Azure Firewall
Introduction.
• Controlling outbound network traffic access is important
• Firewall policies help in cutting down unauthorized access
• Reduced scope of cyberattack
• Recommended way to configure Azure Firewall
• Policies work across regions and subscriptions
What can be configured
There are three types of rules:
- DNAT
- Network
- Application
DNAT rules
DNAT rules allow or deny inbound traffic through the firewall public IP address(es). You can use a DNAT rule when you want a public IP address to be translated into a private IP address. The Azure Firewall public IP addresses can be used to listen to inbound traffic from the Internet, filter the traffic and translate this traffic to internal resources in Azure.
Network rules
Network rules allow or deny inbound, outbound, and east-west traffic based on the network layer (L3) and transport layer (L4).
You can use a network rule when you want to filter traffic based on IP addresses, any ports, and any protocols.
Application rules
Application rules allow or deny outbound and east-west traffic based on the application layer (L7). You can use an application rule when you want to filter traffic based on fully qualified domain names (FQDNs), URLs, and HTTP/HTTPS protocols.
Azure Firewall is a cloud-based network security service that protects your Azure Virtual Network resources. It is a fully stateful firewall as a service with built-in high availability and unrestricted cloud scalability. It supports filtering for both inbound and outbound traffic, and uses a static public IP address for your virtual network resources allowing you to have granular control over the traffic.
Azure Firewall includes a set of features such as:
- Application-level rules: Allows you to create rules based on FQDNs and fully qualified domain names (FQDN) rather than IP addresses.
- Threat intelligence-based filtering: Utilizes threat intelligence feeds to automatically block malicious IP addresses and domains.
- FQDN filtering: Enables you to create allow and deny rules based on domain names, rather than IP addresses.
- Azure Monitor for Firewall: Allows you to view detailed logs and metrics of all the traffic passing through the firewall.
- Integrated with Azure Security Center: Provides you with a unified view of all your security alerts and recommendations across your Azure resources.
- High availability and scalability: Built to handle large-scale, distributed network environments.
- It also support Azure Policy and Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) for fine-grained access control and management.
- Azure Firewall can be integrated with Azure Virtual WAN and ExpressRoute to provide protection for your on-premises and branch office networks.
It is a fully managed service, you don't need to worry about patching, updating, or maintaining the firewall. Azure Firewall can be deployed via Azure Portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, and Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates.
Here are some tips and tricks for working with Azure Firewall:
- Use Azure Policy to enforce consistent firewall rules across your Azure resources: Azure Policy can be used to ensure that all virtual machines and virtual networks in your environment have the same firewall rules.
- Utilize Azure Security Center to monitor and troubleshoot Azure Firewall: Azure Security Center provides visibility into the logs and metrics of Azure Firewall, and can help you troubleshoot issues with your firewall rules.
- Use FQDN filtering to block unwanted traffic: Azure Firewall supports FQDN filtering, which allows you to block traffic to and from specific domains. This can be useful for blocking unwanted traffic, such as ads or malware.
- Leverage Azure Firewall's Threat Intelligence feed to protect against known malicious IPs and domains: Azure Firewall uses a threat intelligence feed to automatically block known malicious IPs and domains.
- Make use of Azure Firewall's Application-level rules to filter traffic based on the application layer: Azure Firewall's application-level rules allow you to create rules based on the application layer rather than just the network layer. This allows you to filter traffic based on specific applications or protocols.
- Use Azure Firewall's built-in high availability and scalability features to ensure that your firewall is always available: Azure Firewall is designed to handle large-scale, distributed network environments and provides built-in high availability and scalability features to ensure that your firewall is always available.
- Use Azure Firewall in conjunction with Azure Virtual WAN and ExpressRoute to protect your on-premises and branch office networks.
- Leverage Azure Firewall's Azure Monitor for Firewall for detailed logs and metrics of all the traffic passing through the firewall.
- Test your firewall rules before deploying them to production: It is a best practice to test your firewall rules in a test environment before deploying them to production to ensure that they work as expected and don't cause any unintended consequences.
- Keep your Azure Firewall updated with the latest patches and updates: Azure Firewall is fully managed service, but it is still important to make sure that you are running the latest version of the firewall to take advantage of the latest features and security updates.
