Managing Security Center at scale using ARM templates and Azure Policy
*** Update: This blogpost has been updated with a new ARM template and new Azure Policy definitions which covers the new Security Center bundle pricings. The new ARM template can be found here, the new Azure Policy definitions can be found here *** Recently we have been receiving several customer questions on how to manage Security Center at scale in a continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) scenario, better known as CI/CD. How do you make sure that when a new subscription is instantiated, Security Center is configured correctly and is enabled to monitor new and existing resources? How do you manage hundreds of subscriptions within your organizattion? How do you enforce your security policies? This blogpost covers two scenarios: Configure Security Center using an ARM template to support a CI/CD scenario and management at scale Enforce a Security Center configuration within your organization, using Azure Policy Since both ARM templates and Azure Policy talk to the Resource Manager API in Azure, by making a JSON formatted request, you can re-use the deployment section of an ARM template to author an Azure Policy definition. If you are new to ARM templates and are looking for guidance on authoring, go here. In case you want to leverage PowerShell for configuring ASC, go here. The Security Center ARM Template Every ARM template consists of these 7 elements (not all of them have to be used): It’s the “resources” element that we are interested in since the ARM template reference for Security Center hasn’t been documented yet. We are in the process of publishing which makes it easier to find which types and values are allowed and will also provide IntelliSense. I will update this post when that becomes available. In this blogpost I will cover the two most asked questions: How can I make sure that Security Center is configured for the Standard pricing tier, which unlocks all the Security Center features How can I enable auto provisioning, which enables automatic installation of the Microsoft Management Agent (MMA) VM extension for new resources. Please refer to the pricing tier documentation for the difference between the Free and Standard tier. Set the ASC pricing tier in an ARM template The new pricing tier API is fast and efficient to use. We are using the Microsoft.Security/pricings type to set our pricing tier. How does that look in a template? The ARM template can be found here. If you want to deploy this template, please make sure you target the subscription instead of a resource group. This is a common made mistake, since ASC lives at the subscription level, not at the resource group level. A deployment would look like this (using PowerShell): New-AzDeployment -Name myAscDeploy -Location <yourLocation> -TemplateFile ‘<yourTemplateFileAndPathHere>' -Verbose Since you have probably noticed the usage of a parameter, so you can flip it from “Free” to “Standard” or the other way around, you will be prompted for this value. Please note that we are only allowing the two values specified and it is case sensitive. You can verify the deployment in the activity log: Leveraging the ARM template to create an Azure Policy Now that you have a working ARM template, you can use it to create a deployIfNotExists type of Azure policy which allows you to remediate if the policy definition is non-compliant. If you are just starting with Azure Policy, I would recommend to explore our documentation for guidance on different policy definitions. Leveraging the ARM template we just created, you can construct a deployIfNotExists Azure Policy. You first need to create the section that allows you to find the pricingTier field and value (Standard). For this to work, you need to target your Policy at the right scope (subscriptions or higher), then you define the “effect” (deployIfNotExists) and you set the type to Microsoft.Security/pricings, where the field and value lives which we are looking for. If the existenceCondition returns false and you want to remediate it, you need to define a deployment section under the resources section, where you define your target type and properties. You can find the Azure Policy shown above here. Having your ARM Policy defined, you can now create and assign your new Azure Policy. Please note that you need the appropriate permissions to create a managed identity. This ensures that the policy has the appropriate permissions to change the Security Center configuration at the subscription level. It takes around 30 minutes for the policy to take effect as mentioned in the confirmation. Your policy will remain in this state for a while: Then after around 30 minutes, you will notice a non-compliant assignment, as shown below. If you click on the assignment, you can explore which resource is