Virtual WAN Security

Azure Virtual WAN provides a comprehensive suite of security features to protect your virtual network infrastructure. This document outlines the key security capabilities and how to implement them to ensure a secure and resilient network.

Key Security Features

Virtual WAN integrates with various Azure security services to offer layered protection:

  • Azure Firewall: A cloud-native, stateful firewall as a service that protects your Virtual WAN hubs and connected networks.
  • Network Security Groups (NSGs): Provide network traffic filtering at the subnet or network interface level.
  • Azure DDoS Protection: Protects your Azure resources from distributed denial-of-service attacks.
  • Azure Security Center: Offers unified security management and advanced threat protection.
  • Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems (IDS/IPS): Can be deployed in Virtual WAN hubs for advanced threat detection.

Securing Virtual WAN Hubs

Virtual WAN hubs are central points of connectivity. Securing them is paramount. You can deploy Azure Firewall directly into your Virtual WAN hub for centralized network traffic inspection and threat intelligence.

Deploying Azure Firewall in a Hub

Follow these steps to deploy Azure Firewall into your Virtual WAN hub:

  1. Navigate to your Virtual WAN resource in the Azure portal.
  2. Select the hub you wish to secure.
  3. Under "Hub services", choose "Azure Firewall".
  4. Click "Deploy" and configure the firewall settings, including policies and rules.
Note: Ensure your firewall rules are meticulously configured to allow only necessary traffic and deny all else.

Network Security Group (NSG) Integration

While Azure Firewall provides hub-level protection, NSGs offer more granular control at the resource level. You can associate NSGs with subnets within your Virtual WAN connected networks to filter inbound and outbound traffic based on IP address, port, and protocol.

Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Protection

Azure DDoS Protection, integrated with Virtual WAN, helps defend your network against volumetric, protocol, and application layer DDoS attacks. It provides tunings and mitigation policies tailored to your Virtual WAN environment.

Advanced Threat Protection

For enhanced security, consider integrating third-party Network Virtual Appliances (NVAs) or leveraging Azure Firewall's advanced features such as Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDPS) and web filtering. These can be deployed within your Virtual WAN hub or connected networks.

Configuring IDPS

To enable IDPS on Azure Firewall within your Virtual WAN hub:

  • Access your Azure Firewall policy.
  • Navigate to the "IDPS" section.
  • Enable IDPS and configure signature rulesets and threat intelligence feeds.

Best Practices for Virtual WAN Security

  • Least Privilege: Apply the principle of least privilege to all security rules and policies.
  • Centralized Management: Utilize Azure Firewall for centralized security management and policy enforcement.
  • Regular Audits: Conduct regular security audits of your Virtual WAN configuration and firewall rules.
  • Monitoring and Alerting: Implement robust monitoring and alerting for security events using Azure Monitor and Sentinel.
  • Stay Updated: Keep up-to-date with the latest Azure security features and best practices.
Important: Misconfigured security rules can lead to connectivity issues or security breaches. Always test changes in a non-production environment before applying them to production.