How to exclude folders or files in defender for cloud

Question

I'll be implementing policy in defender for cloud and this includes the exclusions of Files and forlders that shouldnt be scanned .

Answer 1

There are no file and folder exclusions in Defender for Cloud. With one exception, it does not scan files. That is Defender for Endpoint/Antivirus. Defender for Cloud is more focused on security posture and risky configurations. There is an AV scan in Defender for Storage on the commercial side. This does not have direct exclusions but there is a workaround described here.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-storage-malware-scan

Defender for Endpoint is the Microsoft AV-EDR service. It has custom indicators than can be used allow files and supports traditional folder exclusions by policy. Though MDE does real-time scanning that reduces the need for traditional exclusions. The fewer exceptions you have the better.