Details of the Microsoft cloud security benchmark (Azure Government) Regulatory Compliance built-in initiative

The following article details how the Azure Policy Regulatory Compliance built-in initiative definition maps to compliance domains and controls in Microsoft cloud security benchmark (Azure Government). For more information about this compliance standard, see Microsoft cloud security benchmark. To understand Ownership, review the policy type and Shared responsibility in the cloud.

The following mappings are to the Microsoft cloud security benchmark controls. Many of the controls are implemented with an Azure Policy initiative definition. To review the complete initiative definition, open Policy in the Azure portal and select the Definitions page. Then, find and select the Microsoft cloud security benchmark Regulatory Compliance built-in initiative definition.

Important

Each control below is associated with one or more Azure Policy definitions. These policies may help you assess compliance with the control; however, there often is not a one-to-one or complete match between a control and one or more policies. As such, Compliant in Azure Policy refers only to the policy definitions themselves; this doesn't ensure you're fully compliant with all requirements of a control. In addition, the compliance standard includes controls that aren't addressed by any Azure Policy definitions at this time. Therefore, compliance in Azure Policy is only a partial view of your overall compliance status. The associations between compliance domains, controls, and Azure Policy definitions for this compliance standard may change over time. To view the change history, see the GitHub Commit History.

Network Security

Establish network segmentation boundaries

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark NS-1 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
All network ports should be restricted on network security groups associated to your virtual machine	Azure Security Center has identified some of your network security groups' inbound rules to be too permissive. Inbound rules should not allow access from 'Any' or 'Internet' ranges. This can potentially enable attackers to target your resources.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Internet-facing virtual machines should be protected with network security groups	Protect your virtual machines from potential threats by restricting access to them with network security groups (NSG). Learn more about controlling traffic with NSGs at https://aka.ms/nsg-doc	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Non-internet-facing virtual machines should be protected with network security groups	Protect your non-internet-facing virtual machines from potential threats by restricting access with network security groups (NSG). Learn more about controlling traffic with NSGs at https://aka.ms/nsg-doc	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Subnets should be associated with a Network Security Group	Protect your subnet from potential threats by restricting access to it with a Network Security Group (NSG). NSGs contain a list of Access Control List (ACL) rules that allow or deny network traffic to your subnet.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0

Secure cloud services with network controls

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark NS-2 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
[Deprecated]: Cognitive Services should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual networks to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The Private Link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to Cognitive Services, you'll reduce the potential for data leakage. Learn more about private links at: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2129800.	Audit, Disabled	3.0.1-deprecated
API Management services should use a virtual network	Azure Virtual Network deployment provides enhanced security, isolation and allows you to place your API Management service in a non-internet routable network that you control access to. These networks can then be connected to your on-premises networks using various VPN technologies, which enables access to your backend services within the network and/or on-premises. The developer portal and API gateway, can be configured to be accessible either from the Internet or only within the virtual network.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.2
App Configuration should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The private link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to your app configuration instances instead of the entire service, you'll also be protected against data leakage risks. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/appconfig/private-endpoint.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Authorized IP ranges should be defined on Kubernetes Services	Restrict access to the Kubernetes Service Management API by granting API access only to IP addresses in specific ranges. It is recommended to limit access to authorized IP ranges to ensure that only applications from allowed networks can access the cluster.	Audit, Disabled	2.0.0
Azure AI Services resources should restrict network access	By restricting network access, you can ensure that only allowed networks can access the service. This can be achieved by configuring network rules so that only applications from allowed networks can access the Azure AI service.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	3.2.0
Azure AI Services resources should use Azure Private Link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The Private Link platform reduces data leakage risks by handling the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. Learn more about private links at: https://aka.ms/AzurePrivateLink/Overview	Audit, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Cache for Redis should use private link	Private endpoints lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. By mapping private endpoints to your Azure Cache for Redis instances, data leakage risks are reduced. Learn more at: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/azure-cache-for-redis/cache-private-link.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Cosmos DB accounts should have firewall rules	Firewall rules should be defined on your Azure Cosmos DB accounts to prevent traffic from unauthorized sources. Accounts that have at least one IP rule defined with the virtual network filter enabled are deemed compliant. Accounts disabling public access are also deemed compliant.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.1.0
Azure Cosmos DB should disable public network access	Disabling public network access improves security by ensuring that your CosmosDB account isn't exposed on the public internet. Creating private endpoints can limit exposure of your CosmosDB account. Learn more at: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/cosmos-db/how-to-configure-private-endpoints#blocking-public-network-access-during-account-creation.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Databricks Clusters should disable public IP	Disabling public IP of clusters in Azure Databricks Workspaces improves security by ensuring that the clusters aren't exposed on the public internet. Learn more at: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/databricks/security/secure-cluster-connectivity.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.1
Azure Databricks Workspaces should be in a virtual network	Azure Virtual Networks provide enhanced security and isolation for your Azure Databricks Workspaces, as well as subnets, access control policies, and other features to further restrict access. Learn more at: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/databricks/administration-guide/cloud-configurations/azure/vnet-inject.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Databricks Workspaces should disable public network access	Disabling public network access improves security by ensuring that the resource isn't exposed on the public internet. You can control exposure of your resources by creating private endpoints instead. Learn more at: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/databricks/administration-guide/cloud-configurations/azure/private-link.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.1
Azure Databricks Workspaces should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual networks to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The Private Link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to Azure Databricks workspaces, you can reduce data leakage risks. Learn more about private links at: https://aka.ms/adbpe.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Event Grid domains should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The Private Link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to your Event Grid domain instead of the entire service, you'll also be protected against data leakage risks. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/privateendpoints.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Event Grid topics should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The Private Link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to your Event Grid topic instead of the entire service, you'll also be protected against data leakage risks. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/privateendpoints.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Machine Learning Computes should be in a virtual network	Azure Virtual Networks provide enhanced security and isolation for your Azure Machine Learning Compute Clusters and Instances, as well as subnets, access control policies, and other features to further restrict access. When a compute is configured with a virtual network, it is not publicly addressable and can only be accessed from virtual machines and applications within the virtual network.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
Azure Machine Learning Workspaces should disable public network access	Disabling public network access improves security by ensuring that the Machine Learning Workspaces aren't exposed on the public internet. You can control exposure of your workspaces by creating private endpoints instead. Learn more at: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/machine-learning/how-to-configure-private-link?view=azureml-api-2&tabs=azure-portal.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.0.1
Azure Machine Learning workspaces should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The Private Link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to Azure Machine Learning workspaces, data leakage risks are reduced. Learn more about private links at: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/machine-learning/how-to-configure-private-link.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure SignalR Service should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The private link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to your Azure SignalR Service resource instead of the entire service, you'll reduce your data leakage risks. Learn more about private links at: https://aka.ms/asrs/privatelink.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure SQL Managed Instances should disable public network access	Disabling public network access (public endpoint) on Azure SQL Managed Instances improves security by ensuring that they can only be accessed from inside their virtual networks or via Private Endpoints. To learn more about public network access, visit https://aka.ms/mi-public-endpoint.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0
Container registries should not allow unrestricted network access	Azure container registries by default accept connections over the internet from hosts on any network. To protect your registries from potential threats, allow access from only specific private endpoints, public IP addresses or address ranges. If your registry doesn't have network rules configured, it will appear in the unhealthy resources. Learn more about Container Registry network rules here: https://aka.ms/acr/privatelink, https://aka.ms/acr/portal/public-network and https://aka.ms/acr/vnet.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.0.0
Container registries should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The private link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network.By mapping private endpoints to your container registries instead of the entire service, you'll also be protected against data leakage risks. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/acr/private-link.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
CosmosDB accounts should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The Private Link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to your CosmosDB account, data leakage risks are reduced. Learn more about private links at: https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/cosmos-db/how-to-configure-private-endpoints.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.0
Private endpoint connections on Azure SQL Database should be enabled	Private endpoint connections enforce secure communication by enabling private connectivity to Azure SQL Database.	Audit, Disabled	1.1.0
Private endpoint should be enabled for PostgreSQL servers	Private endpoint connections enforce secure communication by enabling private connectivity to Azure Database for PostgreSQL. Configure a private endpoint connection to enable access to traffic coming only from known networks and prevent access from all other IP addresses, including within Azure.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Public network access on Azure SQL Database should be disabled	Disabling the public network access property improves security by ensuring your Azure SQL Database can only be accessed from a private endpoint. This configuration denies all logins that match IP or virtual network based firewall rules.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.1.0
Public network access should be disabled for PostgreSQL servers	Disable the public network access property to improve security and ensure your Azure Database for PostgreSQL can only be accessed from a private endpoint. This configuration disables access from any public address space outside of Azure IP range, and denies all logins that match IP or virtual network-based firewall rules.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.0.1
Storage accounts should restrict network access	Network access to storage accounts should be restricted. Configure network rules so only applications from allowed networks can access the storage account. To allow connections from specific internet or on-premises clients, access can be granted to traffic from specific Azure virtual networks or to public internet IP address ranges	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.1.1
Storage accounts should restrict network access using virtual network rules	Protect your storage accounts from potential threats using virtual network rules as a preferred method instead of IP-based filtering. Disabling IP-based filtering prevents public IPs from accessing your storage accounts.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.1
Storage accounts should use private link	Azure Private Link lets you connect your virtual network to Azure services without a public IP address at the source or destination. The Private Link platform handles the connectivity between the consumer and services over the Azure backbone network. By mapping private endpoints to your storage account, data leakage risks are reduced. Learn more about private links at - https://aka.ms/azureprivatelinkoverview	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.0

