As organisations seek to adapt their operations for hybrid and multi-cloud environments, the number of security alerts far outnumber the number of admins working to make sure environments are protected.

Having end-to-end visibility and staying current with the increasingly sophisticated tactics of threat actors is a constant challenge. Fortunately, Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Azure Arc work together to provide a comprehensive solution for Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM).

Recently, we hosted a webinar titled, “Know Your Cloud Security Posture: Get Help Enabling Free Azure Arc and CSPM,” featuring David Craft (Microsoft Alliance Manager at Atech), Nicole Gujer, Zlatko Apelic, and Emily Kassell from Microsoft.

In it, we discussed the benefits of Microsoft Defender for Cloud’s CSPM; including the free foundational CSPM capabilities and the paid plan’s advanced features. We also explored the value of integrating with Azure Arc to secure hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
You can watch a replay of the full webinar here, or read on to see our four key takeaways from the event.

1. The Urgent Need to Enhance Cloud Security Posture Management

Nicole Gujer (Microsoft Security, Compliance & Identity Specialist) kicked off the presentation with some compelling statistics about the challenges of cloud security across the entire development lifecycle.

According to Microsoft findings, an alarming 65% of repositories currently contain source code vulnerabilities — highlighting a severe lack of visibility into security and compliance in the industry as a whole. Meanwhile, 84% of attack paths result from internet exposure, with nearly half of those paths potentially leading to further data exposure risk.

Given that 98% of organisations using public cloud are now adopting multi-cloud strategies, the need for comprehensive security solutions is more urgent than ever. Security professionals across the board — from Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), to Security Administrators, and DevSecOps Engineers –– are now seeking an unified CSPM platform to streamline operations.

Enter Microsoft Defender for Cloud — the ultimate multi-cloud security solution. It offers native CSPM capabilities across on-premises, Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud environments. It provides advanced threat protection and a single pane of glass view of the entire digital estate, monitoring workload-specific threat signals and alerts while harnessing Microsoft’s vast network of 24 trillion daily threat signals.

2. CSPM Features and Benefits of Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Next, Emiliy Kassell (Security, Identity & Compliance Specialist at Microsoft) outlined key features and benefits of Microsoft Defender for Cloud’s foundational and paid CSPM plans. These include:

Microsoft Defender for Cloud CSPM (Free)

• Asset Inventory and Secure Score Analysis: Frictionless onboarding, +450 built-in assessments, custom capabilities and policy management.
• Advanced Remediation: Quick-fix remediation, automated remediation using LogicApps and enforcement policies.
• Data Export and Out-of-the-Box Reporting: Built-in Azure Workbooks, at-scale data streaming and export, integration with SIEM/SOAR solutions.
• Integrated Workflows and Automation: Out-of-the-box and custom automations triggered by security events.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud CSPM (Advanced Plan)

• Agentless Vulnerability Scanning: Visibility on software and CVEs, disc snapshots, insecure secrets and keys, container image vulnerabilities, and discovery of Kubernetes.
• Integrated Data and Insights: Defender for DevOps, Defender External Attack Surface Management and Entra Permissions Management.
• Contextual Cloud Security and Risk Prioritisation: Attack path analysis, intelligent cloud security graph, custom path queries on cloud security explorer, risk-based prioritisation.
• Regulatory Compliance and Industry Benchmarks: Over 50 standards, Multi-cloud Microsoft Security Benchmark, compliance dashboard and reporting, integration with Microsoft Purview compliance manager.
• Governance Management: Assign owners automatically, drive accountability in the organisation, reduce time to remediate.
• Data-aware Security Posture: Multi-cloud data estate discovery, identify data flows and resources containing sensitive and shadow data, uncover potential sensitive data exposure and data breaches.

The paid CSPM plan is priced at $5 per resource (VM, database, storage account) per month across the customer’s Azure subscription, and there is a free 30-day trial period available, allowing you to evaluate its effectiveness against your current solutions.

3. Live demo: Integrating Azure Arc and Core Defender for Cloud Features

Zlatko Apelic (Senior Cybersecurity Technical Specialist at Microsoft) demonstrated the process of onboarding on-premises and multi-cloud servers to Azure Arc. This platform extends Azure’s management and security capabilities across your entire digital estate.

He then highlighted the free capabilities it provides, such as basic server management, security and recommendations, and some of its advanced features, including guest configuration and detailed server inventory/change tracking.

Additionally, Zlatko also demonstrated the advanced security capabilities in the paid Defender for Cloud CSPM plan, including attack path analysis, risk prioritisation, and detailed vulnerability findings.

4. As Trusted Microsoft Partners, Atech Help you Tackle Evolving Cloud Threats

Finally, David Craft and Elaine Riley (Microsoft Go to Market Lead at Atech) discussed how Atech’s partnership with Microsoft enables customers to easily leverage Defender for Clouds’ free foundational CSPM features under our comprehensive Guardian Business security solution.

We also offer a number of Microsoft-funded engagements, including:

• Microsoft Threat Protection Engagement: Takes a deep dive into endpoint and cloud app protection.
• Microsoft Data Security Engagement: Identifies data security risks in your digital environments.
• Microsoft Sentinel Engagement: Demonstrating the solution’s full capabilities in identifying active threats.

Each of these Atech-led workshops are tailored to your specific needs and offer a comprehensive list of recommendations and next-steps to help you in your security journey. The landscape of cybersecurity threats is complex, but having the right tools and insights make it more manageable.

At the end of the webinar, David provided some useful links for viewers who would like to learn more about deploying Azure Arc and CSPM best practices. These included:

• Explore Azure ARC: Dive deeper into Azure ARC’s capabilities and see how it can unify your on-premises, multi-cloud, and edge environments.
• Enhance Your Security: Strengthen your cloud security posture with CSPM. Discover best practices and tools to protect your resources.

We would like to thank our speakers and viewers for taking part in this webinar, and invite you to contact us to schedule a Atech-led Microsoft Engagement, and tell us how we can support your evolving cloud security needs.