AZ‐500 Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Study Guide_16 - itnett/FTD02H-N GitHub Wiki

🚀 The One-and-Only AZ-500 Learning Guide in 24 Hours 🚀

Welcome to your ultimate AZ-500 crash course! If you're short on time and aiming to master the essentials of Azure Security Technologies, this guide is your go-to resource. You’ll find everything broken down by hours, covering key topics with hands-on tasks, quick tips, and practice scenarios. By the end of this intensive guide, you'll be confident and ready to ace the AZ-500 certification exam.

📅 Total Time: 24 Hours

🕒 Hour 1-2: Understanding Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure AD is the backbone of identity management in Azure, ensuring secure access to resources.
  • Roles & Access Control: Understand User, Global Administrator, and Service Principal roles.
  • MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication): Learn how to enforce MFA for increased security.
  • Conditional Access Policies: Configure access based on user, location, device, and risk.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Create a new Azure AD tenant and set up a new user with the Global Administrator role.
  2. Enable MFA for a user and set up a Conditional Access Policy to require MFA based on sign-in risk.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • MFA Everywhere: Enable MFA for all admin accounts as best practice.
  • Conditional Access: Use location-based policies to enforce security for sign-ins from unknown locations.

🕒 Hour 3-4: Securing Azure Resources with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • RBAC controls who can manage specific Azure resources and what actions they can perform.
  • Built-in vs. Custom Roles: Understand how to use Owner, Contributor, and Reader roles.
  • Scope of Role Assignment: Roles can be applied at subscription, resource group, or resource level.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Assign RBAC roles to users at different scopes.
  2. Create a custom role that limits access to certain resources (e.g., storage read-only).

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Always assign least privilege roles.
  • Use Azure AD groups to manage multiple users with the same role.

🕒 Hour 5-6: Advanced Security with Azure Key Vault 🔐

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure Key Vault stores secrets, encryption keys, and certificates securely.
  • Managed Identities: Eliminate the need to store credentials by using Azure-managed identities.
  • Soft Delete & Purge Protection: Enable these features to recover deleted items.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Create an Azure Key Vault and store a secret (e.g., a database connection string).
  2. Enable Soft Delete and Purge Protection to safeguard against accidental deletion.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Use Managed Identities to securely access Key Vault from Azure services without exposing credentials.
  • Always enable Purge Protection for critical secrets and keys.

🕒 Hour 7-8: Network Security with NSGs, Firewalls & DDoS Protection 🌐

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Network Security Groups (NSGs): Control inbound and outbound traffic at the VM or subnet level.
  • Azure Firewall: A managed firewall that provides centralized network security.
  • DDoS Protection: Use DDoS Standard Protection to mitigate attacks on public-facing Azure services.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Configure an NSG to block inbound RDP traffic and allow SSH traffic only from trusted IPs.
  2. Set up Azure DDoS Protection Standard for an Azure web application.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Inbound & Outbound Rules: Always restrict traffic to trusted sources using NSGs.
  • Enable DDoS Standard Protection for any public-facing applications to mitigate large-scale attacks.

🕒 Hour 9-10: Protecting VMs with Azure Disk Encryption and Just-in-Time (JIT) Access 🖥️

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure Disk Encryption: Encrypts data at rest using BitLocker (Windows) or DM-Crypt (Linux).
  • JIT VM Access: Minimize the attack surface by granting access to VMs only for limited time windows.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Enable Azure Disk Encryption on a Windows VM.
  2. Configure JIT VM Access for an Ubuntu VM, allowing SSH access only for 1 hour from a specific IP.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Encrypt Everything: Always enable disk encryption to protect data at rest.
  • Use JIT Access to control access windows and reduce VM exposure to attacks.

🕒 Hour 11-12: Azure Security Center & Defender for Cloud 🛡️

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure Security Center: Provides a unified view of your security posture and offers recommendations to harden resources.
  • Azure Defender: Adds advanced protection for workloads, including VMs, storage, and SQL databases.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Enable Azure Defender in Security Center and review Secure Score recommendations.
  2. Remediate security recommendations (e.g., enable JIT access, apply disk encryption).