Deploy firewall at the edge of enterprise network

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark NS-3 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
[Preview]: All Internet traffic should be routed via your deployed Azure Firewall	Azure Security Center has identified that some of your subnets aren't protected with a next generation firewall. Protect your subnets from potential threats by restricting access to them with Azure Firewall or a supported next generation firewall	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0-preview
IP Forwarding on your virtual machine should be disabled	Enabling IP forwarding on a virtual machine's NIC allows the machine to receive traffic addressed to other destinations. IP forwarding is rarely required (e.g., when using the VM as a network virtual appliance), and therefore, this should be reviewed by the network security team.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Management ports of virtual machines should be protected with just-in-time network access control	Possible network Just In Time (JIT) access will be monitored by Azure Security Center as recommendations	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Management ports should be closed on your virtual machines	Open remote management ports are exposing your VM to a high level of risk from Internet-based attacks. These attacks attempt to brute force credentials to gain admin access to the machine.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0

Deploy DDOS protection

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark NS-5 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure DDoS Protection should be enabled	DDoS protection should be enabled for all virtual networks with a subnet that is part of an application gateway with a public IP.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.1

Deploy web application firewall

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark NS-6 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure Web Application Firewall should be enabled for Azure Front Door entry-points	Deploy Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) in front of public facing web applications for additional inspection of incoming traffic. Web Application Firewall (WAF) provides centralized protection of your web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities such as SQL injections, Cross-Site Scripting, local and remote file executions. You can also restrict access to your web applications by countries, IP address ranges, and other http(s) parameters via custom rules.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.2
Web Application Firewall (WAF) should be enabled for Application Gateway	Deploy Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) in front of public facing web applications for additional inspection of incoming traffic. Web Application Firewall (WAF) provides centralized protection of your web applications from common exploits and vulnerabilities such as SQL injections, Cross-Site Scripting, local and remote file executions. You can also restrict access to your web applications by countries, IP address ranges, and other http(s) parameters via custom rules.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.0.0

Detect and disable insecure services and protocols

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark NS-8 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
App Service apps should use the latest TLS version	Periodically, newer versions are released for TLS either due to security flaws, include additional functionality, and enhance speed. Upgrade to the latest TLS version for App Service apps to take advantage of security fixes, if any, and/or new functionalities of the latest version.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.1
Function apps should use the latest TLS version	Periodically, newer versions are released for TLS either due to security flaws, include additional functionality, and enhance speed. Upgrade to the latest TLS version for Function apps to take advantage of security fixes, if any, and/or new functionalities of the latest version.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.1

