What is CSPM in Azure?
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) in Azure refers to the set of practices and tools used to continuously monitor, assess, and improve the security posture of Azure resources.
Companies use cloud security posture management (CSPM) to proactively manage security risks across cloud environments and resources. It helps them identify misconfigurations, enforce compliance, and maintain visibility.
All major cloud providers have adopted a CSPM solution to help organizations handle their part of the shared responsibility model. In Azure, CSPM is a critical component in making sure your infrastructure is secure, compliant, and resilient to cybersecurity threats.
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Core functions of CSPM
Azure CSPM solutions are designed to continuously—and simultaneously—monitor your security stance and enforce policies. To do this, certain features are a must:
Visibility into cloud resources: A single-pane-of-glass view of all your virtual machines, databases, storage accounts, and network configurations, essential for tracking safety-compromising developments
Threat detection: Identify any suspicious activities/behaviors that put you at risk of a breach via built-in threat intelligence and anomaly detection; e.g., Azure Defender for Cloud’s machine learning (ML) and telemetry data for generating alerts
Compliance monitoring: Resource verification against CIS, NIST, and ISO standards, as well as company guidelines; e.g., Azure's compliance policies and score systems for tracking and fine-tuning compliance
Remediation of misconfigurations: Discovery of misconfigured settings, crucial for fixing these errors, including via automation tools like Logic Apps to do so
Benefits of implementing CSPM in Azure
Using CSPM in Azure delivers multiple benefits:
Reduce risk: Slash threats and boost security via continuous monitoring and automated notifications that detect and patch security gaps before malicious actors exploit them.
Improve compliance: Enjoy regulatory-compliant templates and see security gaps in real-time for easier compliance management.
Ensure best practices: Standardize your security policies and minimize team/deployment variances by following the Azure Security Benchmark and Microsoft's best practices.
Simplify audit readiness: Retain audit trails and generate reports to show internal and external stakeholders that you're following the rules.
Azure Security Best Practices [Cheat Sheet]
Explore detailed aspects of Azure best practices, from role-based access control (RBAC) to cloud security posture management, that you can adapt to secure your Azure subscriptions.
Common misconfigurations in Azure environments
One of the most common reasons for data breaches and service outages in Azure is the misconfiguration of security settings. Companies often put their environments at risk by not following best practices or misusing security features.
Let’s explore the most common misconfiguration errors, why they pose a threat, and what you can do to avoid them.
Unrestricted Network Security Groups (NSGs)
Network security groups (NSGs) in Azure control inbound and outbound traffic to resources like virtual machines (VMs), subnets, and NICs.
Common mistakes:
Allowing inbound and outbound traffic from “0.0.0.0/0” for RDP (3389) or SSH (22)
Not following the principle of least privilege (PoLP) to allow access only to those ports needed for a given task
Why it’s risky:
Exposes resources to brute force attacks or unauthorized access
Granting access to a wider range of ports opens the door to cybersecurity incidents
Best practices:
Restrict access to trusted IP addresses (e.g., Office, VPN IPs).
Use Azure Bastion or just-in-time (JIT) access instead of allowing ports to be opened without any approval process.
Regularly audit NSG rules and apply PoLP.
Misconfigured identity and access management (IAM)
Azure IAM, now powered by Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), governs access to resources and controls what actions identities can perform. It does this using role-based access controls (RBAC), Service Principals (SPNs), and managed identities.
Common mistakes:
Assigning roles like “Contributor” or “Owner” to a user, SPNs, or managed identities when not actually needed
Granting wide-scope access to the subscription level or tenant
Why it's risky:
Violates PoLP
Increases the blast radius if credentials are compromised
Best practices:
Assign the lowest scope of permissions necessary for a role (resource > resource group > subscription).
Create custom roles when built-in roles grant excessive permissions.
Use Privileged Identity Management (PIM) to access sensitive and production environments.
Periodically review access assignments via access reviews or PIM.
Publicly exposed storage accounts or databases
Azure Storage (Blob, File, Queue, Table) and databases like Azure SQL and Cosmos DB hold sensitive business and customer data.
Common mistakes:
Exposing storage endpoints publicly without access restrictions
Leaving shared access signatures (SAS) or access keys unrotated and uncontrolled
Using databases with public IPs and no firewall rules or authentication restrictions
Why it's risky:
Lets hackers directly access or exfiltrate data
Leads to breaches due to misconfigured storage or exposed database credentials
Best practices:
Enable private endpoints or service endpoints for secure internal access.
Use Azure RBAC or Azure AD-based access instead of shared keys.
Regularly rotate keys and monitor for exposure of SAS tokens or credentials.
Configure storage account firewall rules and restrict public access based on explicit need.
Unencrypted resources
Encryption safeguards your data both at rest and in transit. Azure provides built-in encryption (e.g., for Storage, SQL, and VMs) and allows customers to manage their own keys (CMKs) via Azure Key Vault.
