We’re all familiar with the blue screen of death. Microsoft’s massive outage proved how business operations can go into chaos due to faulty updates. Managing heterogeneous OS ecosystems isn’t easy and it’s important to secure your endpoints from various cyber threats.
We believe that security practices and the use of Gen AI tools require a collaborative effort. Security risks can stem from generating content by red-teaming generative AI systems. They may lead to fairness issues, inaccuracies, and systems may need manual probing to identify potential blindspots. Azure endpoint security solutions are designed to enable organizations to innovate globally and responsibly. They extend your virtual network private address spaces, identities, and secure direct connections to Azure resources. You don’t need any reserved public IP addresses, gateway devices, or NAT if you are using endpoint security Azure solutions.
In this guide, we’ll explore how to use Azure secure endpoints, why they’re so beneficial, and the best practices you can possibly implement.
What is Azure Endpoint Security?
Azure endpoint security is a cloud-native security solution provided by Microsoft to help protect an organization’s endpoints, such as laptops, mobile devices, desktops, and other devices. It is built to safeguard against a variety of cyber threats and delivers real-time analysis, protection, and detection across all your endpoints.
Azure endpoint security tracks user behaviors across networks and blocks advanced attacks. These may include (but are not limited to) fileless malware, zero-days, firewall intrusions, data exfiltration attempts, and unauthorized data access. Azure endpoint security also involves data loss prevention (DLP) which is a key component of any robust cloud security strategy. It provides real-time visibility into your endpoint security posture, generates compliance reports, and makes proactive vulnerability assessments.
Why is Azure Endpoint Security Important?
Your endpoints are vulnerable for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, they are the weakest link to your company’s security posture. Anyone can access them physically and by default, most endpoints are not inherently secure. Endpoints are very susceptible to social engineering threats. Users may unwittingly download malicious apps or click on links by accident through them. This gives adversaries unauthorized access to their devices and a chance to escalate privileges.
Azure endpoint security is important because it protects Azure resources and safeguards sensitive information. Your endpoints are gateways to your organizations and create different entry points to assets. Endpoint security for Azure is crucial for maintaining business integrity, reputation, and helps in preventing various financial losses. You can avoid getting slapped with regulatory fines and other sophisticated lawsuits.
How to Secure Azure Endpoint?
You can secure your Azure data and applications by securing endpoints. The Azure Security Center provides a unified interface that strengthens the security posture of your data centers. It will enable advanced protection for hybrid workloads.
Log in to your Azure portal and navigate to the Azure Security Center blade. Click on settings and make sure Azure Security Center is turned on from the dropdown menu. Now that we’re ready, here’s how we can get started. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to secure your Azure endpoints:
Step 1: Set Up Your Security Policies
Start by creating custom security policies to address common misconfigurations. You can set up your policies to automatically stop VMs, disable resources, remediate security violations, and send notifications.
Step 2: Continuous Endpoint Monitoring and Active Threat Protection
Your Azure Security Center will scan your Azure resources and identify potential risks. We recommend enabling endpoint activity monitoring through the “Monitoring” tab located in the endpoint security dashboard. Configure the status settings for endpoint protection, endpoint threats, network protection, and application control. Save your desired changes.
Step 3: Review Azure Security Issues
Azure Security Center will highlight critical issues, rank them based on their level of severity, and prioritize them. To address vulnerabilities effectively, use the Security Center’s automated remediation capabilities. If you think any issues need a manual interview, refer to the documentation and links provided by the Security Center for additional assistance.
Final Step: Add Additional Security Measures
You can add an extra layer of security by enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Implement Azure Role-based Access Controls (RBAC) and apply the least privilege access principle for Azure resources. You should use Azure Network Security Groups (NSGs) to control the flow of inbound and outbound traffic to your Azure resources.
Azure Endpoint Security Benefits
You can report the endpoint-protection running status and use Azure Defender for storage to detect malware uploads to Azure storage accounts. Azure endpoint security will allow you to optimize network traffic and optimize routes. A secure Azure network will directly take your traffic from the virtual network to your Microsoft Azure backbone network’s service.
The endpoint manager makes it easy to manage multiple devices in a way that protects corporate data. It provides deep insights into your device performance and gives peace of mind by addressing security policy and hardware issues.
Here are some of the benefits of Azure endpoint security:
- You can deploy VMs into the Azure Virtual WAN hub. Azure endpoint security will let you securely migrate any application at any scale without facing any performance drops.
