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Microsoft Azure Security
Microsoft Azure Security

Microsoft Azure Security: Protect your solutions from malicious users using Microsoft Azure Services

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Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Microsoft Azure Security

Chapter 2. Identity and Access Management for Users

Microsoft Azure is a comprehensive set of services used to build complex infrastructures on Cloud Services.

In this chapter, we are going to explore the Identity and Access Management (IAM) mechanisms to control the resources of the Azure Platform, while discussing the following:

  • IAM in the current portal
  • IAM in the Preview portal
  • Advanced authentication

Despite the definition of old and new, a portal can suggest which one is the future of a platform. In this chapter, we will cover both, so as to let users decide which one to use.

Note

Microsoft Azure Management Portal is a web-based application where Azure subscribers usually go to manage their Cloud resources.

The first Management Portal was a Silverlight-based portal, now no longer used, and it has been replaced with a fully featured web-based application, which is available at https://manage.windowsazure.com. This old portal (at the time of writing this book, it is the current portal...

IAM in the current portal

The current portal, located at https://manage.windowsazure.com, is accessible with a valid credential, a Microsoft account, or a company account (hosted on Azure Active Directory). For users who do not have a valid subscription, the steps to get it are:

  1. Obtain a valid Microsoft account (or create it at https://signup.live.com).
  2. Go to https://account.windowsazure.com/Subscriptions.
  3. Click on add subscription.
  4. Choose the appropriate subscription (as shown in the following figure):
    IAM in the current portal
  5. Verify the account (with a valid identification method; it depends on the subscription) and confirm it.
  6. Go to the Azure Portal ( refer to https://manage.windowsazure.com).

Once we are in the Azure Portal, the new subscription is added to the default directory of the owner's account (if any) or to an auto-generated one, if it was the first subscription or the user has not yet created a custom directory.

Creating a custom Azure Active Directory

It is a good practice to group multiple subscriptions...

IAM in the Preview portal

The Preview portal, which you can refer to at https://portal.azure.com, is accessible with a valid credential, such as a Microsoft account or a company account (hosted on Azure AD). Discussing the new features of this portal is out of the scope of this book but, from an IT and security perspective, great features have been added to it.

A completely renewed role-based authorization engine is implemented to set up fine grained security for each component of the platform, as we can see in the next section.

Note

At the time of writing this book, there are some limitations in the Preview portal; not every Azure service is available to be managed and not all the features of available services are aligned with the current portal.

Role-Based Access Control

Users have been demanding this feature for a long time and, finally, it has arrived. In the Preview portal, the old users (such as the service administrator and the co-administrators) are grouped in the cumulative user, Subscription...

Advanced authentication

In this section, we will see two advanced scenarios used to authenticate against Azure services. The first is the Multi-Factor Authentication, which is useful to secure the directory users' accounts with a two-step verification; the second are Management Certificates, used to establish a secure channel between two parties and operate as administrators against a given subscription.

Multi-Factor Authentication

Azure AD has built-in features to enable Multi-Factor Authentication for its users. As for the two-step verification of the Microsoft account (discussed earlier in the chapter) Multi-Factor Authentication involves more than just one factor, combining:

  • What we know: This refers to valid credentials
  • What we have: This refers to a device, for example

In Azure AD, we have these options:

  • Authentication apps for mobile phones, available for Windows Phone, Android, and iOS. With the authentication app, users can receive one-time passcodes via push notifications or generate...

Summary

In this chapter, we highlighted the importance of securing the account used to access Azure resources. We used the Microsoft account with the two-step verification, used Azure AD, and we implemented a Multi-Factor Authentication that, in conjunction with RBAC, can put the Azure administration inside a good security boundary.

In the next chapter, we talk about Platform as a Service. By discussing some of the PaaS services of Azure, we will highlight how to use them properly and focus on the security issues they are related to.

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Description

This book is intended for Azure administrators who want to understand the application of security principles in distributed environments and how to use Azure to its full capability to reduce the risks of security breaches. Only basic knowledge of the security processes and services of Microsoft Azure is required.

Who is this book for?

This book is intended for Azure administrators who want to understand the application of security principles in distributed environments and how to use Azure to its full capability to reduce the risks of security breaches. Only basic knowledge of the security processes and services of Microsoft Azure is required.

What you will learn

  • Recognize the basic principles of IT security to protect your applications
  • Implement authentication solutions within applications with Azure Services
  • Analyze use cases of Azure usage, regarding services that are PaaS such as websites, SQL Databases, and storage
  • Analyze use cases of Azure usage, regarding services that are IaaS such as Virtual Machines and Virtual Networks
  • Use Azure Cloudbased identity solutions in applications
  • Assess risks to build a complete map of what to monitor
  • Identify and avoid common pitfalls while developing web applications

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Apr 07, 2015
Length: 152 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781784399979
Vendor :
Microsoft
Category :
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Product Details

Publication date : Apr 07, 2015
Length: 152 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781784399979
Vendor :
Microsoft
Category :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

6 Chapters
1. The Fundamentals of Security Standards Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Identity and Access Management for Users Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Platform as a Service Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Infrastructure as a Service Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Identity and Access Management for Developers Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.5
(2 Ratings)
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M Nixon Jul 23, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
The book starts with fundamentals that are relavent for many different setups. It then dives into PAAS, IAAS, and Identity and Access Management for developers. I like the explanations and the simple 'this is how to do it' procedures. I bought the book for information on how to secure dashboards, cache, and service bus. As a bonus the information on identity and access management is proving to be very helpful. This is a 'how to' book, not a deep dive on theory and features.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
joedive Jul 17, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
This book starts by defining the areas covered under the umbrella of the CIA of information Security. It does a nice job combining the details necessary for implementation with description of why it should be done in the manner prescribed. The real strength of the book is the section on Cloud implementation in setting up for Platform as a Service. Chapter 4 addresses using Azure in a virtualize environment supporting infrastructure as a Service. This chapter takes great care to address the various Cloud environments where setup might occur. it includes special care for the operating system firewall and the Azure environment in a VM.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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