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Infrastructure Protection

Physical security.

Azure runs in geographically distributed Microsoft facilities, sharing space and utilities with other Microsoft Online Services. Each facility is designed to run 24x7x365 and employs various measures to help protect operations from power failure, physical intrusion, and network outages. These datacenters comply with industry standards (such as ISO 27001) for physical security and availability. They are managed, monitored, and administered by Microsoft operations personnel.

Monitoring and logging.

Centralized monitoring, correlation, and analysis systems manage the large amount of information generated by devices within the Azure environment, providing continuous visibility and timely alerts to the teams that manage the service. Additional monitoring, logging, and reporting capabilities provide visibility to customers.

Perimeter

  • Security staff around the clock
  • Facility setback requirements
  • Barriers
  • Fencing 

Buildings

  • Alarms
  • Security operations center
  • Seismic bracing
  • Security cameras

Computer room

  • Two-factor access control: biometric and card readers
  • Cameras
  • Days of backup power

Update management. Security update management helps protect systems from known vulnerabilities. Azure uses integrated deployment systems to manage the distribution and installation of security updates for Microsoft software. Azure uses a combination of Microsoft and third-party scanning tools to run OS, web application, and database scans of the Azure environment.

Antivirus and antimalware. Azure software components must go through a virus scan prior to deployment. Code is not moved to production without a clean and successful virus scan. In addition, Microsoft provides native antimalware on all Azure VMs. Microsoft recommends that customers run some form of antimalware or antivirus on all virtual machines (VMs). Customers can install Microsoft Antimalware for Cloud Services and Virtual Machines or another antivirus solution on VMs, and VMs can be routinely reimaged to clean out intrusions that may have gone undetected.

Penetration testing. Microsoft conducts regular penetration testing to improve Azure security controls and processes. Microsoft understands that security assessment is also an important part of our customers’ application development and deployment. Therefore, Microsoft has established a policy for customers to carry out authorized penetration testing on their own - and only their own - applications hosted in Azure.

DDoS Protection. Azure has a defense system against Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks on Azure platform services. It uses standard detection and mitigation techniques. Azure’s DDoS defense system is designed to withstand attacks generated from outside and inside the platform.