SQL DB Defender for Cloud

Question

Hello,

How often microsoft defender for cloud scanning the azure sql database?

Answer 1

Microsoft Defender for Cloud offers continuous security monitoring and performs automated security assessments to identify potential vulnerabilities in Azure SQL databases. However, the exact frequency of these scans for Azure SQL Database is not explicitly detailed in Microsoft's public documentation. This is primarily because Defender for Cloud uses a combination of continuous and periodic scanning methods to assess and monitor the security posture of your resources.

Here are some key points about how Microsoft Defender for Cloud operates:

1. Continuous Monitoring: Defender for Cloud continuously monitors Azure SQL databases for security vulnerabilities and threats. This includes checking for SQL injection attacks, anomalous database activities, and unusual access patterns.
2. Periodic Security Assessments: Defender for Cloud performs regular security assessments to detect potential vulnerabilities. These assessments are part of its automated scanning capabilities, but Microsoft does not specify the exact intervals for these periodic scans.
3. Real-time Alerts: In addition to scheduled assessments, Defender for Cloud provides real-time threat protection, generating alerts when it detects active threats or suspicious activities.
4. Customizable Policies: Users can customize the security policies in Defender for Cloud. While this may not directly change the scan frequency, it allows you to tailor the security controls to suit your specific requirements.
5. Compliance Reports: Defender for Cloud provides continuous compliance assessments against industry standards and benchmarks, which include periodic evaluations of the security posture.

For the most current and detailed information, you should consult the Microsoft Defender for Cloud documentation. If you require more specific details on the scanning frequency for Azure SQL databases, reaching out to Microsoft support or your Azure account representative might provide more precise information.

Remember that Microsoft continually updates and improves its services, so staying informed with the latest documentation and release notes is always a good practice.

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Answer 2

@Handian Sudianto

Thank you for your post and I apologize for the delayed response!

When it comes to Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL - I'm assuming you turned on the Defender for Azure SQL plan in Defender for Cloud. Enabling this should've automatically enabled Advanced Threat Protection and vulnerability assessment - with the express configuration, for all Azure SQL databases in your selected subscription.

If you're using the Express configuration:

Each database is randomly assigned a scan time on a set day of the week, and email notifications are scheduled randomly per server on a set day of the week. The email notification report includes data from all recurring database scans that were executed during the preceding week (does not include on-demand scans).

When looking at the Classic configuration section, I'm assuming the express configuration recurring scans should be similar to the classic configuration where:

Scans will be triggered automatically once a week. In most cases, it will be on the day Vulnerability Assessment has been enabled and saved...

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Additional Links:

• Overview of Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL
• Enable vulnerability assessment on your Azure SQL databases
• SQL vulnerability assessment helps you identify database vulnerabilities
• What are the express and classic configurations?

I hope this helps!

If you have any other questions, please let me know. Thank you for your time and patience throughout this issue.

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