vulnerabilities, use analytics and intelligence data to detect threats, implement identity and access management policies, and much more. Defender for Cloud also collects data about connected network devices to find security vulnerabilities and potential threats. This data helps Defender for Cloud identify and alert administrators to machines that are missing updates, have misconfigured OS settings, and other security vulnerabilities.
5. Microsoft Antimalware for Azure
Microsoft Antimalware for Azure is a helpful tool kit that enables network administrators to locate and remove malware, spyware, viruses, and other threats on the network. This software package provides many security features, such as:
- Real-time protection – Microsoft Antimalware actively detects and blocks malware and suspicious network activity both in the cloud and on virtual machines.
- Signature updates – installs the latest available signatures on a consistent basis to ensure the network is protected against the latest known threats.
- Scheduled scanning – performs periodic scans to detect malware.
- Remediation – Microsoft Antimalware is capable of automating the removal process of malware that has been detected on the network, including quarantining and deleting files, and cleaning up registry entries that have been identified as malicious.
- Samples reporting – automatically sends data samples to the Microsoft anti malware service in order to improve the service and provide troubleshooting support.
- Custom exclusions – the Microsoft Antimalware tool kit allows network administrators to define and configure custom exclusions for drives, files, and processes.
Network administrators are also free to install and use other antivirus and antimalware software solutions on their Azure machines, like Kaspersky, McAfee, Symantec, and others to continuously monitor machines for potential threats.
Cloud Security Responsibility
With cyber criminals taking aim at an increasingly wide range of industries, from oil pipelines to massive global corporations, ensuring the safety of business data is more important than ever. Simply migrating to the cloud is not a ‘set it and forget it’ solution. It requires consistent supervision and maintenance by experienced cybersecurity professionals.
Further, the responsibility of data security is still largely the responsibility of the business, even if the data stored on cloud servers is protected by the platform. Microsoft has made its position clear that it believes cloud security is a shared responsibility. While Microsoft is committed to managing hardware and preventing data breaches on its physical networks, organizations must take the proper steps to ensure adherence to proper cybersecurity best practices, appropriate compliance with industry regulations, and critical data on the network is properly backed up.
For organizations needing help in that endeavor, Outsource IT is here for you. As Microsoft Gold Partners you can rest assured that we have the experience and expertise to ensure your data remains safe and secure in the Cloud. Contact an Outsource IT account manager to learn more about how we can help.
