Table of Contents
Firstly, access to an Azure Key Vault is controlled through Access Policies. Each access policy grants permissions to a user, group, principal, or application to perform specific operations like getting a secret or adding a key.
Here’s a brief overview of the operations you can control access to:
To configure these, navigate to your Azure Key Vault in the Azure portal and select ‘Access policies’ under ‘Settings’. Here you can add a new policy or edit an existing one, and specify the permissions for keys, secrets, and certificates.
Role-based access control (RBAC) is another method for managing access to resources in Azure, including Key Vault. Unlike access policies that are set on individual Key Vaults, RBAC provides the ability to manage access at different levels, such as the management group, subscription, resource group, and specific resource.
Here are common roles that you might assign to control access to a Key Vault:
To set up RBAC, go to your Azure Key Vault resource in the Azure portal and select ‘Access control (IAM)’ under ‘Settings’. Here you can add a role assignment, where you select the role to assign and the identity to assign it to.
You can use a combination of both Access Policies and RBAC for granular and leveled access control. For example, a typical setup might involve using RBAC for managing who has administrative versus read-only access at a broader level, while configuring Access Policies to control specific actions on keys, secrets, and certificates.
To add an access policy for a user to be able to list and get secrets, you would follow these steps:
Securing access to Key Vault involves careful consideration of who needs access, and at what level. Whether using Access Policies for fine-grained permissions at the Key Vault level, RBAC for broader control, or a combination of both, the goal is to ensure that only authorized individuals can manage and access sensitive information based on their role and requirements. Regular reviews and audits of access policies and permissions are necessary to maintain a strong security posture and uphold the principles of least privilege and separation of duties.
False
Access to a Key Vault is controlled through Azure role-based access control (RBAC) and Key Vault access policies, not limited to the same Azure subscription.
Answer: A, C
Access to an Azure Key Vault can be managed through Azure Active Directory for identity and access management and through Key Vault’s access policies that grant permissions to users and service principals.
True
You can configure network rules for a Key Vault, which can include white listing certain IP addresses or CIDR ranges to restrict access.
Answer: C
Access policies in Key Vault define permissions for key management, secret retrieval, and certificate management. Virtual machine creation is beyond the scope of Key Vault access policies.
False
When you enable soft-delete, the deleted data is retained for a specified retention period, allowing for recovery before it’s permanently removed.
Answer: B
Purge Protection must be enabled to ensure that deleted data cannot be permanently purged from the Key Vault before the retention period elapses, even with RBAC administration privileges.
False
The ability to recover a deleted Key Vault is contingent upon having soft-delete enabled prior to the deletion of the vault.
Answer: C
Azure Private Link provides private connectivity to Azure services like Key Vault and can be used to control which applications within a virtual network can access the Key Vault.
Answer: C, D
The Key Vault Contributor role allows a user to manage Key Vaults, keys, secrets, and certificates, which includes deleting Key Vaults and updating access policies, but does not allow for the adding or updating of data stored within the Key Vault.
False
Key Vault access policies do not support exceptions; instead, they offer granular permissions that must be explicitly granted.
Answer: A
Conditional Access policies in Azure AD can be used to enforce multi-factor authentication for users when accessing Azure services like Key Vault.
True
Managed identities for Azure resources provide an identity for applications to use when connecting to resources like Azure Key Vault, which allows for secure access without credentials being stored in code.
Azure Key Vault is a cloud service that provides a secure store for keys, secrets, and certificates.
You can secure your Key Vault by following security best practices, such as limiting access, monitoring activity, and using managed identities.
A managed identity is a service principal that is automatically created and managed by Azure. It can be used to authenticate applications and services without the need for a shared credential.
You can grant access to a Key Vault using access policies, which allow you to specify the actions that a user or application can perform on the Key Vault.
A Key Vault policy is a JSON document that defines the permissions that a security principal has to a particular Key Vault.
There are four types of access policies available in Key Vault key permissions, secret permissions, certificate permissions, and management permissions.
You can add an access policy to a Key Vault using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or the Key Vault REST API.
Key Vault soft delete is a feature that allows you to recover a deleted Key Vault, along with all its objects, within a configurable retention period.
You can enable soft delete for a Key Vault using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or the Key Vault REST API.
Key Vault diagnostics provide detailed information about the activity and performance of a Key Vault, allowing you to troubleshoot issues and optimize performance.
You can collect various types of diagnostics data for a Key Vault, including Key Vault events, Key Vault audit logs, and Key Vault metrics.
You can configure diagnostic settings for a Key Vault using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or the Key Vault REST API.
Defender for Key Vault is a security feature that provides threat detection and alerts for Key Vault using Azure Security Center.
You can configure Defender for Key Vault using the Azure Security Center portal or Azure PowerShell.
Defender for Key Vault can detect various types of threats, including unauthorized access, privilege escalation, and data exfiltration.
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