non-compliant. You can click on Create Remediation Task to remediate it. Automatically create a remediation task In case you want to use automation, you can leverage the Policy Insights API to create a remediation task. One of the options you have is to invoke the API using PowerShell. The script below shows an example how to accomplish that. Please note that besides the subscriptionId, you need to pass a remediationName and policyID: You can find the script to create a remediation task here. If you have succesfully executed the script, you should see something similar in your activity log: Your ASC pricing tier should be changed to Standard and after a policy refresh cycle, your compliance state should be updated to compliant. Configure Security Center auto provisioning using a custom workspace The following ARM template enables auto provisioning so that the Microsoft Management Agent VM extension will be deployed automatically to new created virtual machines. You will also configure a custom Log Analytics workspace instead of the default Security Center one. The ARM template for enabling auto provisioning can be found here. Please note that you need to pass specific parameters values for configuring the Log Analytics workspace like workspace name, the resource group of the workspace and the Azure subscriptionID of where the workspace is created. Deployment of the ARM template is straightforward as you have seen before while deploying the pricing tier template and should look like this:Azure Kubernetes Service Baseline - The Hard Way
Are you ready to tackle Kubernetes on Azure like a pro? Embark on the “AKS Baseline - The Hard Way” and prepare for a journey that’s likely to be a mix of command line, detective work and revelations. This is a serious endeavour that will equip you with deep insights and substantial knowledge. As you navigate through the intricacies of Azure, you’ll not only face challenges but also accumulate a wealth of learning that will sharpen your skills and broaden your understanding of cloud infrastructure. Get set for an enriching experience that’s all about mastering the ins and outs of Azure Kubernetes Service!Azure Lighthouse - Step by step guidance - Onboard customer to Lighthouse using sample template
This blog explains how a Server Provider can onboard Customer to Azure Lighthouse by sample templates in Azure Portal. Pre-requirements: Before we start, please read this document about what is Azure Lighthouse. Azure Lighthouse can enable cross and Multi-tenant management, allow for higher automation, scalability, and enhanced governance across resources and tenants. Concepts: Service Provider: the one to manage delegated resources. Customer: the delegated resources (subscription and/or resources group) can be accessed and managed through service provider’s Azure Active Directory tenant. To onboard the Customer, at first we need to gather Server Provider’s Tenant ID and Principal ID.
Implementing Azure Policy using Terraform
Terraform is a tool that could help us to create infrastructure using the configuration files. The infrastructure could later be updated with change in execution plan. It can be used as a tool for carrying out continuous deployments for various Azure Resources .Azure Policy is a governance service to keep our environments in consistent shape and exercise control.Enable SFTP on Azure File Share using ARM Template and upload files using WinScp
SFTP is a very widely used protocol which many organizations use today for transferring files within their organization or across organizations. Creating a VM based SFTP is costly and high-maintenance. ACI service is very inexpensive and requires very little maintenance, while data is stored in Azure Files which is a fully managed SMB service in cloud. This template demonstrates an creating a SFTP server using Azure Container Instances (ACI). The template generates two resources: storage account is the storage account used for persisting data, and contains the Azure Files share sftp-group is a container group with a mounted Azure File Share. The Azure File Share will provide persistent storage after the container is terminated. ARM Template for creation of SFTP with New Azure File Share and a new Azure Storage account Resources.json { "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#", "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0", "metadata": { "_generator": { "name": "bicep", "version": "0.4.63.48766", "templateHash": "17013458610905703770" } }, "parameters": { "storageAccountType": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "Standard_LRS", "metadata": { "description": "Storage account type" }, "allowedValues": [ "Standard_LRS", "Standard_ZRS", "Standard_GRS" ] }, "storageAccountPrefix": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "sftpstg", "metadata": { "description": "Prefix for new storage account" } }, "fileShareName": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "sftpfileshare", "metadata": { "description": "Name of file share to be created" } }, "sftpUser": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "sftp", "metadata": { "description": "Username to use for SFTP access" } }, "sftpPassword": { "type": "securestring", "metadata": { "description": "Password to use for SFTP access" } }, "location": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]", "metadata": { "description": "Primary location for resources" } }, "containerGroupDNSLabel": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "[uniqueString(resourceGroup().id, deployment().name)]", "metadata": { "description": "DNS label for container group" } } }, "functions": [], "variables": { "sftpContainerName": "sftp", "sftpContainerGroupName": "sftp-group", "sftpContainerImage": "atmoz/sftp:debian", "sftpEnvVariable": "[format('{0}:{1}:1001', parameters('sftpUser'), parameters('sftpPassword'))]", "storageAccountName": "[take(toLower(format('{0}{1}', parameters('storageAccountPrefix'), uniqueString(resourceGroup().id))), 24)]" }, "resources": [ { "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts", "apiVersion": "2019-06-01", "name": "[variables('storageAccountName')]", "location": "[parameters('location')]", "kind": "StorageV2", "sku": { "name": "[parameters('storageAccountType')]" } }, { "type": "Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/fileServices/shares", "apiVersion": "2019-06-01", "name": "[toLower(format('{0}/default/{1}', variables('storageAccountName'), parameters('fileShareName')))]", "dependsOn": [ "[resourceId('Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts', variables('storageAccountName'))]" ] }, { "type": "Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups", "apiVersion": "2019-12-01", "name": "[variables('sftpContainerGroupName')]", "location": "[parameters('location')]", "properties": { "containers": [ { "name": "[variables('sftpContainerName')]", "properties": { "image": "[variables('sftpContainerImage')]", "environmentVariables": [ { "name": "SFTP_USERS", "secureValue": "[variables('sftpEnvVariable')]" } ], "resources": { "requests": { "cpu": 1, "memoryInGB": 1 } }, "ports": [ { "port": 22, "protocol": "TCP" } ], "volumeMounts": [ { "mountPath": "[format('/home/{0}/upload', parameters('sftpUser'))]", "name": "sftpvolume", "readOnly": false } ] } } ], "osType": "Linux", "ipAddress": { "type": "Public", "ports": [ { "port": 22, "protocol": "TCP" } ], "dnsNameLabel": "[parameters('containerGroupDNSLabel')]" }, "restartPolicy": "OnFailure", "volumes": [ { "name": "sftpvolume", "azureFile": { "readOnly": false, "shareName": "[parameters('fileShareName')]", "storageAccountName": "[variables('storageAccountName')]", "storageAccountKey": "[listKeys(resourceId('Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts', variables('storageAccountName')), '2019-06-01').keys[0].value]" } } ] }, "dependsOn": [ "[resourceId('Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts', variables('storageAccountName'))]" ] } ], "outputs": { "containerDNSLabel": { "type": "string", "value": "[format('{0}.{1}.azurecontainer.io', reference(resourceId('Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups', variables('sftpContainerGroupName'))).ipAddress.dnsNameLabel, reference(resourceId('Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups', variables('sftpContainerGroupName')), '2019-12-01', 'full').location)]" } } } Parameters.json { "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentParameters.json#", "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0", "parameters": { "storageAccountType": { "value": "Standard_LRS" }, "storageAccountPrefix": { "value": "sftpstg" }, "fileShareName": { "value": "sftpfileshare" }, "sftpUser": { "value": "sftp" }, "sftpPassword": { "value": null }, "location": { "value": "[resourceGroup().location]" }, "containerGroupDNSLabel": { "value": "[uniqueString(resourceGroup().id, deployment().name)]" } } } ARM Template to Enable SFTP for an Existing Azure File Share in Azure Storage account Resources.json { "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#", "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0", "metadata": { "_generator": { "name": "bicep", "version": "0.4.63.48766", "templateHash": "16190402726175806996" } }, "parameters": { "existingStorageAccountResourceGroupName": { "type": "string", "metadata": { "description": "Resource group for existing storage account" } }, "existingStorageAccountName": { "type": "string", "metadata": { "description": "Name of existing storage account" } }, "existingFileShareName": { "type": "string", "metadata": { "description": "Name of existing file share to be mounted" } }, "sftpUser": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "sftp", "metadata": { "description": "Username to use for SFTP access" } }, "sftpPassword": { "type": "securestring", "metadata": { "description": "Password to use for SFTP access" } }, "location": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "[resourceGroup().location]", "metadata": { "description": "Primary location for resources" } }, "containerGroupDNSLabel": { "type": "string", "defaultValue": "[uniqueString(resourceGroup().id, deployment().name)]", "metadata": { "description": "DNS label for container group" } } }, "functions": [], "variables": { "sftpContainerName": "sftp", "sftpContainerGroupName": "sftp-group", "sftpContainerImage": "atmoz/sftp:debian", "sftpEnvVariable": "[format('{0}:{1}:1001', parameters('sftpUser'), parameters('sftpPassword'))]" }, "resources": [ { "type": "Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups", "apiVersion": "2019-12-01", "name": "[variables('sftpContainerGroupName')]", "location": "[parameters('location')]", "properties": { "containers": [ { "name": "[variables('sftpContainerName')]", "properties": { "image": "[variables('sftpContainerImage')]", "environmentVariables": [ { "name": "SFTP_USERS", "secureValue": "[variables('sftpEnvVariable')]" } ], "resources": { "requests": { "cpu": 1, "memoryInGB": 1 } }, "ports": [ { "port": 22, "protocol": "TCP" } ], "volumeMounts": [ { "mountPath": "[format('/home/{0}/upload', parameters('sftpUser'))]", "name": "sftpvolume", "readOnly": false } ] } } ], "osType": "Linux", "ipAddress": { "type": "Public", "ports": [ { "port": 22, "protocol": "TCP" } ], "dnsNameLabel": "[parameters('containerGroupDNSLabel')]" }, "restartPolicy": "OnFailure", "volumes": [ { "name": "sftpvolume", "azureFile": { "readOnly": false, "shareName": "[parameters('existingFileShareName')]", "storageAccountName": "[parameters('existingStorageAccountName')]", "storageAccountKey": "[listKeys(extensionResourceId(format('/subscriptions/{0}/resourceGroups/{1}', subscription().subscriptionId, parameters('existingStorageAccountResourceGroupName')), 'Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts', parameters('existingStorageAccountName')), '2019-06-01').keys[0].value]" } } ] } } ], "outputs": { "containerDNSLabel": { "type": "string", "value": "[format('{0}.{1}.azurecontainer.io', reference(resourceId('Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups', variables('sftpContainerGroupName'))).ipAddress.dnsNameLabel, reference(resourceId('Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups', variables('sftpContainerGroupName')), '2019-12-01', 'full').location)]" } } } Parameters.json { "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentParameters.json#", "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0", "parameters": { "existingStorageAccountResourceGroupName": { "value": null }, "existingStorageAccountName": { "value": null }, "existingFileShareName": { "value": null }, "sftpUser": { "value": "sftp" }, "sftpPassword": { "value": null }, "location": { "value": "[resourceGroup().location]" }, "containerGroupDNSLabel": { "value": "[uniqueString(resourceGroup().id, deployment().name)]" } } } Deploy the ARM Templates using PowerShell or Azure CLI or Custom Template deployment using Azure Portal. Choose the subscription you want to create the sftp service in Create a new Resource Group It will automatically create a storage account Give a File Share Name Provide a SFTP user name Provide a SFTP password Wait till the deployment is done successfully Click on the container sftp-group Copy the FQDN from the container group Download WinScp from WinSCP :: Official Site :: Download Provide Hostname : FQDN for ACI; Port Number: 22; User Name and Password Click on Login 13. Drag and drop a file from the left side to the Right side. 14. Now, go to the Storage Account and Navigate to File share. The file appears on the file share.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Onboarding workbook V2
The Defender for Cloud Onboarding Workbook V2 is the latest version of this workbook that was originally published August 2022. You can read more about the purpose of this workbook in this post. What’s New: The Defender Plans Onboarded Tab - displays the subscriptions that are onboarded to a Defender plan, status of the Defender Plan, and the resources deployed in the subscription. You can click on the status of the Defender Plan to On / Off on the subscription. You will be directed to the Defender Plans Blade on your selected Subscription. You can notice the status of each Defender Plan is On/Off, and the Resource quantity column displays the Resources deployed in the subscription. You can edit the status of the selected Defender Plan from here and click on save. Please be noted that Foundational CSPM is by default “On” on all subscriptions. The CSPM Tab - displays the subscriptions that are onboarded to a Defender for Cloud, status of the Defender CSPM Plan on the subscription, and the resources deployed in the subscription. You can click on the status of the Defender Plan to On/Off on the subscription. The Agentless Capabilities covered under Defender CSPM displays the Status is On/Off. “Not Available” indicates the required Defender Plan is not enabled, and hence the capability is not available. You can click on the On/Off status on the subscription to edit the Agentless capability. Edit the Status On/Off, and click “Continue” and “Save” the settings The API Tab - displays the subscriptions that are onboarded to a Defender for Cloud, status of the Defender for APIs Plan on the subscription, and the APIM resources deployed in the subscription. You can click on the status of the Defender Plan to On/Off on the subscription. The APIM resources overview displays the APIM resources deployed in the subscription, and their Public Network Access is Enabled/Disabled, and if the APIM is deployed into a VNET. The Onboard API collections displays if all the API collections in an APIM are onboarded to Defender for APIs. Click on “Not Onboarded” to onboard the API collection. You are directed to the assessment “Azure API Management APIs should be onboarded to Defender for APIs”. Select the API Endpoints under the Unhealthy resources and click on “Fix” The Storage Tab - displays the subscriptions that are onboarded to a Defender for Cloud, status of the Defender for Storage Plan on the subscription, and the Storage Account resources deployed in the subscription. You can click on the status of the Defender Plan to On/Off on the subscription. The Agentless capabilities like Data Sensitivity Discovery, Malware Scanning are only available with the DefenderForStorageV2Plan. “Not Available” indicates that the required plan is not enabled. The Containers Tab - displays the subscriptions that are onboarded to a Defender for Cloud, status of the Defender for Containers Plan on the subscription, and the Container resources deployed in the subscription. You can click on the status of the Defender Plan to On/Off on the subscription. The Agentless capability Container Registries VA is available with both the Defender For Containers Plan and Defender CSPM Plan. “Not Available” indicates that the required plan is not enabled. The Devops Tab - displays the Github Connectors and Azure Devops Connectors onboarded to the subscription The Github repositories that need to be enabled for Code Scanning, Secret scanning, Depandabot scanning are displayed. Click on “Unhealthy” status to enable scanning. You are directed to the relevant Recommendation. Select the Unhealthy resources and assign Owner to remediate the Recommendation. The AWS Tab - displays the the AWS Connectors deployed in the subscription, yhe status of the Defender Plans on the AWS Connector. You can click on the status of the Defender Plan to On/Off on the Connector. AWS Agentless capabilities like "Agentless VM scanning", "Data Sensitivity Discovery" are displayed. You are directed to the AWS Defender plans blade. You can edit the Defender plan on the AWS connector and click on “Configure access” When the Defender Plan settings are edited on the AWS connector, you need to download the cloud formation template and update the AWS environment. This is a required step to reflect your changes on the AWS connector, to the AWS environment. The GCP Tab - displays the the GCP Connectors deployed in the subscription, the status of the Defender Plans on the GCP Connector. You can click on the status of the Defender Plan to On/Off on the Connector. You are directed to the GCP Defender plans blade. You can edit the Defender plan on the GCP connector and click on “Configure access” and “Update” How to Deploy The Defender for Cloud Onboarding Workbook is available in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud GitHub Repo page, under Workbooks and can be accessed directly with its Defender for Cloud Onboarding Workbook V2 The workbook can be deployed quickly in the Azure Commercial and Gov cloud environments by clicking the respective “Deploy to Azure” buttons on the workbook page. Additional Resources To learn more about Microsoft Defender for Cloud, visit: https://aka.ms/ascninja To learn about Microsoft Defender for Cloud workbooks, visit: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/security-center/custom-dashboards-azure-workbooks Acknowledgements Many thanks to Yuri Diogenes & Safeena Begum in supporting my initiative and suggesting feedbacks.How managed identities work on Azure resources
Managed Identities are a great way to eliminate the need to store credentials in the source code, and retrieve token from Azure AD while abstracting the entire process for apps running on Azure resources. Learn how it works and what magic happens on the backend!