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Monitor your Secure Score and act on Security Center's recommendations.
  • Enable Azure Defender for enhanced protection of key workloads.

🕒 Hour 13-14: Monitoring & Logging with Azure Monitor & Log Analytics 📊

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure Monitor: Provides full-stack monitoring across Azure resources.
  • Log Analytics: Use Kusto Query Language (KQL) to query logs and detect anomalies.
  • Alerts: Set up alerts to notify you of important security events, such as failed sign-ins.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Set up an Azure Monitor Alert for high CPU usage on a VM.
  2. Write a Log Analytics query to detect failed sign-in attempts from unusual locations.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • KQL is key! Practice writing queries to detect security anomalies.
  • Set alerts for any critical resources, such as VMs or SQL databases.

🕒 Hour 15-16: Automating Security with Azure Automation & Logic Apps 🤖

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure Automation: Automate routine tasks, such as VM patching, using Runbooks.
  • Logic Apps: Integrate Azure services and automate workflows (e.g., alerting based on Security Center events).

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Create a PowerShell Runbook to automatically update and patch VMs.
  2. Use Logic Apps to create a workflow that sends an email when an alert is triggered in Security Center.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Automate as much as possible to reduce manual intervention and improve security.
  • Logic Apps are excellent for automating responses to security incidents (e.g., sending alerts to security admins).

🕒 Hour 17-18: Azure Sentinel for Threat Detection & Incident Response 🔍

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure Sentinel: A cloud-native SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) that collects and analyzes security data.
  • Playbooks: Automate responses to security incidents using Azure Logic Apps.
  • Threat Hunting: Use Kusto Query Language (KQL) to proactively search for threats.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Connect Azure Sentinel to data sources like Azure AD and Security Center.
  2. Create a Playbook that triggers an alert and blocks a suspicious IP address after multiple failed sign-ins.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Sentinel is great for centralized security monitoring and automation.
  • Use workbooks for real-time threat visualization and monitoring.

🕒 Hour 19-20: Data and Application Security in Azure 📦

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure Storage Security: Use encryption, shared access signatures (SAS), and Azure AD Authentication to secure storage.
  • Azure SQL Security: Enforce encryption (TDE), firewall rules, and vulnerability assessments for SQL databases.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Create a Shared Access Signature (SAS) for a storage account, limiting access to a specific IP.
  2. Enable Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for an Azure SQL Database and run a vulnerability assessment.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Always apply SAS tokens with limited permissions and expiration times for secure access to storage.
  • Enable TDE for all SQL databases to protect data at rest.

🕒 Hour 21-22: Governance with Azure Policy & Blueprints 📜

🔑 Key Concepts:

  • Azure Policy: Enforce compliance by creating policies that audit or block non-compliant resources.
  • Azure Blueprints: Use blueprints to deploy policies, role assignments, and ARM templates across multiple subscriptions.

⚙️ Hands-On Task:

  1. Create an Azure Policy to deny the creation of public-facing VMs.
  2. Use Azure Blueprints to enforce consistent governance across multiple subscriptions, including policies and

role assignments.

📘 Quick Tips:

  • Apply Deny policies for critical resources to prevent non-compliant configurations.
  • Azure Blueprints are powerful for deploying policies at scale across environments.

🕒 Hour 23-24: Final Review and Exam Tips 🧠

🚀 Final Steps Before the Exam:

  • Review Secure Score: Make sure you know how to remediate issues in Azure Security Center.
  • Practice with RBAC and Policies: Ensure you’re comfortable with role assignments and creating custom roles.
  • Log Analytics Queries: Get comfortable with KQL to query logs for common security events.

🎯 Key Exam Tips:

  • Scenario-Based Questions: Many questions will present a scenario—focus on best practices and choose the most secure option.
  • Use Least Privilege: Whenever asked about access control, apply the least privilege principle.
  • Time Management: Manage your time wisely during the exam—don’t spend too long on a single question.

🏆 You're Ready! Good Luck!

By following this 24-hour study guide, you’ll have covered the most important topics for the AZ-500 exam. Focus on the hands-on tasks and make sure to implement best practices to solidify your learning.

Good luck! You've got this! 🎉