Securing Virtual Machines in Cloud

Virtual Machine Security

1. Azure Defender for Servers: Provides advanced threat protection for Azure VMs and on-premises servers, includes vulnerability assessment, adaptive application controls, and just-in-time VM access.
2. Network Security Groups (NSGs): Control inbound and outbound traffic to VMs using rules based on source and destination IP addresses, ports, and protocols.
3. Azure Firewall: Managed cloud-based network security service that protects Azure Virtual Network resources.
4. DDoS Protection: Protects against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
5. Azure Bastion: Provides secure and seamless RDP and SSH connectivity to VMs directly through the Azure portal without exposing VMs to the public internet.
6. Azure Key Vault: Manages and securely stores secrets, keys, and certificates used by VMs.
7. Disk Encryption: Azure Disk Encryption uses BitLocker for Windows VMs and DM-Crypt for Linux VMs to encrypt the OS and data disks.
8. Azure Policy: Can be used to enforce VM-specific policies, such as ensuring disk encryption and network security group configurations.
9. Just-in-Time (JIT) VM Access: Reduces exposure to attacks by enabling access to VMs only when needed and only for the time necessary.
10. Endpoint Protection: Integrates with antimalware solutions to protect VMs from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Ex. Microsft Anitwalre Solution.
11. Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Integration: Enables secure identity and access management for VMs using RBAC.
12. Network Virtual Appliances (NVAs): Third-party security solutions deployed in Azure, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), and intrusion prevention systems (IPS).
13. Azure Private Link: Provides private connectivity from a virtual network to Azure services, ensuring traffic remains within the Microsoft network.
14. Microsoft Defender for Cloud: Provides recommendations to improve the security posture of a virtual machine.