Common mistakes:
Not enabling encryption where it's optional (e.g., app config, backups)
Not using CMK when required by compliance policies
Why it's risky:
Exposes readable data to unauthorized parties in the event of a breach
Results in potential non-compliance (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) when breaches/leaks occur
Best practices:
Ensure all storage, databases, and backup services have encryption enabled.
Use CMK and HSM-backed keys for sensitive workloads.
Enable end-to-end encryption, including TLS for data in transit.
Inadequate Key Vault policies
You can safely store secrets, certificates, and encryption keys in Azure Key Vault.
Common mistakes:
Misusing access policies or RBAC, granting overly broad access
Not enabling firewalls, soft delete, or purge protection
Why it's risky:
Leaves secrets open to access or deletion by unauthorized users or attackers
Risks permanent loss or compromise of encryption certificates due to a lack of safeguards
Best practices:
Use least-privilege access and avoid granting full permissions to apps or users.
Enable diagnostic logging via Azure Monitor to track Key Vault access, and route logs to Log Analytics or Sentinel for auditing and threat detection.
Always configure soft delete and purge protection.
Limit access via Virtual Network rules and private endpoints when possible.
For a better leg up on boosting your security in Azure, make sure to check out our best practices post. Understanding and overcoming Azure security risks will solidify your security posture across your cloud ecosystem.
But what about tools? You have numerous Azure-native solutions at your fingertips.
Azure-native CSPM security tools
Azure works with a slew of security standards companies must adhere to, including GDPR, FedRAMP, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, FIPS 140-2, and NIST 800-171.
Still, compliance doesn't guarantee safety from all potential threats. The cloud's shared responsibility model only adds to the levels of administration and monitoring required. This is where cloud security posture management (CSPM) really comes in handy.
By adopting a combination of Azure security tooling, organizations can achieve a comprehensive CSPM ecosystem to manage their security posture, enforce best practices, and respond to security incidents.
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is Microsoft’s cloud-native security platform that combines CSPM capabilities with workload protection for services like VMs, containers, databases, and storage. While it offers strong native integrations within Azure, it doesn't provide full-stack visibility or risk context across all layers—especially in multi-cloud environments.
Key features:
Measures your environment’s security posture and provides prioritized recommendations via Secure Score
Includes Defender plans for Azure VMs, containers, SQL databases, storage, Key Vault, and more for comprehensive workload protection
Provides multicloud & hybrid support, e.g., ability to monitor AWS, GCP, and on-premises environments
Scans your Kubernetes ecosystem and containers in Azure Container Registry for improper configurations and vulnerabilities in container images
Use cases:
Manages security posture management via Secure Score
Offers threat protection via workload-specific defenders
Provides security recommendations for misconfigurations, exposed services, or missing controls
Azure Policy
Azure Policy is a solution for managing your organization's resources that lets you set, assign, and enforce rules (policies) to ensure compliance with your organization's standards.
Key features:
Offers policy definitions, configurations for checking compliance of target resources, e.g., “Disallow public IPs on VMs” or “Enforce tag rules”
Features “initiatives” that allow you to group multiple policies into a single assignment (e.g., for PCI-DSS compliance)
Lets you choose if a policy only logs violations (Audit) or actively blocks non-compliant deployments (Deny)
Remediates any deviations from the desired setting to ensure compliance
Use cases:
Enforces encryption on storage accounts
Denies creation of VMs in unapproved regions
Audits if NSGs allow 0.0.0.0/0 on certain ports
Restricts the creation of unapproved Azure services via custom Azure Policies
Azure Advisor
Azure Advisor primarily offers cost, performance, and reliability recommendations, but also highlights select security best practices—especially when used with Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Key features:
Allows you to view your entire security posture, indicating security best practices and possible improvements
Gives ways to improve resource performance, e.g., creating an additional node pool to segregate critical and system pods when an AKS cluster runs with a single node pool
Analyzes resource usage patterns and identifies ways to lower resource costs
Suggests how to enhance your process, workflow, and resource management
Ensures that your business-critical apps continue to function smoothly and improve
Use cases:
Works in tandem with Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Suggests fixes for publicly accessible VMs, unassociated NSGs, or unsecured resources.
Is part of the Well-Architected Framework guidance
Azure Security Benchmark (ASB)
The Azure Security Benchmark is Microsoft’s set of best practice security guidelines, aligned with standards like CIS, NIST, and PCI-DSS.
Key features:
Integrates into Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Can be categorized under security domains (e.g., network security, IAM, logging)
Maps each recommendation to industry standards and regulatory requirements
Use cases:
Provides a baseline for securing Azure environments
Helps organizations align with compliance standards without reinventing the wheel
Generates recommendations that are actionable and prioritized by Secure Score
Microsoft Sentinel
This cloud-native solution delivers both security information and event management (SIEM) and security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) capabilities.