1. To encrypt communication from Azure web apps to client browsers, what must be configured in the Azure web app?
SSL certificate : A public or private SSL certificate must be uploaded to the Azure web app to encrypt client/server communication.
SSL/TLS binding : The SSL certificate must be bound to the app service to use the HTTPS endpoint.
App Service plan tier : To bind a custom SSL certificate (a third-party certificate or App Service certificate) to our web app, our App Service plan must be in the Basic, Standard, Premium, or Isolated tier.
2. Auditing for Azure SQL Database can be enabled where?
At the server level : Auditing for Azure SQL Database can be enabled at either the server level or database level. Each setting can be configured independently and one does not override the other.
At the database level : Auditing for Azure SQL Database can be enabled at either the server level or database level. Each setting can be configured independently and one does not override the other.
3. You have an application gateway deployed. You have two backend pools configured:
ImagesBackend
WebBackend
When a user accesses the https://acloudguru.com/images/* URL, you want to send traffic to ImagesBackend. All other traffic should be redirected to WebBackend. What should you configure?
URL-based routing : URL path-based routing allows you to route traffic to backend server pools based on the URL paths of the request.
4. You are using the Microsoft Threat Modeling Tool to identify and mitigate potential security issues during the development of a system.
What must you know about the system before you start to create a data flow diagram?
How the system will work, security requirements, and gaps
You will need details of how the system will work, including a description, software versions, details of third-party dependencies, and details around access control and secrets management, among others.
5. You are deploying a third-party security and compliance monitoring tool. The tool will read all of the Azure resources in your Azure subscription and report on compliance against best practices. The tool is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering that runs without user input and periodically scans your Azure resources using read-only access.
Which steps should you take to configure access for this tool?
- Create an app registration.
You would create an app registration. An app registration provides an identity for the application in your Active Directory tenant. This would be the first step in your process.
- Configure certificates and secrets.
You would configure certificates and/or secrets to enable the application to authenticate with Azure Active Directory. Depending on the application, you may configure a certificate or an application secret.
- Assign the Reader role on the subscription to the service principal.
You would assign a role for the application's identity (service principal) to grant it read-only access to the the Azure resources in your subscription.
6. What is required to decrypt SQL database data that is encrypted using Always Encrypted?
The column encryption key and column master key
The column encryption key is required and is decrypted using the column master key. The plaintext column encryption key is then used to decrypt the data.
7. You need to provide Azure AD authentication to an Azure SQL database for an Azure web app. Which 2 steps should you take?
- Add the managed identity as a contained database user.
You should add the managed identity as a contained database user using the FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER T-SQL command.
- Create a managed identity for the Azure web app.
You should create a managed identity for the Azure web app. This will provide a service principal that can be used to grant access to the Azure SQL database.
8. You have SQL Server Database auditing configured on a SQL server with the following settings:
You need to ensure all database audit logs are retained indefinitely in the same storage account for all databases on the server.
Which setting should you change?
Remove the auditing settings on the SQL database.
When you want to audit all databases on the same server with the same settings, you should set the database audit settings on the server only. Adjusting the setting on the each of the databases will result in a duplication of audit logs.
9. You have the following Azure infrastructure:
Subscription 1
An Azure Key Vault named keyvault1 in Central US
An Azure Key Vault named keyvault2 in UK South
An Azure Key Vault named keyvault3 in Canada Central
Subscription 2
An Azure Key Vault named keyvault4 in Central US
An Azure Key Vault named keyvault5 in Australia East
You back up a secret from keyvault1. Which key vaults can you restore the secret in?
keyvault1 only
An Azure key vault object can only be restored to a key vault in the same Azure subscription and the same geography. Azure Key Vault backup
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/key-vault/general/backup?tabs=azure-cli#design-considerations
10. You have the following Azure virtual networks deployed:
- VNET1 in East US * VNET2 in West US * VNET3 in UK South Each virtual network has a subnet named default. You deploy a storage account to the East US region named storage1. You configure the resource firewall on storage1 and allow access from all networks. You configure a service endpoint for Azure.Storage on the default subnet in VNET1.
storage1 can be accessed from which subnets?
The default subnet in all virtual networks
The firewall is configured to allow access from all networks, so all subnets will be able to access the storage account.
11. What can we configure to ensure that we are emailed when an alert occurs in Azure Monitor?
Action group : Azure Monitor sends out its alerts to action groups.
