Implementing Azure Defender for Cloud

When to Use

• When enabling comprehensive security monitoring across Azure subscriptions
• When implementing cloud workload protection for VMs, containers, SQL, storage, and Key Vault
• When compliance requirements demand continuous assessment against regulatory frameworks
• When building adaptive security controls that respond to detected threats
• When centralizing security findings from Azure-native and hybrid workloads

Do not use for non-Azure workload protection exclusively (use AWS Security Hub or GCP SCC), for application-level security testing (use Azure DevOps DAST/SAST), or for identity-specific protection (use Microsoft Defender for Identity).

Prerequisites

• Azure subscription with Contributor or Security Admin role
• Azure Policy enabled for compliance assessment
• Log Analytics workspace for diagnostic data collection
• Azure Arc connected machines for hybrid server protection
• Pricing tier set to Standard for Defender plans (free tier provides CSPM only)

Workflow

Step 1: Enable Defender for Cloud Plans

Enable the appropriate Defender plans for each workload type requiring protection.

# Enable Defender for Cloud CSPM (foundational posture management)
az security pricing create --name CloudPosture --tier standard

# Enable Defender for Servers
az security pricing create --name VirtualMachines --tier standard \
  --subplan P2

# Enable Defender for Containers
az security pricing create --name Containers --tier standard

# Enable Defender for Storage
az security pricing create --name StorageAccounts --tier standard \
  --subplan PerStorageAccount

# Enable Defender for SQL
az security pricing create --name SqlServers --tier standard

# Enable Defender for Key Vault
az security pricing create --name KeyVaults --tier standard

# Enable Defender for App Service
az security pricing create --name AppServices --tier standard

# Verify all enabled plans
az security pricing list \
  --query "[].{Plan:name, Tier:pricingTier, SubPlan:subPlan}" -o table

Step 2: Configure Auto-Provisioning of Security Agents

Enable automatic deployment of monitoring agents to VMs and containers.

# Enable auto-provisioning of Log Analytics agent
az security auto-provisioning-setting update \
  --name default --auto-provision on

# Configure Log Analytics workspace for data collection
az security workspace-setting create \
  --name default \
  --target-workspace "/subscriptions/SUB_ID/resourceGroups/RG/providers/Microsoft.OperationalInsights/workspaces/SecurityWorkspace"

# Enable Defender for Containers auto-provisioning components
az security setting update \
  --name Sentinel \
  --setting-kind DataExportSettings

# Verify auto-provisioning status
az security auto-provisioning-setting list -o table

Step 3: Review and Prioritize Security Recommendations

Retrieve security recommendations and prioritize remediation based on secure score impact.

# Get the current secure score
az security secure-score list \
  --query "[].{Name:displayName, Current:current, Max:max, Percentage:percentage}" -o table

# List all active security recommendations
az security assessment list \
  --query "[?status.code=='Unhealthy'].{Name:displayName, Severity:metadata.severity, Category:metadata.category, ResourceCount:status.cause}" \
  -o table

# Get recommendations sorted by severity
az security assessment list \
  --query "[?status.code=='Unhealthy'] | sort_by(@, &metadata.severity)" \
  -o table

# Get detailed recommendation with remediation steps
az security assessment show \
  --name ASSESSMENT_ID \
  --query "{Name:displayName, Description:metadata.description, Severity:metadata.severity, Remediation:metadata.remediationDescription}"

# List recommendations by control
az security secure-score-controls list \
  --query "[].{Control:displayName, CurrentScore:current, MaxScore:max, NotHealthy:notHealthyResourceCount}" \
  -o table

Step 4: Configure Regulatory Compliance Dashboard

Enable compliance standards and monitor adherence across subscriptions.

# List available regulatory compliance standards
az security regulatory-compliance-standards list \
  --query "[].{Standard:name, State:state}" -o table

# Enable specific compliance standards
az security regulatory-compliance-standards update \
  --name "CIS-Azure-2.0" --state "Enabled"

az security regulatory-compliance-standards update \

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