lacework-global-622
Set Microsoft Defender for SQL to 'On' for critical SQL Servers (Automated)
Profile Applicability
• Level 2
Description
Enable "Microsoft Defender for SQL" on critical SQL Servers.
Rationale
Microsoft Defender for SQL is a unified package for advanced SQL security capabilities. Microsoft Defender is available for Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and Azure Synapse Analytics. It includes functionality for discovering and classifying sensitive data, surfacing and mitigating potential database vulnerabilities, and detecting anomalous activities that could indicate a threat to your database. It provides a single go-to location for enabling and managing these capabilities.
Impact
Microsoft Defender for SQL is a paid feature and will incur additional cost for each SQL server.
Audit
From Azure Portal
- Go to
SQL servers
- For each "critical" server instance (e.g. production SQL servers)
- Click on the
Security Center
blade - Click configure, next to
Microsoft Defender for SQL:
- Ensure that
Microsoft defender for SQL
is toggled toOn
From Azure CLI
Get the list of all SQL Servers
Get-AzSqlServer
For each Server
Get-AzSqlServerAdvancedThreatProtectionSetting -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name>
Ensure that ThreatDetectionState
is set to Enabled
.
Remediation
From Azure Portal
- Go to SQL servers.
- For each "critical" server instance (for example, production SQL servers).
- Click the Microsoft Defender for Cloud blade.
- Click "Enable Microsoft Defender for SQL".
From Azure Powershell
Enable Advanced Data Security for a SQL Server:
Set-AzSqlServerThreatDetectionPolicy -ResourceGroupName <resource group name> -ServerName <server name> -EmailAdmins $True
Note:
- Enabling 'Microsoft Defender for SQL' from the Azure portal enables Threat Detection
- Using Powershell command Set-AzSqlServerThreatDetectionPolicy enables Microsoft Defender for SQL for a SQL server
References
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/azure-defender-for-sql?view=azuresql
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/azurerm.sql/get-azurermsqlserverthreatdetectionpolicy?view=azurermps-6.13.0&viewFallbackFrom=azurermps-5.2.0
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security/benchmark/azure/security-controls-v3-data-protection#dp-2-monitor-anomalies-and-threats-targeting-sensitive-data
Additional Information
- You can only enable the feature 'Microsoft Defender for SQL' on SQL server and the same settings are inherently applied to the SQL databases hosted on the SQL server.