12. Which authentication mechanism enables SQL Server Management Studio to have access to Azure SQL databases using Windows domain credentials?
- Azure Active Directory - Integrated
Azure Active Directory - Integrated allows for local domain credentials to access an Azure SQL database in a hybrid identity environment. This authentication mechanism uses the credentials of the currently logged in user to access the SQL server or database.
- Azure Active Directory - Password
Azure Active Directory - Password allows for local domain credentials to access an Azure SQL database in a hybrid identity environment. This authentication mechanism requires manual input of the local AD username and password.
- Multi-factor authentication for Office 365 and Microsoft 365 Business
- Multi-factor authentication for Azure AD administrators
- Azure Multi-Factor Authentication
- Choose a strong encryption algorithm: The first step is to choose a strong encryption algorithm to protect user credentials. Common choices include bcrypt, scrypt, and Argon2. These algorithms are designed to make it difficult for attackers to crack user passwords, even if they manage to obtain the password hashes.
- Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA): MFA adds an extra layer of security to the authentication process, making it more difficult for attackers to gain access to user accounts. Common MFA methods include one-time passwords (OTP), smart cards, and biometric authentication.
- Use HTTPS: Make sure that your web application uses HTTPS to encrypt all data transmitted between the user's browser and the web server. This helps prevent attackers from intercepting and manipulating authentication requests and responses.
- Implement rate limiting: Rate limiting can help prevent brute-force attacks on user accounts by limiting the number of login attempts that can be made within a certain time period.
- Use session management techniques: To prevent session hijacking and other attacks that exploit session vulnerabilities, it is important to implement proper session management techniques, such as using secure cookies, enforcing session timeouts, and requiring reauthentication for sensitive operations.
- Store user credentials securely: User credentials should be stored securely, using techniques such as salting and hashing to protect against attacks that target password databases.
- Misconfigured security settings: This can include things like weak passwords, open ports, and insecure network configurations. To mitigate these vulnerabilities, it is important to follow cloud security best practices, such as implementing strong access controls, monitoring network traffic, and regularly reviewing and updating security settings.
- Inadequate data encryption: Data stored in the cloud may be vulnerable to attacks that exploit weak or inadequate encryption methods. To mitigate this vulnerability, it is important to use strong encryption methods to protect data both in transit and at rest.
- Insufficient identity and access management: Cloud-based systems may be vulnerable to attacks that exploit weak or compromised user credentials, or that gain unauthorized access to sensitive data or applications. To mitigate this vulnerability, it is important to implement strong identity and access management controls, including multi-factor authentication, role-based access controls, and regular audits of user activity.
- API vulnerabilities: APIs are often used to connect cloud-based systems to other applications or services, and may be vulnerable to attacks that exploit insecure coding practices or insufficient access controls. To mitigate this vulnerability, it is important to follow secure coding practices and to regularly test and audit APIs for vulnerabilities.
- Data breaches and cyberattacks: Cloud-based systems may be vulnerable to a wide range of cyberattacks, including DDoS attacks, malware infections, and phishing scams. To mitigate this vulnerability, it is important to implement strong security measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, and regular security assessments and penetration testing.
4. How would you approach an investigation into a potential security breach or incident?
Investigating a potential security breach or incident requires a careful and systematic approach to ensure that all relevant information is collected and analyzed. Here are some steps that you might take:
- Identify the scope and severity of the incident: The first step is to determine the scope and severity of the incident. This may involve gathering information about the type of incident, the systems and data that were affected, and the potential impact on the organization.
- Secure the affected systems and data: Once the scope of the incident has been determined, it is important to secure the affected systems and data to prevent further damage or data loss. This might involve shutting down affected systems, isolating them from the network, or taking other measures to contain the incident.
- Collect and preserve evidence: Next, it is important to collect and preserve any evidence related to the incident. This might include log files, system images, network traffic data, and other types of digital evidence. It is important to follow proper chain of custody procedures to ensure that the evidence is admissible in any legal proceedings.
- Analyze the evidence: After the evidence has been collected, it should be analyzed to determine the cause and extent of the incident. This might involve using specialized forensic tools and techniques to identify malware or other types of malicious activity.
- Determine the impact and notify stakeholders: Once the cause and extent of the incident has been determined, it is important to assess the impact on the organization and notify stakeholders as appropriate. This might involve notifying customers or partners whose data was affected, as well as regulatory authorities and law enforcement if required.