Identity Management

Use centralized identity and authentication system

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark IM-1 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
[Preview]: Azure PostgreSQL flexible server should have Microsoft Entra Only Authentication enabled	Disabling local authentication methods and allowing only Microsoft Entra Authentication improves security by ensuring that Azure PostgreSQL flexible server can exclusively be accessed by Microsoft Entra identities.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.0-preview
A Microsoft Entra administrator should be provisioned for PostgreSQL servers	Audit provisioning of a Microsoft Entra administrator for your PostgreSQL server to enable Microsoft Entra authentication. Microsoft Entra authentication enables simplified permission management and centralized identity management of database users and other Microsoft services	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1
An Azure Active Directory administrator should be provisioned for SQL servers	Audit provisioning of an Azure Active Directory administrator for your SQL server to enable Azure AD authentication. Azure AD authentication enables simplified permission management and centralized identity management of database users and other Microsoft services	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure AI Services resources should have key access disabled (disable local authentication)	Key access (local authentication) is recommended to be disabled for security. Azure OpenAI Studio, typically used in development/testing, requires key access and will not function if key access is disabled. After disabling, Microsoft Entra ID becomes the only access method, which allows maintaining minimum privilege principle and granular control. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/AI/auth	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.1.0
Azure Machine Learning Computes should have local authentication methods disabled	Disabling local authentication methods improves security by ensuring that Machine Learning Computes require Azure Active Directory identities exclusively for authentication. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/azure-ml-aad-policy.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.1.0
Azure SQL Database should have Microsoft Entra-only authentication enabled	Require Azure SQL logical servers to use Microsoft Entra-only authentication. This policy doesn't block servers from being created with local authentication enabled. It does block local authentication from being enabled on resources after create. Consider using the 'Microsoft Entra-only authentication' initiative instead to require both. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/adonlycreate.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure SQL Database should have Microsoft Entra-only authentication enabled during creation	Require Azure SQL logical servers to be created with Microsoft Entra-only authentication. This policy doesn't block local authentication from being re-enabled on resources after create. Consider using the 'Microsoft Entra-only authentication' initiative instead to require both. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/adonlycreate.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.2.0
Azure SQL Managed Instance should have Microsoft Entra-only authentication enabled	Require Azure SQL Managed Instance to use Microsoft Entra-only authentication. This policy doesn't block Azure SQL Managed instances from being created with local authentication enabled. It does block local authentication from being enabled on resources after create. Consider using the 'Microsoft Entra-only authentication' initiative instead to require both. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/adonlycreate.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure SQL Managed Instances should have Microsoft Entra-only authentication enabled during creation	Require Azure SQL Managed Instance to be created with Microsoft Entra-only authentication. This policy doesn't block local authentication from being re-enabled on resources after create. Consider using the 'Microsoft Entra-only authentication' initiative instead to require both. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/adonlycreate.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.2.0
Service Fabric clusters should only use Azure Active Directory for client authentication	Audit usage of client authentication only via Azure Active Directory in Service Fabric	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.1.0
Storage accounts should prevent shared key access	Audit requirement of Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to authorize requests for your storage account. By default, requests can be authorized with either Azure Active Directory credentials, or by using the account access key for Shared Key authorization. Of these two types of authorization, Azure AD provides superior security and ease of use over Shared Key, and is recommended by Microsoft.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.0.0
Synapse Workspaces should have Microsoft Entra-only authentication enabled	Require Synapse Workspaces to use Microsoft Entra-only authentication. This policy doesn't block workspaces from being created with local authentication enabled. It does block local authentication from being enabled on resources after create. Consider using the 'Microsoft Entra-only authentication' initiative instead to require both. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/Synapse.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0
Synapse Workspaces should use only Microsoft Entra identities for authentication during workspace creation	Require Synapse Workspaces to be created with Microsoft Entra-only authentication. This policy doesn't block local authentication from being re-enabled on resources after create. Consider using the 'Microsoft Entra-only authentication' initiative instead to require both. Learn more at: https://aka.ms/Synapse.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.2.0
VPN gateways should use only Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) authentication for point-to-site users	Disabling local authentication methods improves security by ensuring that VPN Gateways use only Azure Active Directory identities for authentication. Learn more about Azure AD authentication at https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/vpn-gateway/openvpn-azure-ad-tenant	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0

Manage application identities securely and automatically

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark IM-3 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
App Service apps should use managed identity	Use a managed identity for enhanced authentication security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Function apps should use managed identity	Use a managed identity for enhanced authentication security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Virtual machines' Guest Configuration extension should be deployed with system-assigned managed identity	The Guest Configuration extension requires a system assigned managed identity. Azure virtual machines in the scope of this policy will be non-compliant when they have the Guest Configuration extension installed but do not have a system assigned managed identity. Learn more at https://aka.ms/gcpol	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1

Authenticate server and services

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark IM-4 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure SQL Database should be running TLS version 1.2 or newer	Setting TLS version to 1.2 or newer improves security by ensuring your Azure SQL Database can only be accessed from clients using TLS 1.2 or newer. Using versions of TLS less than 1.2 is not recommended since they have well documented security vulnerabilities.	Audit, Disabled, Deny	2.0.0

Use strong authentication controls

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark IM-6 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Accounts with owner permissions on Azure resources should be MFA enabled	Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) should be enabled for all subscription accounts with owner permissions to prevent a breach of accounts or resources.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Accounts with read permissions on Azure resources should be MFA enabled	Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) should be enabled for all subscription accounts with read privileges to prevent a breach of accounts or resources.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Accounts with write permissions on Azure resources should be MFA enabled	Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) should be enabled for all subscription accounts with write privileges to prevent a breach of accounts or resources.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0

Privileged Access

Separate and limit highly privileged/administrative users

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark PA-1 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
A maximum of 3 owners should be designated for your subscription	It is recommended to designate up to 3 subscription owners in order to reduce the potential for breach by a compromised owner.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Blocked accounts with owner permissions on Azure resources should be removed	Deprecated accounts with owner permissions should be removed from your subscription. Deprecated accounts are accounts that have been blocked from signing in.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Guest accounts with owner permissions on Azure resources should be removed	External accounts with owner permissions should be removed from your subscription in order to prevent unmonitored access.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
There should be more than one owner assigned to your subscription	It is recommended to designate more than one subscription owner in order to have administrator access redundancy.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0

Avoid standing access for accounts and permissions

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark PA-2 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Management ports of virtual machines should be protected with just-in-time network access control	Possible network Just In Time (JIT) access will be monitored by Azure Security Center as recommendations	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0

Review and reconcile user access regularly

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark PA-4 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Blocked accounts with owner permissions on Azure resources should be removed	Deprecated accounts with owner permissions should be removed from your subscription. Deprecated accounts are accounts that have been blocked from signing in.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Blocked accounts with read and write permissions on Azure resources should be removed	Deprecated accounts should be removed from your subscriptions. Deprecated accounts are accounts that have been blocked from signing in.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Guest accounts with owner permissions on Azure resources should be removed	External accounts with owner permissions should be removed from your subscription in order to prevent unmonitored access.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Guest accounts with read permissions on Azure resources should be removed	External accounts with read privileges should be removed from your subscription in order to prevent unmonitored access.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Guest accounts with write permissions on Azure resources should be removed	External accounts with write privileges should be removed from your subscription in order to prevent unmonitored access.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0

Follow just enough administration (least privilege) principle

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark PA-7 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Audit usage of custom RBAC roles	Audit built-in roles such as 'Owner, Contributer, Reader' instead of custom RBAC roles, which are error prone. Using custom roles is treated as an exception and requires a rigorous review and threat modeling	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) should be used on Kubernetes Services	To provide granular filtering on the actions that users can perform, use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to manage permissions in Kubernetes Service Clusters and configure relevant authorization policies.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.4

