Describe Azure role-based access control (RBAC)

Azure Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is an authorization system built on Azure Resource Manager that provides fine-grained access management of Azure resources. It allows organizations to enforce their security policies, by ensuring that employees have only the access that they need.

Understanding Azure RBAC

RBAC works by associating roles with the permissions required to perform various actions on Azure resources. When a role is assigned to a user, a group, a service principal, or managed identity for Azure resources, that entity receives those permissions.

RBAC includes several built-in roles that can be assigned at different scopes. The scopes of action can range from being highly granular (like access to a single blob in a storage account) to more general (like access to all resources in a resource group or a subscription). These scopes, hierarchically, are Management Group, Subscription, Resource Group, and Resource.

Key Concepts and Definitions

• Role Definition: This is a collection of permissions. It lists the operations that can be performed, such as read, write, delete, etc.
• Role Assignment: This is the process of binding a role to a user, group, service principal, or managed identity at a specific scope for the purpose of granting access.
• Scope: The set of resources that the access applies to. As mentioned before, it can be at the level of a management group, subscription, resource group, or a single resource.

Built-in Roles in Azure RBAC

• Owner: Has full access to all resources including the right to delegate access to others.
• Contributor: Can create and manage all types of Azure resources but can’t grant access to others.
• Reader: Can view existing Azure resources.
• User Access Administrator: Can manage user access to Azure resources.

Examples of RBAC in Action

1. If a user needs to manage virtual machines in a subscription but should not have access to manage the storage or network components, the ‘Virtual Machine Contributor’ role could be assigned to them.
2. If a security engineer needs to view security policies and audit data but should not have the ability to alter the security settings or deployments, the ‘Security Reader’ role can be assigned.

Best Practices for Using Azure RBAC

• Adhere to the principle of least privilege by giving users the minimum levels of access they need.
• Use groups for easier management; assign roles to a group rather than individual users where possible.
• Regularly audit access and roles through the Azure Portal or Azure PowerShell/CLI.

Tracking and Auditing RBAC

Azure provides logs and reports that track role assignments and changes to them. These logs are available through Azure Activity Log, and they are crucial for maintaining the security and compliance of your Azure environment.

Examples of Tracking RBAC Changes

When a role assignment is added or removed, an entry is created in the Activity Log. This entry contains information such as:

• What operation was performed
• Which resources were impacted
• Who performed the operation
• When the operation occurred

RBAC vs. Other Access Control Technologies

Azure RBAC should not be confused with Azure Active Directory (AD) roles, which manage user roles at the directory level and not at the subscription or resource levels. Also, Azure RBAC is different from network-level controls, like Network Security Groups (NSGs) and Application Security Groups (ASGs), which manage traffic flow to and from Azure resources.

Conclusion

Azure RBAC is an essential tool in the security management arsenal of the Azure platform, offering fine-grained access control that aligns with the principle of least privilege. Properly implemented RBAC ensures that personnel have only the permissions they need to perform their job functions, without exposing your Azure environment to unnecessary risk. Understanding, implementing, and managing RBAC is integral for anyone responsible for managing Azure resources, particularly emphasized in the AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam.