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Key Vault – Enable Defender

This check ensures that Microsoft Defender is enabled for Azure Key Vault to provide advanced threat protection, detect suspicious activities, and enhance the security posture of cryptographic keys and secrets.

Check Details

  • Resource: Azure Key Vault
  • Check: Ensure Microsoft Defender Is Enabled
  • Risk: If Microsoft Defender is not enabled, suspicious access patterns, unauthorized attempts to retrieve secrets, or abnormal key usage activities may go undetected, increasing the risk of data breaches and compromise of sensitive cryptographic material.

Remediation via Azure Portal

  1. Log in to the Azure Portal. Azure Portal dashboard
  2. Navigate to Key Vaults and select the affected Key Vault. Azure Key Vault list
  3. In the left-hand menu, select Microsoft Defender for Cloud under Settings. Key Vault properties
  4. Navigate to Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Microsoft Defender for Cloud
  5. Select Environment settings and choose the appropriate subscription.
  6. Under Defender plans, locate Key Vault.
  7. Ensure the Microsoft Defender for Key Vault plan is set to On. Enable Defender for Key Vault
  8. Click Save to apply the configuration.

Remediation via Azure CLI

  1. Open Azure Cloud Shell or a local terminal with Azure CLI installed. Azure Cloud Shell
  2. Enable Microsoft Defender for Key Vault at the subscription level:

    az security pricing create \
     --name KeyVaults \
     --tier Standard
    
  3. Verify Defender status for Key Vault:

    az security pricing show \
     --name KeyVaults \
     --query pricingTier
    

Ensure the output shows "Standard", which confirms Microsoft Defender for Key Vault is enabled.