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Details of the UK OFFICIAL and UK NHS Regulatory Compliance built-in initiative

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The following article details how the Azure Policy Regulatory Compliance built-in initiative definition maps to compliance domains and controls in UK OFFICIAL and UK NHS. For more information about this compliance standard, see UK OFFICIAL and UK NHS. To understand Ownership, see Azure Policy policy definition and Shared responsibility in the cloud.

The following mappings are to the UK OFFICIAL and UK NHS 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 UK OFFICIAL and UK NHS 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.

Data in transit protection

Data in transit protection

ID: UK NCSC CSP 1 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
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
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
Windows machines should be configured to use secure communication protocols To protect the privacy of information communicated over the Internet, your machines should use the latest version of the industry-standard cryptographic protocol, Transport Layer Security (TLS). TLS secures communications over a network by encrypting a connection between machines. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 4.1.1

Identity and authentication

Identity and authentication

ID: UK NCSC CSP 10 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
Add system-assigned managed identity to enable Guest Configuration assignments on virtual machines with no identities This policy adds a system-assigned managed identity to virtual machines hosted in Azure that are supported by Guest Configuration but do not have any managed identities. A system-assigned managed identity is a prerequisite for all Guest Configuration assignments and must be added to machines before using any Guest Configuration policy definitions. For more information on Guest Configuration, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. modify 4.1.0
Add system-assigned managed identity to enable Guest Configuration assignments on VMs with a user-assigned identity This policy adds a system-assigned managed identity to virtual machines hosted in Azure that are supported by Guest Configuration and have at least one user-assigned identity but do not have a system-assigned managed identity. A system-assigned managed identity is a prerequisite for all Guest Configuration assignments and must be added to machines before using any Guest Configuration policy definitions. For more information on Guest Configuration, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. modify 4.1.0
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
Audit Linux machines that allow remote connections from accounts without passwords Requires that prerequisites are deployed to the policy assignment scope. For details, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. Machines are non-compliant if Linux machines that allow remote connections from accounts without passwords AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.1.0
Audit Linux machines that do not have the passwd file permissions set to 0644 Requires that prerequisites are deployed to the policy assignment scope. For details, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. Machines are non-compliant if Linux machines that do not have the passwd file permissions set to 0644 AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.1.0
Audit Linux machines that have accounts without passwords Requires that prerequisites are deployed to the policy assignment scope. For details, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. Machines are non-compliant if Linux machines that have accounts without passwords AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.1.0
Audit VMs that do not use managed disks This policy audits VMs that do not use managed disks audit 1.0.0
Audit Windows machines that allow re-use of the passwords after the specified number of unique passwords Requires that prerequisites are deployed to the policy assignment scope. For details, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. Machines are non-compliant if Windows machines that allow re-use of the passwords after the specified number of unique passwords. Default value for unique passwords is 24 AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 2.1.0
Audit Windows machines that do not have the maximum password age set to specified number of days Requires that prerequisites are deployed to the policy assignment scope. For details, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. Machines are non-compliant if Windows machines that do not have the maximum password age set to specified number of days. Default value for maximum password age is 70 days AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 2.1.0
Audit Windows machines that do not have the minimum password age set to specified number of days Requires that prerequisites are deployed to the policy assignment scope. For details, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. Machines are non-compliant if Windows machines that do not have the minimum password age set to specified number of days. Default value for minimum password age is 1 day AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 2.1.0
Audit Windows machines that do not have the password complexity setting enabled Requires that prerequisites are deployed to the policy assignment scope. For details, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. Machines are non-compliant if Windows machines that do not have the password complexity setting enabled AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 2.0.0
Audit Windows machines that do not restrict the minimum password length to specified number of characters Requires that prerequisites are deployed to the policy assignment scope. For details, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. Machines are non-compliant if Windows machines that do not restrict the minimum password length to specified number of characters. Default value for minimum password length is 14 characters AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 2.1.0
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
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
Deploy the Linux Guest Configuration extension to enable Guest Configuration assignments on Linux VMs This policy deploys the Linux Guest Configuration extension to Linux virtual machines hosted in Azure that are supported by Guest Configuration. The Linux Guest Configuration extension is a prerequisite for all Linux Guest Configuration assignments and must be deployed to machines before using any Linux Guest Configuration policy definition. For more information on Guest Configuration, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. deployIfNotExists 3.1.0
Deploy the Windows Guest Configuration extension to enable Guest Configuration assignments on Windows VMs This policy deploys the Windows Guest Configuration extension to Windows virtual machines hosted in Azure that are supported by Guest Configuration. The Windows Guest Configuration extension is a prerequisite for all Windows Guest Configuration assignments and must be deployed to machines before using any Windows Guest Configuration policy definition. For more information on Guest Configuration, visit https://aka.ms/gcpol. deployIfNotExists 1.2.0
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
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 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