- It can help you download container images from verified sources and environments. You can use Azure endpoint security tools to inspect network and application traffic for threat analysis.
- Use Azure endpoint security to scan user behaviors on networks. You can learn a lot about what’s happening inside your organization and spot signs that can eliminate insider threats. Advanced threat protection and automated behavioral analysis can instantly block sophisticated attacks.
- Azure endpoint security is designed with scalability and ease of customization in mind. It provides features and controls to meet your compliance requirements. You can reduce the risk of security branches, minimize impact, and get comprehensive visibility into your endpoint activities. There’s also the added benefit of seamless integrations with your Azure Security Center.
Azure Endpoint Security Challenges
Keeping an inventory of your business-owned devices and finding out what endpoints are at risk are of paramount importance. By understanding what you’re up against, you can better prepare for future threats. Not all endpoint security tools are secure which is why it’s critical to inculcate this awareness. We’ve compiled a list of the top Azure endpoint security challenges below:
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Hackers Go Beyond Endpoints
Azure endpoints are targeted by hackers but they are more interested in the blob storage services. There are various tools available that can challenge Azure endpoint security best practices and abandoned Microsoft Office 365 accounts are prime targets. Azure environments are known to miss security updates, and third-party patches, and Azure AD Federation Services are usually not configured properly for proactive authentication.
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The Downside of Device Proliferation and Access Regulation
The number of network-connected devices in Azure environments is skyrocketing. Device proliferation is a real challenge and companies need to do their best to secure personal devices under BYOD programs.
Security administrators still struggle to implement proper access controls. A majority of organizations don’t perform regular audits; businesses end up paying costly fines as a result.
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Remote Work Complicates Azure Endpoint Security
Remote work lets employees take personal accountability for their data and devices. But it introduces additional challenges. The increased shift towards remote work models can compromise Azure endpoint security. Even the best endpoint security measures won’t do well if employees don’t care about things on their end. For example, companies cannot control what websites they visit or if they accidentally download malicious links. There is a chance of broadcasting their WiFi SSIDs, using old security protocols, or setting easy-to-guess login credentials for accessing networks.
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Changing Regulatory Compliance
Sometimes it’s not the endpoints themselves but the laws associated with the storage, transmission, and interception of data linked with them. Maintaining regulatory compliance is non-negotiable for businesses but the changing requirements can make it tough. Endpoints don’t restrict user access and admin privileges by default. Organizations don’t reevaluate their compliance strategies as well when monitoring these devices, which could negatively impact customers and lead to class action suits.
Azure Endpoint Security Best Practices
Use the Azure endpoint security best practices so you don’t wait for things to get much worse later. In Azure, you deal with multiple components – databases, networks, endpoints, storage, and many others. The Azure Security Center can grant you centralized security management, proactive threat detection, and simplify compliance. However, securing your Azure cloud requires much more collaboration and stronger security measures.
Here is a list of the best practices for your Azure endpoint security:
#1. Use Dedicated Workstations
Every day your employees will access a variety of files, links, and websites on the internet. There is a risk of downloading malware while accessing confidential company data.
A dedicated workstation can make it easier to handle time-sensitive and simple daily tasks. You can take control over the access and administration and access of your Azure resources by using the Privileged Access Workstations (PAW) provided by Microsoft.
#2. Log Activity Monitoring and Alerts
You can enable Azure activity logging and alerts by logging into the Azure portal. Configure your activity log settings, create alert rules, and set the conditions for the types of events you want monitoring for. You can add webhook URLs, and custom email recipients, and also use Azure Logic Apps to automate responses to these alert rules.
#3. Use Virtual Networks to Secure Critical Access to Azure Service Resources
You can use the Azure Private Link to access Azure PaaS Services. Azure Private Endpoints will let you secure your Azure service resources to only your virtual networks. You can enjoy improved security that way and fully remove public internet access for your Azure resources. It also provides protection against data leaks and blocks access to other resources. You can connect privately to services in other regions and it is very simple to set up and manage.
#4. Use Azure DDoS Protection
DDoS attacks are known to overwhelm an application with too many requests and drain its resources. You can prevent DDoS attacks in real time by taking advantage of Azure DDoS Protection. DDoS threats target your endpoints and Azure DDoS Protection is simple to enable on any new or existing virtual networks. You will receive many benefits such as real-time adaptive tuning, DDoS defense analytics, Azure DDoS rapid responses, and turnkey protection.
