Azure SQL Database Security
Azure SQL Database provides comprehensive security features to protect your data. This section details the various mechanisms available to secure your database, from network access control to data encryption and threat detection.
Key Security Features
Network Security
Control access to your Azure SQL Database at the network level:
- Firewall Rules: Configure server-level and database-level firewall rules to restrict access based on IP addresses.
- Virtual Network Service Endpoints: Securely connect your Azure SQL Database to your Azure Virtual Network (VNet) using service endpoints.
- Private Link: Access Azure SQL Database over a Private Endpoint in your VNet, providing end-to-end private connectivity.
Authentication and Authorization
Manage who can access your database and what operations they can perform:
- SQL Authentication: Use username and password authentication.
- Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) Authentication: Integrate with Azure AD for centralized identity and access management, supporting multi-factor authentication.
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Assign permissions to users and groups at various scopes (subscription, resource group, server, database).
- Database Roles: Utilize built-in and custom database roles to manage granular permissions within the database.
Data Protection
Ensure your data is protected both at rest and in transit:
- Transparent Data Encryption (TDE): Encrypts your database, backup files, and transaction log files at rest using AES-256 encryption.
- Always Encrypted: Protects sensitive data (like credit card numbers) stored in Azure SQL Database columns from database administrators and other high-privilege users.
- Dynamic Data Masking: Obscures sensitive data for non-privileged users with masking rules.
- SSL/TLS Encryption: Encrypts data in transit between your application and the database.
Threat Protection
Proactively identify and respond to potential threats:
- Azure Defender for SQL: Provides unified security management and advanced threat protection capabilities across your SQL deployments.
- Advanced Threat Protection: Detects anomalous activities, such as unusual locations, suspicious queries, and data exfiltration attempts.
- Vulnerability Assessment: Scans your database for security vulnerabilities and suggests remediation actions.
Best Practice: Implement a layered security approach. Combine network security, strong authentication, least privilege access, and data encryption to create a robust security posture for your Azure SQL Database.