Data Protection

Monitor anomalies and threats targeting sensitive data

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark DP-2 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure Defender for Azure SQL Database servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for SQL provides functionality for surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities, detecting anomalous activities that could indicate threats to SQL databases, and discovering and classifying sensitive data.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected SQL Managed Instances	Audit each SQL Managed Instance without advanced data security.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) provides detections of unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit storage accounts.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.4

Encrypt sensitive data in transit

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark DP-3 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
App Service apps should only be accessible over HTTPS	Use of HTTPS ensures server/service authentication and protects data in transit from network layer eavesdropping attacks.	Audit, Disabled, Deny	4.0.0
App Service apps should require FTPS only	Enable FTPS enforcement for enhanced security.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
App Service apps should use the latest TLS version	Periodically, newer versions are released for TLS either due to security flaws, include additional functionality, and enhance speed. Upgrade to the latest TLS version for App Service apps to take advantage of security fixes, if any, and/or new functionalities of the latest version.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.1
Azure SQL Database should be running TLS version 1.2 or newer	Setting TLS version to 1.2 or newer improves security by ensuring your Azure SQL Database can only be accessed from clients using TLS 1.2 or newer. Using versions of TLS less than 1.2 is not recommended since they have well documented security vulnerabilities.	Audit, Disabled, Deny	2.0.0
Enforce SSL connection should be enabled for MySQL database servers	Azure Database for MySQL supports connecting your Azure Database for MySQL server to client applications using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Enforcing SSL connections between your database server and your client applications helps protect against 'man in the middle' attacks by encrypting the data stream between the server and your application. This configuration enforces that SSL is always enabled for accessing your database server.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
Enforce SSL connection should be enabled for PostgreSQL database servers	Azure Database for PostgreSQL supports connecting your Azure Database for PostgreSQL server to client applications using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Enforcing SSL connections between your database server and your client applications helps protect against 'man in the middle' attacks by encrypting the data stream between the server and your application. This configuration enforces that SSL is always enabled for accessing your database server.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
Function apps should only be accessible over HTTPS	Use of HTTPS ensures server/service authentication and protects data in transit from network layer eavesdropping attacks.	Audit, Disabled, Deny	5.0.0
Function apps should require FTPS only	Enable FTPS enforcement for enhanced security.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Function apps should use the latest TLS version	Periodically, newer versions are released for TLS either due to security flaws, include additional functionality, and enhance speed. Upgrade to the latest TLS version for Function apps to take advantage of security fixes, if any, and/or new functionalities of the latest version.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.1
Kubernetes clusters should be accessible only over HTTPS	Use of HTTPS ensures authentication and protects data in transit from network layer eavesdropping attacks. This capability is currently generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and in preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more info, visit https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	9.1.0
Only secure connections to your Azure Cache for Redis should be enabled	Audit enabling of only connections via SSL to Azure Cache for Redis. Use of secure connections ensures authentication between the server and the service and protects data in transit from network layer attacks such as man-in-the-middle, eavesdropping, and session-hijacking	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0
Secure transfer to storage accounts should be enabled	Audit requirement of Secure transfer in your storage account. Secure transfer is an option that forces your storage account to accept requests only from secure connections (HTTPS). Use of HTTPS ensures authentication between the server and the service and protects data in transit from network layer attacks such as man-in-the-middle, eavesdropping, and session-hijacking	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.0.0

Enable data at rest encryption by default

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark DP-4 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Automation account variables should be encrypted	It is important to enable encryption of Automation account variable assets when storing sensitive data	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.1.0
Service Fabric clusters should have the ClusterProtectionLevel property set to EncryptAndSign	Service Fabric provides three levels of protection (None, Sign and EncryptAndSign) for node-to-node communication using a primary cluster certificate. Set the protection level to ensure that all node-to-node messages are encrypted and digitally signed	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.1.0
Transparent Data Encryption on SQL databases should be enabled	Transparent data encryption should be enabled to protect data-at-rest and meet compliance requirements	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.0
Virtual machines and virtual machine scale sets should have encryption at host enabled	Use encryption at host to get end-to-end encryption for your virtual machine and virtual machine scale set data. Encryption at host enables encryption at rest for your temporary disk and OS/data disk caches. Temporary and ephemeral OS disks are encrypted with platform-managed keys when encryption at host is enabled. OS/data disk caches are encrypted at rest with either customer-managed or platform-managed key, depending on the encryption type selected on the disk. Learn more at https://aka.ms/vm-hbe.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0

Use customer-managed key option in data at rest encryption when required

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark DP-5 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure AI Services resources should encrypt data at rest with a customer-managed key (CMK)	Using customer-managed keys to encrypt data at rest provides more control over the key lifecycle, including rotation and management. This is particularly relevant for organizations with related compliance requirements. This is not assessed by default and should only be applied when required by compliance or restrictive policy requirements. If not enabled, the data will be encrypted using platform-managed keys. To implement this, update the 'Effect' parameter in the Security Policy for the applicable scope.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.2.0
Azure Cosmos DB accounts should use customer-managed keys to encrypt data at rest	Use customer-managed keys to manage the encryption at rest of your Azure Cosmos DB. By default, the data is encrypted at rest with service-managed keys, but customer-managed keys are commonly required to meet regulatory compliance standards. Customer-managed keys enable the data to be encrypted with an Azure Key Vault key created and owned by you. You have full control and responsibility for the key lifecycle, including rotation and management. Learn more at https://aka.ms/cosmosdb-cmk.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	1.1.0
Azure Machine Learning workspaces should be encrypted with a customer-managed key	Manage encryption at rest of Azure Machine Learning workspace data with customer-managed keys. By default, customer data is encrypted with service-managed keys, but customer-managed keys are commonly required to meet regulatory compliance standards. Customer-managed keys enable the data to be encrypted with an Azure Key Vault key created and owned by you. You have full control and responsibility for the key lifecycle, including rotation and management. Learn more at https://aka.ms/azureml-workspaces-cmk.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.1.0
Container registries should be encrypted with a customer-managed key	Use customer-managed keys to manage the encryption at rest of the contents of your registries. By default, the data is encrypted at rest with service-managed keys, but customer-managed keys are commonly required to meet regulatory compliance standards. Customer-managed keys enable the data to be encrypted with an Azure Key Vault key created and owned by you. You have full control and responsibility for the key lifecycle, including rotation and management. Learn more at https://aka.ms/acr/CMK.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.1.2
PostgreSQL servers should use customer-managed keys to encrypt data at rest	Use customer-managed keys to manage the encryption at rest of your PostgreSQL servers. By default, the data is encrypted at rest with service-managed keys, but customer-managed keys are commonly required to meet regulatory compliance standards. Customer-managed keys enable the data to be encrypted with an Azure Key Vault key created and owned by you. You have full control and responsibility for the key lifecycle, including rotation and management.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.4
Storage accounts should use customer-managed key for encryption	Secure your blob and file storage account with greater flexibility using customer-managed keys. When you specify a customer-managed key, that key is used to protect and control access to the key that encrypts your data. Using customer-managed keys provides additional capabilities to control rotation of the key encryption key or cryptographically erase data.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.3

Ensure security of key and certificate repository

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark DP-8 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Key vaults should have deletion protection enabled	Malicious deletion of a key vault can lead to permanent data loss. You can prevent permanent data loss by enabling purge protection and soft delete. Purge protection protects you from insider attacks by enforcing a mandatory retention period for soft deleted key vaults. No one inside your organization or Microsoft will be able to purge your key vaults during the soft delete retention period. Keep in mind that key vaults created after September 1st 2019 have soft-delete enabled by default.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	2.1.0
Key vaults should have soft delete enabled	Deleting a key vault without soft delete enabled permanently deletes all secrets, keys, and certificates stored in the key vault. Accidental deletion of a key vault can lead to permanent data loss. Soft delete allows you to recover an accidentally deleted key vault for a configurable retention period.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	3.0.0
Resource logs in Key Vault should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0

Asset Management

Use only approved services

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark AM-2 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Storage accounts should be migrated to new Azure Resource Manager resources	Use new Azure Resource Manager for your storage accounts to provide security enhancements such as: stronger access control (RBAC), better auditing, Azure Resource Manager based deployment and governance, access to managed identities, access to key vault for secrets, Azure AD-based authentication and support for tags and resource groups for easier security management	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0
Virtual machines should be migrated to new Azure Resource Manager resources	Use new Azure Resource Manager for your virtual machines to provide security enhancements such as: stronger access control (RBAC), better auditing, Azure Resource Manager based deployment and governance, access to managed identities, access to key vault for secrets, Azure AD-based authentication and support for tags and resource groups for easier security management	Audit, Deny, Disabled	1.0.0

Logging and Threat Detection

Enable threat detection capabilities

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark LT-1 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
[Preview]: Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes clusters should have Microsoft Defender for Cloud extension installed	Microsoft Defender for Cloud extension for Azure Arc provides threat protection for your Arc enabled Kubernetes clusters. The extension collects data from all nodes in the cluster and sends it to the Azure Defender for Kubernetes backend in the cloud for further analysis. Learn more in https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-containers-enable?pivots=defender-for-container-arc.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	4.0.1-preview
Azure Defender for Azure SQL Database servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for SQL provides functionality for surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities, detecting anomalous activities that could indicate threats to SQL databases, and discovering and classifying sensitive data.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Defender for Resource Manager should be enabled	Azure Defender for Resource Manager automatically monitors the resource management operations in your organization. Azure Defender detects threats and alerts you about suspicious activity. Learn more about the capabilities of Azure Defender for Resource Manager at https://aka.ms/defender-for-resource-manager . Enabling this Azure Defender plan results in charges. Learn about the pricing details per region on Security Center's pricing page: https://aka.ms/pricing-security-center .	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for servers provides real-time threat protection for server workloads and generates hardening recommendations as well as alerts about suspicious activities.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.3
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected MySQL flexible servers	Audit MySQL flexible servers without Advanced Data Security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected PostgreSQL flexible servers	Audit PostgreSQL flexible servers without Advanced Data Security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected SQL Managed Instances	Audit each SQL Managed Instance without advanced data security.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Kubernetes Service clusters should have Defender profile enabled	Microsoft Defender for Containers provides cloud-native Kubernetes security capabilities including environment hardening, workload protection, and run-time protection. When you enable the SecurityProfile.AzureDefender on your Azure Kubernetes Service cluster, an agent is deployed to your cluster to collect security event data. Learn more about Microsoft Defender for Containers in https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-containers-introduction?tabs=defender-for-container-arch-aks	Audit, Disabled	2.0.1
Microsoft Defender for Containers should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Containers provides hardening, vulnerability assessment and run-time protections for your Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud Kubernetes environments.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Microsoft Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected Synapse workspaces	Enable Defender for SQL to protect your Synapse workspaces. Defender for SQL monitors your Synapse SQL to detect anomalous activities indicating unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit databases.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) provides detections of unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit storage accounts.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.4

Enable threat detection for identity and access management

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark LT-2 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
[Preview]: Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes clusters should have Microsoft Defender for Cloud extension installed	Microsoft Defender for Cloud extension for Azure Arc provides threat protection for your Arc enabled Kubernetes clusters. The extension collects data from all nodes in the cluster and sends it to the Azure Defender for Kubernetes backend in the cloud for further analysis. Learn more in https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-containers-enable?pivots=defender-for-container-arc.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	4.0.1-preview
Azure Defender for Azure SQL Database servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for SQL provides functionality for surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities, detecting anomalous activities that could indicate threats to SQL databases, and discovering and classifying sensitive data.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Defender for Resource Manager should be enabled	Azure Defender for Resource Manager automatically monitors the resource management operations in your organization. Azure Defender detects threats and alerts you about suspicious activity. Learn more about the capabilities of Azure Defender for Resource Manager at https://aka.ms/defender-for-resource-manager . Enabling this Azure Defender plan results in charges. Learn about the pricing details per region on Security Center's pricing page: https://aka.ms/pricing-security-center .	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for servers provides real-time threat protection for server workloads and generates hardening recommendations as well as alerts about suspicious activities.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.3
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected MySQL flexible servers	Audit MySQL flexible servers without Advanced Data Security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected PostgreSQL flexible servers	Audit PostgreSQL flexible servers without Advanced Data Security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected SQL Managed Instances	Audit each SQL Managed Instance without advanced data security.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Kubernetes Service clusters should have Defender profile enabled	Microsoft Defender for Containers provides cloud-native Kubernetes security capabilities including environment hardening, workload protection, and run-time protection. When you enable the SecurityProfile.AzureDefender on your Azure Kubernetes Service cluster, an agent is deployed to your cluster to collect security event data. Learn more about Microsoft Defender for Containers in https://docs.microsoft.com/azure/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-containers-introduction?tabs=defender-for-container-arch-aks	Audit, Disabled	2.0.1
Microsoft Defender for Containers should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Containers provides hardening, vulnerability assessment and run-time protections for your Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud Kubernetes environments.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Microsoft Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected Synapse workspaces	Enable Defender for SQL to protect your Synapse workspaces. Defender for SQL monitors your Synapse SQL to detect anomalous activities indicating unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit databases.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) provides detections of unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit storage accounts.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.4