External interface protection

External interface protection

ID: UK NCSC CSP 11 Ownership: Shared

Name
(Azure portal)		 Description Effect(s) Version
(GitHub)
Adaptive application controls for defining safe applications should be enabled on your machines Enable application controls to define the list of known-safe applications running on your machines, and alert you when other applications run. This helps harden your machines against malware. To simplify the process of configuring and maintaining your rules, Security Center uses machine learning to analyze the applications running on each machine and suggest the list of known-safe applications. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0
Adaptive network hardening recommendations should be applied on internet facing virtual machines Azure Security Center analyzes the traffic patterns of Internet facing virtual machines and provides Network Security Group rule recommendations that reduce the potential attack surface AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0
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
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
Endpoint protection solution should be installed on virtual machine scale sets Audit the existence and health of an endpoint protection solution on your virtual machines scale sets, to protect them from threats and vulnerabilities. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0
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
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
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

Audit information for users

Audit information for users

ID: UK NCSC CSP 13 Ownership: Shared

Name
(Azure portal)		 Description Effect(s) Version
(GitHub)
Audit diagnostic setting for selected resource types Audit diagnostic setting for selected resource types. Be sure to select only resource types which support diagnostics settings. AuditIfNotExists 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
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected Azure SQL servers Audit SQL servers without Advanced Data Security AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 2.0.1

Asset protection and resilience

Data at rest protection

ID: UK NCSC CSP 2.3 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 should encrypt temp disks, caches, and data flows between Compute and Storage resources By default, a virtual machine's OS and data disks are encrypted-at-rest using platform-managed keys. Temp disks, data caches and data flowing between compute and storage aren't encrypted. Disregard this recommendation if: 1. using encryption-at-host, or 2. server-side encryption on Managed Disks meets your security requirements. Learn more in: Server-side encryption of Azure Disk Storage: https://aka.ms/disksse, Different disk encryption offerings: https://aka.ms/diskencryptioncomparison AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 2.0.3

Operational security

Vulnerability management

ID: UK NCSC CSP 5.2 Ownership: Shared

Name
(Azure portal)		 Description Effect(s) Version
(GitHub)
A vulnerability assessment solution should be enabled on your virtual machines Audits virtual machines to detect whether they are running a supported vulnerability assessment solution. A core component of every cyber risk and security program is the identification and analysis of vulnerabilities. Azure Security Center's standard pricing tier includes vulnerability scanning for your virtual machines at no extra cost. Additionally, Security Center can automatically deploy this tool for you. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0
Azure Defender for SQL should be enabled for unprotected Azure SQL servers Audit SQL servers without Advanced Data Security AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 2.0.1
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
Monitor missing Endpoint Protection in Azure Security Center Servers without an installed Endpoint Protection agent will be monitored by Azure Security Center as recommendations AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0
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
System updates on virtual machine scale sets should be installed Audit whether there are any missing system security updates and critical updates that should be installed to ensure that your Windows and Linux virtual machine scale sets are secure. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0
System updates should be installed on your machines Missing security system updates on your servers will be monitored by Azure Security Center as recommendations AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 4.0.0
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
Vulnerabilities in security configuration on your virtual machine scale sets should be remediated Audit the OS vulnerabilities on your virtual machine scale sets to protect them from attacks. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0
Vulnerability assessment should be enabled on SQL Managed Instance Audit each SQL Managed Instance which doesn't have recurring vulnerability assessment scans enabled. Vulnerability assessment can discover, track, and help you remediate potential database vulnerabilities. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 1.0.1
Vulnerability assessment should be enabled on your SQL servers Audit Azure SQL servers which do not have vulnerability assessment properly configured. Vulnerability assessment can discover, track, and help you remediate potential database vulnerabilities. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0

Protective Monitoring

ID: UK NCSC CSP 5.3 Ownership: Shared

Name
(Azure portal)		 Description Effect(s) Version
(GitHub)
Adaptive application controls for defining safe applications should be enabled on your machines Enable application controls to define the list of known-safe applications running on your machines, and alert you when other applications run. This helps harden your machines against malware. To simplify the process of configuring and maintaining your rules, Security Center uses machine learning to analyze the applications running on each machine and suggest the list of known-safe applications. AuditIfNotExists, Disabled 3.0.0
Audit virtual machines without disaster recovery configured Audit virtual machines which do not have disaster recovery configured. To learn more about disaster recovery, visit https://aka.ms/asr-doc. auditIfNotExists 1.0.0
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
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

Secure user management

Authentication of users to management interfaces and support channels

ID: UK NCSC CSP 9.1 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
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

Next steps

Additional articles about Azure Policy: