Azure Security Best Practices for Cloud Infrastructure

Security is an essential consideration for any business. Even when moving to a cloud-based provider like Microsoft Azure, ensuring that the security controls that you have in place can protect your organisation is vital.

Investment in security is an investment into your organisation’s future and longevity. That is why collaborating with the team of expert security professionals here at Extech Cloud and ensuring that you are educated on the best ways to protect your company, is vital. In this article, we will discuss the best security practices for your organisation, to ensure that your Azure infrastructure has the best security precautions in place.

Why use Multifactor Authentication?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is an authentication method that uses multiple authentication factors to allow access to a system. Instead of relying on a single factor — a password, for example — an MFA system will ensure that your identity is verified using multiple methods.

MFA is used regularly throughout the world nowadays, with email or SMS-based authentication methods to ensure that a new device is legitimate being a security feature on every single site. However, using a more advanced identity authentication system like Azure Active Directory gives you access to more advanced methods of authentication such as —

• Biometrics
• Authenticator apps
• Hardware tokens

Use the Principle of Least Privilege

There is no point in giving access to your organisation’s most critical data and systems to people that do not need it. This creates vulnerability.

The best way to ensure that this does not apply to your business is to employ the ‘Principle of Least Privilege’ throughout your organisation. This means that each employee has access to only the lowest level of security clearance that they need to complete their required tasks — with higher clearance levels being reserved strictly for those who need access to them.

This ensures that higher-level data is not going to be breached within your organisation, while also not being too restrictive and stopping employees from being able to complete the work that they need to do. Our team are specifically trained to deal with cyber threats and can create a workspace allowing employees the access they need, whilst at thye same time  protecting your most critical data and systems.

 Encrypt Critical Data

Encryption is a key method of securing data. This technology is everywhere — all modern browsers use encryption, as do most modern messaging services such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. However, an organisation with massively valuable data will have to take more steps to protect their organisation-wide data.

An encryption tool like Azure Data Encryption will be able to do this by turning the data into indecipherable data that can only be unencrypted using a passkey. This passkey is then provided to a limited number of trusted people within your organisation, reducing any chance of a data breach from outside or within.

Create a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan

In the case of a cybersecurity, having a backup, as well as a disaster recovery plan, is vital in ensuring that your infrastructure will be back up and running with minimal downtime.

A backup will give your system a restoration point to which you can revert, meaning that — while some data will be lost — everything can be easily restored. A disaster recovery plan is an infrastructural set of actions and procedures to be followed in a worst-case scenario.

Manage Access

Ensuring that you have a good access management system in place is another valuable way to make sure your company is protected.

Being able to remotely manage access to specific teams, projects, and parts of your organisation means that you can limit employee access to the specific parts of your business that they need to engage with — using Azure’s identity and access management features helps you limit unauthorised access completely. Our team of Azure experts can help you navigate this important feature.

Implement Security Controls

Many diverse types of security controls can help you keep your organisation safe from external threats over time. Azure has a lot of different tools that can help facilitate this, including —

• Azure Firewall: Azure Firewall is an intelligent network security system that keeps threats away from your Azure databases and system. It denies traffic to and alerts the administrator of any malicious IP addresses and domains trying to gain access to your network — all in real time.
• Azure Monitor Alerts: Azure Monitor Alerts will send real-time alerts based on specific rules that you set, meaning that you will always be notified about potential threats to your organisation.
• Azure Defender: Azure Defender will be able to ensure that your Azure workloads are protected against threats.

Azure has so many useful tools which can seem overwhelming at first, our team have been trained to help you navigate and get the most of these innovative features.

Keep Workload Patches Up to Date

Exploits will inevitably arise within any piece of digital infrastructure or software. Developers are constantly patching out exploits and vulnerabilities, to ensure that no organisations are crippled by these faults.

This is why installing patches as soon as they become available and keeping them up to date regularly is so important — it is your first line of defence against these kinds of exploits and is vital. Our team of expert security professionals can support you in making sure your organisation is on top of this.

How We Can Help

Ensuring that security remains a top priority throughout your organisation is critical, as is educating yourself and your team on how to manage the threats you can face. These practices are a good baseline to ensure that your security basics are covered.

If you are looking for a helping hand, reach out to Extech Cloud. Our expert team is here to help and will be able to ensure that the correct practices are in place for your organisation’s benefit. Get in touch with us today and see how we can help your business in the Southeast.