Enable logging for security investigation

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark LT-3 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
App Service apps should have resource logs enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs on the app. This enables you to recreate activity trails for investigation purposes if a security incident occurs or your network is compromised.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.1
Auditing on SQL server should be enabled	Auditing on your SQL Server should be enabled to track database activities across all databases on the server and save them in an audit log.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.0
Diagnostic logs in Azure AI services resources should be enabled	Enable logs for Azure AI services resources. This enables you to recreate activity trails for investigation purposes, when a security incident occurs or your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Resource logs in Azure Data Lake Store should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes; when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0
Resource logs in Azure Databricks Workspaces should be enabled	Resource logs enable recreating activity trails to use for investigation purposes when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1
Resource logs in Azure Kubernetes Service should be enabled	Azure Kubernetes Service's resource logs can help recreate activity trails when investigating security incidents. Enable it to make sure the logs will exist when needed	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Resource logs in Azure Machine Learning Workspaces should be enabled	Resource logs enable recreating activity trails to use for investigation purposes when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1
Resource logs in Azure Stream Analytics should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes; when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0
Resource logs in Batch accounts should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes; when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0
Resource logs in Data Lake Analytics should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes; when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0
Resource logs in Event Hub should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes; when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0
Resource logs in Key Vault should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0
Resource logs in Logic Apps should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes; when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.1.0
Resource logs in Search services should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes; when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0
Resource logs in Service Bus should be enabled	Audit enabling of resource logs. This enables you to recreate activity trails to use for investigation purposes; when a security incident occurs or when your network is compromised	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.0.0

Configure log storage retention

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark LT-6 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
SQL servers with auditing to storage account destination should be configured with 90 days retention or higher	For incident investigation purposes, we recommend setting the data retention for your SQL Server' auditing to storage account destination to at least 90 days. Confirm that you are meeting the necessary retention rules for the regions in which you are operating. This is sometimes required for compliance with regulatory standards.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0

Incident Response

Preparation - setup incident notification

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark IR-2 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Email notification for high severity alerts should be enabled	To ensure the relevant people in your organization are notified when there is a potential security breach in one of your subscriptions, enable email notifications for high severity alerts in Security Center.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1
Email notification to subscription owner for high severity alerts should be enabled	To ensure your subscription owners are notified when there is a potential security breach in their subscription, set email notifications to subscription owners for high severity alerts in Security Center.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.0
Subscriptions should have a contact email address for security issues	To ensure the relevant people in your organization are notified when there is a potential security breach in one of your subscriptions, set a security contact to receive email notifications from Security Center.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1

Detection and analysis - create incidents based on high-quality alerts

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark IR-3 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure Defender for Azure SQL Database servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for SQL provides functionality for surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities, detecting anomalous activities that could indicate threats to SQL databases, and discovering and classifying sensitive data.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Defender for Resource Manager should be enabled	Azure Defender for Resource Manager automatically monitors the resource management operations in your organization. Azure Defender detects threats and alerts you about suspicious activity. Learn more about the capabilities of Azure Defender for Resource Manager at https://aka.ms/defender-for-resource-manager . Enabling this Azure Defender plan results in charges. Learn about the pricing details per region on Security Center's pricing page: https://aka.ms/pricing-security-center .	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for servers provides real-time threat protection for server workloads and generates hardening recommendations as well as alerts about suspicious activities.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.3
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected MySQL flexible servers	Audit MySQL flexible servers without Advanced Data Security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected PostgreSQL flexible servers	Audit PostgreSQL flexible servers without Advanced Data Security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected SQL Managed Instances	Audit each SQL Managed Instance without advanced data security.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Microsoft Defender for Containers should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Containers provides hardening, vulnerability assessment and run-time protections for your Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud Kubernetes environments.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Microsoft Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected Synapse workspaces	Enable Defender for SQL to protect your Synapse workspaces. Defender for SQL monitors your Synapse SQL to detect anomalous activities indicating unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit databases.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) provides detections of unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit storage accounts.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.4

Detection and analysis - investigate an incident

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark IR-4 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Network Watcher should be enabled	Network Watcher is a regional service that enables you to monitor and diagnose conditions at a network scenario level in, to, and from Azure. Scenario level monitoring enables you to diagnose problems at an end to end network level view. It is required to have a network watcher resource group to be created in every region where a virtual network is present. An alert is enabled if a network watcher resource group is not available in a particular region.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0

Detection and analysis - prioritize incidents

ID: AMicrosoft cloud security benchmark IR-5 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure Defender for Azure SQL Database servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for SQL provides functionality for surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities, detecting anomalous activities that could indicate threats to SQL databases, and discovering and classifying sensitive data.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Azure Defender for Resource Manager should be enabled	Azure Defender for Resource Manager automatically monitors the resource management operations in your organization. Azure Defender detects threats and alerts you about suspicious activity. Learn more about the capabilities of Azure Defender for Resource Manager at https://aka.ms/defender-for-resource-manager . Enabling this Azure Defender plan results in charges. Learn about the pricing details per region on Security Center's pricing page: https://aka.ms/pricing-security-center .	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for servers provides real-time threat protection for server workloads and generates hardening recommendations as well as alerts about suspicious activities.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.3
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected MySQL flexible servers	Audit MySQL flexible servers without Advanced Data Security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected PostgreSQL flexible servers	Audit PostgreSQL flexible servers without Advanced Data Security	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected SQL Managed Instances	Audit each SQL Managed Instance without advanced data security.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Microsoft Defender for Containers should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Containers provides hardening, vulnerability assessment and run-time protections for your Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud Kubernetes environments.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Microsoft Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected Synapse workspaces	Enable Defender for SQL to protect your Synapse workspaces. Defender for SQL monitors your Synapse SQL to detect anomalous activities indicating unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit databases.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) should be enabled	Microsoft Defender for Storage (Classic) provides detections of unusual and potentially harmful attempts to access or exploit storage accounts.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.4