#5. Implement Azure Virtual Network (VN) Peering and Azure Bastion
These two services are great for securing access to your Azure resources without exposing them publicly. You can secure remote desktop connections, RDP, SSH, and use VNet Peering to link multiple Azure virtual networks together. For managing your private keys, you can use the Azure Key Vault and encrypt your passwords.
#6. Adopt Zero Trust and Network Segmentation
If you’re trying to achieve bulletproof Azure endpoint security, your best bet would be to adopt a zero-trust network architecture. Apply network segmentation to isolate your Azure resources and prevent chances of lateral movement. You can also use the Azure Active Directory (AAD) service to prevent unauthorized access to your data. Use Azure Sentinel to get real-time threat detection, incident response, and cloud-based security information and event management (SIEM) features.
Azure Endpoint Security with SentinelOne
SentinelOne can protect your enterprise against ransomware, malware, DDoS threats, and other forms of cyber attacks. It offers a Singularity App for your Azure Active Directory which can be downloaded directly from the Singularity Marketplace. SentinelOne is an advanced, autonomous, and AI-powered cyber security platform that provides proactive threat-hunting capabilities, cloud workload protection, and even secures IoT devices.
Its Singularity App for Azure Active Directory will automatically alert when endpoints are at risk. It goes a step ahead by triggering conditional access policies to secure Azure corporate resources. Organizations can adopt a zero-trust approach to cloud security by using SentinelOne’s key features.
Here is what the platform offers when it comes to enhancing Azure endpoint security:
- SentinelOne can block access to sensitive data and assets; its Azure AD Risky User API can automatically mark user identities and label them with a confirmed compromised risk state or high-risk level.
- SentinelOne’s Azure AD Conditional Access Policies can trigger Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) prompts, limit access, and initiate a number of responses. These responses will allow users to move out of risky states and return to normalcy.
- Singularity™ Endpoint will give you a full view of your attack surfaces. You can centralize data, and workflows, and get extended visibility and control over your Azure endpoints. Dynamic device discovery will enable you to automatically identify and protect unmanaged, network-connected endpoints that are known to introduce new risks.
- Singularity Ranger will provide real-time network attack surface controls that find and fingerprint all IP-enabled devices on your network.
- Another added benefit of using SentinelOne to protect your Azure resources is that it offers the best-in-class EDR. You can instantly reconstruct threats from start to finish and correlate events with patented Storyline technology. RemoteOps will help you remotely investigate and respond to Azure security events at an unmatched scale and also reduce MTTR. Singularity neutralizes Azure endpoint threats at machine speed and can perform malware analysis.
Conclusion
Don’t wait for threats that are lurking deep within your infrastructure or stay hidden. Use a combination of security tools and services to secure your Azure environment. The integrity and trust of your business will depend on it. By using the best security practices we’ve outlined above, you can drastically reduce impact and prevent getting breaches. SentinelOne will also supercharge your Azure endpoint security if you use it. And since it’s autonomous and AI-driven, you can rest assured that you always stay up-to-date.
FAQs
1. What is Azure Endpoint Security pricing like?
Azure private endpoint costs USD 0.01 per hour. There is no charge for using the private link service. For inbound or outbound data processed, the fee is USD 0.01 per GB. To get a more accurate estimate, you can use the Azure pricing calculator to find out hourly or monthly costs for using the Azure endpoint security solution.
2. What is the purpose of endpoint security?
The main goal of endpoint security is to protect data and workflows linked to endpoint devices on corporate networks. It is supposed to examine files that enter and leave these networks.
They also need to be compared with ever-evolving threat databases which are stored on the cloud. That way, companies make sure their systems don’t get corrupted and they ensure the integrity of information.
3. Why SentinelOne for endpoint security?
SentinelOne is a great choice for meeting your Azure endpoint security requirements as it is a complete security solution. It doesn’t just cover Azure endpoint security but also addresses any other areas related to it. For example, you can not only secure your endpoints but also your clouds, identities, and connected interfaces. With SentinelOne, you can scale up or down your data analytics as needed.
The pricing model is flexible and you can centralize your data ingestion, transformation, and storage. SentinelOne’s AI-assisted monitoring, investigations, and automated incident response dramatically bolster cloud and IT security, thus securing your business.