Key features:
Collects data from Azure, on-premises, and multi-cloud sources
Uses KQL-based analytics rules to detect threats
Boasts built-in threat intelligence and UEBA (user behavior analytics)
Supports investigation, hunting, and automated response
Use cases:
Detects advanced threats based on logs and signals
Integrates with Defender for Cloud, Azure Policy, and Azure Monitor
Enables proactive hunting and alert correlation across your environment
Azure Functions and Azure Logic Apps
Both of these are serverless tools used for automation and orchestration.
Azure Functions allows you to automate and trigger based on requirements, while Azure Logic Apps provides an interface to design visual workflows, which can connect with other Azure services and external connectors.
Both are serverless, meaning no need for complex infrastructure. They are also both event-based services.
Use cases of Azure Functions:
Enables lightweight code snippets triggered by events (e.g., a security alert)
Can restrict public access in a VM with suspicious activity
Use cases of Azure Logic Apps:
Can serve as a playbook for Sentinel, e.g., sends an alert to Teams and triggers remediation when a storage account is made public
Reduces manual effort and improves response time
Choosing a 3rd-party CSPM tool for Azure: Key evaluation criteria
Despite Azure’s suite of built-in tools, many companies also look to third-party solutions to beef up their capabilities. Which CSPM solution is best for you will depend on the scale of your business, the regulations you’re mandated to follow, how complicated your environment is, and your overall multi-cloud strategy.
What factors should you consider when selecting a CSPM tool for Azure? There are a few.
Azure-native integration
A CSPM solution should have deep integration with Azure services such as Resource Manager, Policy, and Monitor, as well as Microsoft Defender for Cloud. This will ensure accurate resource discovery and policy enforcement.
What to look for:
Azure AD integration (for RBAC)
Secure Score visibility and enrichment
Native support for Azure services (VMs, AKS, Storage, Key Vault, etc.)
Real-time visibility & inventory
For posture management, you need complete visibility in real time on all of your Azure resources—across subscriptions, regions, and tenants.
What to look for:
Asset inventory with tagging, filtering, and metadata
Real-time resource discovery and relationship mapping
Visualization of misconfigured or at-risk services
Compliance monitoring & reporting
Regulatory compliance is mandatory in many industries, with the relevant rules (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS) designed to handle sensitive information like health records and financial data.
What to look for:
Built-in compliance frameworks (CIS, NIST, ISO, SOC 2)
Custom policy support (Azure Policy)
Continuous compliance scoring and reporting
Audit-ready evidence generation (e.g., activity and diagnostic logs)
Automation & remediation
Manual configurations take massive effort—and it’s easy to make mistakes. Automation speeds up the process while reducing the likelihood of human error.
What to look for:
Integration with Azure Logic Apps, Functions, or Microsoft Sentinel Playbooks
Automated remediation for known issues (e.g., remove public access)
Approval workflows for critical actions
Threat detection & risk prioritization
Some misconfigurations are more dangerous than others. Your CSPM tool for Azure should set priorities based on the severity of the threat and the chances of it happening.
What to look for:
Integration with Microsoft Defender for Cloud or Sentinel
Risk scoring and classification based on contextual insights – such as identity exposure, internet accessibility, vulnerable workloads, and toxic combinations
Support for MITRE ATT&CK framework
Multi-cloud & hybrid support
Numerous businesses function in hybrid (Azure + on-premises) or multi-cloud (Azure + AWS/GCP) settings.
What to look for:
Unified dashboards and reporting across clouds
Correlation of misconfigurations across environments
Do I really need an external tool for Azure CSPM?
In short, if you want to use Azure and require a native, integrated solution, start with Microsoft Defender for Cloud (which offers both free and commercial options) and Azure Policy for governance.
But if you’re using more than one cloud service or looking for more in-depth analytics and automation, consider adding a third-party CSPM platform like Wiz.
How Wiz helps you protect your Azure environment
Wiz is an end-to-end agentless cloud security platform that delivers full-stack visibility, real-time threat detection and compliance monitoring, and context-rich risk prioritization.
What you can expect with Wiz:
Agentless, full-stack scanning: Wiz connects to your Azure environment with a read-only API to scan your entire stack—compute, storage, identity, networking, and secrets—without using any agents.
Integration with Azure services: Wiz integrates seamlessly with Azure services like Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Sentinel, and Logic Apps. It also supports Azure DevOps and CI/CD workflows, helping teams shift security left by catching misconfigurations, exposed secrets, and policy violations before code reaches production.
Risk prioritization and remediation: Wiz uses ML to find and rank threats, meaning security teams can focus on the most critical. You also get actionable recommendations to resolve any issues found.
By integrating Azure with Wiz, companies gain a robust, agentless solution for protecting your entire Azure environment.
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