Posture and Vulnerability Management

Audit and enforce secure configurations

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark PV-2 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
[Deprecated]: Function apps should have 'Client Certificates (Incoming client certificates)' enabled	Client certificates allow for the app to request a certificate for incoming requests. Only clients with valid certificates will be able to reach the app. This policy has been replaced by a new policy with the same name because Http 2.0 doesn't support client certificates.	Audit, Disabled	3.1.0-deprecated
App Service apps should have Client Certificates (Incoming client certificates) enabled	Client certificates allow for the app to request a certificate for incoming requests. Only clients that have a valid certificate will be able to reach the app. This policy applies to apps with Http version set to 1.1.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
App Service apps should have remote debugging turned off	Remote debugging requires inbound ports to be opened on an App Service app. Remote debugging should be turned off.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.0
App Service apps should not have CORS configured to allow every resource to access your apps	Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) should not allow all domains to access your app. Allow only required domains to interact with your app.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.0
Azure Machine Learning compute instances should be recreated to get the latest software updates	Ensure Azure Machine Learning compute instances run on the latest available operating system. Security is improved and vulnerabilities reduced by running with the latest security patches. For more information, visit https://aka.ms/azureml-ci-updates/.	[parameters('effects')]	1.0.3
Azure Policy Add-on for Kubernetes service (AKS) should be installed and enabled on your clusters	Azure Policy Add-on for Kubernetes service (AKS) extends Gatekeeper v3, an admission controller webhook for Open Policy Agent (OPA), to apply at-scale enforcements and safeguards on your clusters in a centralized, consistent manner.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.2
Function apps should have remote debugging turned off	Remote debugging requires inbound ports to be opened on Function apps. Remote debugging should be turned off.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.0
Function apps should not have CORS configured to allow every resource to access your apps	Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) should not allow all domains to access your Function app. Allow only required domains to interact with your Function app.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	2.0.0
Kubernetes cluster containers CPU and memory resource limits should not exceed the specified limits	Enforce container CPU and memory resource limits to prevent resource exhaustion attacks in a Kubernetes cluster. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	10.2.0
Kubernetes cluster containers should not share host process ID or host IPC namespace	Block pod containers from sharing the host process ID namespace and host IPC namespace in a Kubernetes cluster. This recommendation is part of CIS 5.2.2 and CIS 5.2.3 which are intended to improve the security of your Kubernetes environments. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	6.1.0
Kubernetes cluster containers should only use allowed AppArmor profiles	Containers should only use allowed AppArmor profiles in a Kubernetes cluster. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	7.1.1
Kubernetes cluster containers should only use allowed capabilities	Restrict the capabilities to reduce the attack surface of containers in a Kubernetes cluster. This recommendation is part of CIS 5.2.8 and CIS 5.2.9 which are intended to improve the security of your Kubernetes environments. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	7.1.0
Kubernetes cluster containers should only use allowed images	Use images from trusted registries to reduce the Kubernetes cluster's exposure risk to unknown vulnerabilities, security issues and malicious images. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	10.2.0
Kubernetes cluster containers should run with a read only root file system	Run containers with a read only root file system to protect from changes at run-time with malicious binaries being added to PATH in a Kubernetes cluster. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	7.1.0
Kubernetes cluster pod hostPath volumes should only use allowed host paths	Limit pod HostPath volume mounts to the allowed host paths in a Kubernetes Cluster. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	7.1.1
Kubernetes cluster pods and containers should only run with approved user and group IDs	Control the user, primary group, supplemental group and file system group IDs that pods and containers can use to run in a Kubernetes Cluster. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	7.1.1
Kubernetes cluster pods should only use approved host network and port range	Restrict pod access to the host network and the allowable host port range in a Kubernetes cluster. This recommendation is part of CIS 5.2.4 which is intended to improve the security of your Kubernetes environments. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	7.1.0
Kubernetes cluster services should listen only on allowed ports	Restrict services to listen only on allowed ports to secure access to the Kubernetes cluster. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	9.1.0
Kubernetes cluster should not allow privileged containers	Do not allow privileged containers creation in a Kubernetes cluster. This recommendation is part of CIS 5.2.1 which is intended to improve the security of your Kubernetes environments. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	10.1.0
Kubernetes clusters should disable automounting API credentials	Disable automounting API credentials to prevent a potentially compromised Pod resource to run API commands against Kubernetes clusters. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	5.1.0
Kubernetes clusters should not allow container privilege escalation	Do not allow containers to run with privilege escalation to root in a Kubernetes cluster. This recommendation is part of CIS 5.2.5 which is intended to improve the security of your Kubernetes environments. This policy is generally available for Kubernetes Service (AKS), and preview for Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	8.1.0
Kubernetes clusters should not grant CAP_SYS_ADMIN security capabilities	To reduce the attack surface of your containers, restrict CAP_SYS_ADMIN Linux capabilities. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	6.1.0
Kubernetes clusters should not use the default namespace	Prevent usage of the default namespace in Kubernetes clusters to protect against unauthorized access for ConfigMap, Pod, Secret, Service, and ServiceAccount resource types. For more information, see https://aka.ms/kubepolicydoc.	audit, Audit, deny, Deny, disabled, Disabled	5.1.0

Audit and enforce secure configurations for compute resources

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark PV-4 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
[Preview]: Guest Attestation extension should be installed on supported Linux virtual machines	Install Guest Attestation extension on supported Linux virtual machines to allow Azure Security Center to proactively attest and monitor the boot integrity. Once installed, boot integrity will be attested via Remote Attestation. This assessment applies to Trusted Launch and Confidential Linux virtual machines.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	6.0.0-preview
[Preview]: Guest Attestation extension should be installed on supported Linux virtual machines scale sets	Install Guest Attestation extension on supported Linux virtual machines scale sets to allow Azure Security Center to proactively attest and monitor the boot integrity. Once installed, boot integrity will be attested via Remote Attestation. This assessment applies to Trusted Launch and Confidential Linux virtual machine scale sets.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	5.1.0-preview
[Preview]: Guest Attestation extension should be installed on supported Windows virtual machines	Install Guest Attestation extension on supported virtual machines to allow Azure Security Center to proactively attest and monitor the boot integrity. Once installed, boot integrity will be attested via Remote Attestation. This assessment applies to Trusted Launch and Confidential Windows virtual machines.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	4.0.0-preview
[Preview]: Guest Attestation extension should be installed on supported Windows virtual machines scale sets	Install Guest Attestation extension on supported virtual machines scale sets to allow Azure Security Center to proactively attest and monitor the boot integrity. Once installed, boot integrity will be attested via Remote Attestation. This assessment applies to Trusted Launch and Confidential Windows virtual machine scale sets.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.1.0-preview
[Preview]: Secure Boot should be enabled on supported Windows virtual machines	Enable Secure Boot on supported Windows virtual machines to mitigate against malicious and unauthorized changes to the boot chain. Once enabled, only trusted bootloaders, kernel and kernel drivers will be allowed to run. This assessment applies to Trusted Launch and Confidential Windows virtual machines.	Audit, Disabled	4.0.0-preview
[Preview]: vTPM should be enabled on supported virtual machines	Enable virtual TPM device on supported virtual machines to facilitate Measured Boot and other OS security features that require a TPM. Once enabled, vTPM can be used to attest boot integrity. This assessment only applies to trusted launch enabled virtual machines.	Audit, Disabled	2.0.0-preview
Guest Configuration extension should be installed on your machines	To ensure secure configurations of in-guest settings of your machine, install the Guest Configuration extension. In-guest settings that the extension monitors include the configuration of the operating system, application configuration or presence, and environment settings. Once installed, in-guest policies will be available such as 'Windows Exploit guard should be enabled'. Learn more at https://aka.ms/gcpol.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.2
Virtual machines' Guest Configuration extension should be deployed with system-assigned managed identity	The Guest Configuration extension requires a system assigned managed identity. Azure virtual machines in the scope of this policy will be non-compliant when they have the Guest Configuration extension installed but do not have a system assigned managed identity. Learn more at https://aka.ms/gcpol	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1