- Take steps to prevent future incidents: Finally, it is important to take steps to prevent future incidents from occurring. This might involve implementing additional security controls, improving security training and awareness, or revising policies and procedures to better protect against similar types of incidents in the future.
Overall, investigating a potential security breach or incident requires a thorough and methodical approach, as well as a deep understanding of the latest security threats and best practices. It is important to work closely with internal teams and external experts to ensure that all relevant information is collected and analyzed, and that appropriate steps are taken to prevent future incidents from occurring.
6. What is your experience with threat modeling? How do you approach identifying potential threats and mitigating them?
Threat modeling is a structured approach to identifying potential security threats to a system, application, or organization, and then prioritizing and addressing those threats through risk mitigation strategies. The goal of threat modeling is to proactively identify and mitigate security risks before they can be exploited by attackers.
The process of threat modeling typically involves several steps, including:
- Understanding the system: Identify the system components, their roles, and how they interact with each other.
- Identifying threats: Identify potential threats to the system, such as data breaches, unauthorized access, or denial of service attacks.
- Ranking threats: Rank the threats based on their potential impact and likelihood of occurring.
- Developing mitigations: Develop mitigation strategies to address the highest priority threats.
- Reviewing and updating: Review and update the threat model periodically to ensure it remains up-to-date and relevant.
There are several approaches to threat modeling, including the STRIDE method, which involves analyzing threats based on their impact on system components such as data, network communications, and user interactions.
In summary, threat modeling is an essential part of proactive security planning, and it involves a structured approach to identifying and mitigating potential security threats to a system, application, or organization. The process typically involves understanding the system, identifying threats, ranking threats, developing mitigations, and reviewing and updating the threat model periodically.
7. Can you explain the purpose and advantages of using multi-factor authentication (MFA)? How would you implement MFA in a system?
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security process that requires users to provide multiple forms of identification before accessing a system or application. Typically, MFA involves a combination of something the user knows (like a password), something the user has (like a security token or smartphone), or something the user is (like a fingerprint or facial recognition).
The purpose of MFA is to provide an additional layer of security beyond just a password. Passwords can be easily guessed, stolen, or compromised, but MFA makes it much more difficult for attackers to gain access to a system or application. By requiring multiple forms of identification, MFA significantly reduces the likelihood of a successful breach or attack.
The advantages of using MFA include:
1. Increased security: MFA provides an additional layer of security beyond just a password, making it much more difficult for attackers to gain access to a system or application.
2. Improved user trust: MFA can help improve user trust in a system or application by demonstrating that the organization takes security seriously.
3. Regulatory compliance: Many regulations and standards require the use of MFA to protect sensitive data.
To implement MFA in a system, you would typically follow these steps:
1. Choose the factors: Determine which factors to use for MFA, such as passwords, security tokens, or biometric data.
2. Select a vendor: Choose a vendor that provides MFA solutions that meet your organization's needs.
3. Configure the system: Configure the system or application to require MFA for access.
4. Test and train: Test the system to ensure MFA is working correctly, and train users on how to use the new security measures.
5. Monitor and update: Monitor the system for any security issues or vulnerabilities, and update MFA settings as needed to stay ahead of emerging threats.
In summary, MFA provides an additional layer of security beyond just a password and reduces the likelihood of a successful breach or attack. To implement MFA in a system, you would typically choose the factors, select a vendor, configure the system, test and train users, and monitor and update the system.
8. What is your experience with compliance frameworks such as PCI DSS or HIPAA? How would you ensure that a system is compliant with these regulations?
PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) are two examples of compliance frameworks designed to ensure the security and privacy of sensitive data. PCI DSS is focused on protecting credit card data, while HIPAA is focused on protecting health-related data.
To ensure that a system is compliant with these regulations, you would typically follow these steps:
- Understand the regulations: Learn the specific requirements and guidelines of the regulation(s) that apply to your organization.
- Conduct a risk assessment: Identify any potential risks and vulnerabilities that could impact the security and privacy of sensitive data.
- Develop a compliance plan: Develop a plan that outlines the specific steps you will take to address the requirements of the regulations and mitigate identified risks.
- Implement controls: Implement technical and procedural controls to ensure compliance with the regulations and mitigate identified risks.
