In addition to helping companies achieve their business goals, Azure is well-known for its security services. With a 99.99% uptime guarantee, you can confidently rely on the benefits of this cloud computing platform. It provides a variety of tools that can be used to implement and maintain security in your organisation.
Here are the top 6 Azure cloud security tools you need to know about in 2023:
Microsoft Sentinel
The critical requirement of any security tool should be rapid threat detection and remediation. Microsoft Sentinel meets this criterion by effectively detecting threats and responding immediately. It is a cloud-based Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tool or solution that can significantly reduce workload and security resources. This SIEM solution collects and normalises data into the format you need, ensuring consistency in log management.
One of the critical benefits of Sentinel is the ability to pay only for the resources used. In addition, it helps regulate third-party access and provides flexibility in your billing obligations. It allows you to change it after every 31 days if you wish.
Azure Firewall
Firewall security is an essential weapon in the fight against cyber threats. It builds barriers between legitimate and untrusted networks, preventing attacks from spreading to your computers. Azure Firewall is a security service that protects workloads running on Azure cloud computers. It is a cloud computing tool that helps networks authorise only allowed traffic and maintains cloud resilience, thus keeping you secure. It is available in three versions – Basic, Standard and Premium.
Azure Firewall Basic is the most commonly used security tool of the three. It provides Azure cloud security and is designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Its most attractive features include built-in high-availability zones, connecting multiple public IP addresses, and more. It also allows you to configure network and application rules with fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) available on the subnet. It is a well-recommended tool for securing your computers.
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Resource locking
Everything is subject to change, including your business resources. Sometimes, in large organisations, you may need to refer to data or resources in your day-to-day work constantly. Azure Resource Locks are used to keep your resources secure and unchanged. This security tool can be applied to different resources to revoke any associated permissions. It is a valuable tool to avoid accidental changes or deletion of high-priority resources.
The two types of resource blocking are “Must not delete” and “Read-only.” As long as they are applied, this prevents the deletion of resources and contains changes to help, allowing users to read only. It ensures that security remains intact.
Azure Key Vault
Azure Key Vault protects sensitive information such as passwords, connection strings, and cryptographic keys. It supports vaults and hardware security module (HSM) pools. Highly recommended by security administrators, Azure Key Vault acts as an Azure application developer and Software as a Service (SaaS) developer. Another use case is that it tracks key usage in real-time, regardless of how many Azure repositories there are.
Network security is a guaranteed service with crucial storage. It can help to restrict access to specific virtual networks and enumerated Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address ranges. When creating key stores, there are three ways for applications to access them – application-only, user-only, and application-plus user.
AD multi-factor authentication
The main objective of modernising the technology is efficiency, security, and ease of use. Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) was designed to restrict access to data but in a user-friendly way. This security tool requires an extra step in the user identification process when logging in, thus doubling security.
Azure Active Directory (AD) MFA helps maintain security by requiring two or more forms of authentication. It includes passwords (something you know), a hardware key (something you have), or even a fingerprint (something you have). Its flexibility also allows you to reset passwords securely. Another reason to choose this security tool is its ease of implementation. It does not affect the surrounding virtual space, thus proving security.
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Azure SQL Database “Always Encrypted
Sensitive data can range from account passwords to credit card numbers. Always Encrypted” is a security tool used to protect such sensitive data. Internal security threats are a genuine possibility. While it allows users to encrypt sensitive data, it also acts to protect such data from database engines and operators. It protects your data by limiting it from being displayed as “plain text” to any database engine.
Confidentiality is consistent with the Azure SQL Database “Always Encrypted.” Two types of cryptographic keys are used to protect your data to maximise security. One key encrypts your data (column encryption key), and the other encrypts the key that encrypts your data (column master key). This security tool allows client applications to access only those keys that can access the “clear text” data, thus eliminating the threat of a data breach.
Conclusion
Azure is a versatile security tool that can help your business in various ways, ensuring consistent quality and efficiency. When it comes to security, Microsoft Azure security tools offer a wide range of services to choose from, which can be overwhelming. It extends to helping you select the right security tool for your security needs. After reading this blog, we hope you know the six best Azure security tools.