Rapidly and automatically remediate vulnerabilities

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark PV-6 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure registry container images should have vulnerabilities resolved (powered by Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management)	Container image vulnerability assessment scans your registry for commonly known vulnerabilities (CVEs) and provides a detailed vulnerability report for each image. Resolving vulnerabilities can greatly improve your security posture, ensuring images are safe to use prior to deployment.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1
Azure running container images should have vulnerabilities resolved (powered by Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management)	Container image vulnerability assessment scans your registry for commonly known vulnerabilities (CVEs) and provides a detailed vulnerability report for each image. This recommendation provides visibility to vulnerable images currently running in your Kubernetes clusters. Remediating vulnerabilities in container images that are currently running is key to improving your security posture, significantly reducing the attack surface for your containerized workloads.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1
Machines should be configured to periodically check for missing system updates	To ensure periodic assessments for missing system updates are triggered automatically every 24 hours, the AssessmentMode property should be set to 'AutomaticByPlatform'. Learn more about AssessmentMode property for Windows: https://aka.ms/computevm-windowspatchassessmentmode, for Linux: https://aka.ms/computevm-linuxpatchassessmentmode.	Audit, Deny, Disabled	3.7.0
SQL databases should have vulnerability findings resolved	Monitor vulnerability assessment scan results and recommendations for how to remediate database vulnerabilities.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	4.1.0
SQL servers on machines should have vulnerability findings resolved	SQL vulnerability assessment scans your database for security vulnerabilities, and exposes any deviations from best practices such as misconfigurations, excessive permissions, and unprotected sensitive data. Resolving the vulnerabilities found can greatly improve your database security posture.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
System updates should be installed on your machines (powered by Update Center)	Your machines are missing system, security, and critical updates. Software updates often include critical patches to security holes. Such holes are frequently exploited in malware attacks so it's vital to keep your software updated. To install all outstanding patches and secure your machines, follow the remediation steps.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.0
Vulnerabilities in security configuration on your machines should be remediated	Servers which do not satisfy the configured baseline will be monitored by Azure Security Center as recommendations	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.1.0

Endpoint Security

Use Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark ES-1 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure Defender for servers should be enabled	Azure Defender for servers provides real-time threat protection for server workloads and generates hardening recommendations as well as alerts about suspicious activities.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.3

Backup and Recovery

Ensure regular automated backups

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark BR-1 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure Backup should be enabled for Virtual Machines	Ensure protection of your Azure Virtual Machines by enabling Azure Backup. Azure Backup is a secure and cost effective data protection solution for Azure.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Geo-redundant backup should be enabled for Azure Database for MariaDB	Azure Database for MariaDB allows you to choose the redundancy option for your database server. It can be set to a geo-redundant backup storage in which the data is not only stored within the region in which your server is hosted, but is also replicated to a paired region to provide recovery option in case of a region failure. Configuring geo-redundant storage for backup is only allowed during server create.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
Geo-redundant backup should be enabled for Azure Database for MySQL	Azure Database for MySQL allows you to choose the redundancy option for your database server. It can be set to a geo-redundant backup storage in which the data is not only stored within the region in which your server is hosted, but is also replicated to a paired region to provide recovery option in case of a region failure. Configuring geo-redundant storage for backup is only allowed during server create.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
Geo-redundant backup should be enabled for Azure Database for PostgreSQL	Azure Database for PostgreSQL allows you to choose the redundancy option for your database server. It can be set to a geo-redundant backup storage in which the data is not only stored within the region in which your server is hosted, but is also replicated to a paired region to provide recovery option in case of a region failure. Configuring geo-redundant storage for backup is only allowed during server create.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1

Protect backup and recovery data

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark BR-2 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure Backup should be enabled for Virtual Machines	Ensure protection of your Azure Virtual Machines by enabling Azure Backup. Azure Backup is a secure and cost effective data protection solution for Azure.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	3.0.0
Geo-redundant backup should be enabled for Azure Database for MariaDB	Azure Database for MariaDB allows you to choose the redundancy option for your database server. It can be set to a geo-redundant backup storage in which the data is not only stored within the region in which your server is hosted, but is also replicated to a paired region to provide recovery option in case of a region failure. Configuring geo-redundant storage for backup is only allowed during server create.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
Geo-redundant backup should be enabled for Azure Database for MySQL	Azure Database for MySQL allows you to choose the redundancy option for your database server. It can be set to a geo-redundant backup storage in which the data is not only stored within the region in which your server is hosted, but is also replicated to a paired region to provide recovery option in case of a region failure. Configuring geo-redundant storage for backup is only allowed during server create.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1
Geo-redundant backup should be enabled for Azure Database for PostgreSQL	Azure Database for PostgreSQL allows you to choose the redundancy option for your database server. It can be set to a geo-redundant backup storage in which the data is not only stored within the region in which your server is hosted, but is also replicated to a paired region to provide recovery option in case of a region failure. Configuring geo-redundant storage for backup is only allowed during server create.	Audit, Disabled	1.0.1

DevOps Security

Enforce security of workload throughout DevOps lifecycle

ID: Microsoft cloud security benchmark DS-6 Ownership: Shared

Name (Azure portal)	Description	Effect(s)	Version (GitHub)
Azure registry container images should have vulnerabilities resolved (powered by Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management)	Container image vulnerability assessment scans your registry for commonly known vulnerabilities (CVEs) and provides a detailed vulnerability report for each image. Resolving vulnerabilities can greatly improve your security posture, ensuring images are safe to use prior to deployment.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1
Azure running container images should have vulnerabilities resolved (powered by Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management)	Container image vulnerability assessment scans your registry for commonly known vulnerabilities (CVEs) and provides a detailed vulnerability report for each image. This recommendation provides visibility to vulnerable images currently running in your Kubernetes clusters. Remediating vulnerabilities in container images that are currently running is key to improving your security posture, significantly reducing the attack surface for your containerized workloads.	AuditIfNotExists, Disabled	1.0.1

Next steps

Additional articles about Azure Policy:

• Regulatory Compliance overview.
• See the initiative definition structure.
• Review other examples at Azure Policy samples.
• Review Understanding policy effects.
• Learn how to remediate non-compliant resources.