- Monitor and audit: Continuously monitor and audit the system to ensure ongoing compliance with the regulations and identify any new risks or vulnerabilities.
- Maintain documentation: Document all processes, controls, and procedures to demonstrate compliance with the regulations.
It's important to note that compliance is an ongoing process, and organizations must continuously assess and adapt their security measures to address emerging threats and evolving regulations.
In summary, to ensure compliance with regulations such as PCI DSS or HIPAA, you would typically understand the regulations, conduct a risk assessment, develop a compliance plan, implement controls, monitor and audit the system, and maintain documentation. Compliance is an ongoing process that requires continuous assessment and adaptation to address emerging threats and evolving regulations.
9. How would you approach designing a secure network architecture for a large enterprise organization?
Designing a secure network architecture for a large enterprise organization is a complex task that requires careful consideration of the organization's security requirements, business needs, and technical constraints. Here are some high-level steps that you could follow to approach this task:
- Define security requirements: Work with the organization's stakeholders to define the security requirements for the network architecture. This includes identifying the types of data that need to be protected, compliance requirements, and any specific security goals or objectives.
- Assess the network topology: Analyze the organization's existing network topology to identify potential security weaknesses and areas for improvement. Consider factors such as network segmentation, access controls, and monitoring capabilities.
- Develop a security model: Based on the security requirements and network assessment, develop a security model that outlines the security controls, policies, and procedures needed to achieve the desired level of security.
- Determine the network infrastructure: Determine the network infrastructure components needed to support the security model, including firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, VPN gateways, and other security devices.
- Design network segmentation: Design network segmentation that separates sensitive data and systems from less sensitive areas of the network. This can help reduce the impact of a potential breach or attack.
- Implement access controls: Implement access controls such as authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) to ensure that only authorized users and devices can access the network.
- Implement monitoring and logging: Implement monitoring and logging capabilities to detect and respond to security incidents in real-time.
- Test and validate: Test and validate the network architecture to ensure that it meets the defined security requirements and compliance requirements.
- Document and maintain: Document the network architecture and security controls, and maintain them over time to ensure ongoing security and compliance.
It's important to note that designing a secure network architecture is an iterative process that requires continuous assessment and refinement. You may need to adjust the architecture based on changes to the organization's security requirements, business needs, or technical constraints.
In summary, designing a secure network architecture for a large enterprise organization requires careful consideration of security requirements, network topology, security controls, and technical infrastructure. You would typically define security requirements, assess the network topology, develop a security model, determine the network infrastructure, design network segmentation, implement access controls and monitoring, test and validate the network architecture, and document and maintain the security controls over time.
10. Can you describe your experience with security incident response? What steps would you take to contain and remediate a security incident?
Security incident response is the process of detecting, analyzing, and responding to security incidents to minimize the impact of the incident and prevent further damage. The goal is to restore normal operations as quickly as possible while minimizing the risk to sensitive data and systems.
Here are some steps that you might take to contain and remediate a security incident:
- Identify the incident: The first step is to identify that a security incident has occurred. This could be through an automated alert, a user report, or other means.
- Contain the incident: Once you've identified the incident, the next step is to contain it to prevent further damage. This may involve disconnecting affected systems from the network or shutting down certain services.
- Assess the impact: Assess the impact of the incident on the affected systems, data, and users. This may involve analyzing logs and other data to determine the scope of the incident and how it occurred.
- Develop a remediation plan: Develop a plan to remediate the incident, including any necessary steps to recover data and restore normal operations.
- Implement the remediation plan: Implement the plan to remediate the incident. This may involve patching systems, restoring backups, or other steps to mitigate the impact of the incident.
- Test and validate: Test and validate the remediation plan to ensure that it has been successful and that the incident has been fully contained and remediated.
- Document the incident: Document the incident, including the steps taken to contain and remediate it. This can help identify areas for improvement in your incident response process.
- Review and improve: Review your incident response process and make any necessary improvements to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
It's important to note that incident response is an ongoing process that requires continuous assessment and improvement. You may need to adjust your incident response process based on the type and frequency of incidents that occur.
In summary, security incident response involves identifying, containing, assessing, and remediating security incidents to minimize the impact and prevent further damage. You would typically identify the incident, contain it, assess the impact, develop a remediation plan, implement the plan, test and validate the remediation, document the incident, and review and improve the incident response process over time.
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