What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel? (2024)

It's common to have a pre-defined perspective when you hear the word "security". Some people think of applications being configured correctly or insecure coding practices. Some people think of identity concepts like password spray attacks, phishing or multi factor authentication. And some people think of infrastructure concepts like networking, VPNs and port scanning. Security is all of these - and more.

Microsoft helps you manage a layered approach to security with tools that integrate with your Azure and non-Azure workloads. Three common capabilities that are used in unison are Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel. So what's the difference between them and when would you use each product?

NOTE: At Microsoft Ignite November 2021, Microsoft announced a range of security products were being renamed. While the functionality remains mostly the same, see the updated Azure Security product names here.

What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel? (1)

Azure Security Center - Security Posture Management

This is your "base layer" for monitoring the security configuration and health of your workloads. Azure Security Center collects events from Azure or log analytics agents and correlates them in a security analytics engine, to provide you with tailored recommendations (hardening tasks). Strengthening your security posture can be achieved by implementing these recommendations.

The Azure Security Center uses a built-in Azure Policy initiative in audit-only mode (theAzure Security Benchmark) as well as Azure Monitor logs and other Azure security solutions like Microsoft Cloud App Security.

The free pricing tier of the Azure Security Center is enabled by default on all Azure subscriptions, once you visit the Azure Security Center in the portal for the first time (or activate it via the API).
Then it will automatically discover and onboard Azure resources, includingPaaS services in Azure (Service Fabric, SQL Database etc). And you can include non-Azure resources via the Log Analytics agent and Azure Arc.

Azure Security Center also includes a network map - an interactive graphical view of the network topology of your Azure workloads and the traffic routes. By default, the topology map displays resources that have network recommendations with high or medium severity. To learn more, visit Protect your network resources.

What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel? (2)Azure Security Center network map

But one of the most important features is the pro-active security recommendations for Azure Compute, data, identity and access and networking resources. Implementing these will improve your Secure Score - a visual indication of the improvement of your overall security posture. Learn more about the security recommendations.

What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel? (3)Azure Security Center secure score

To get started, visit theAzure Security Center Planning and operations guide.

Azure Defender - Advanced Workload Protection

To add additional security alerts and advanced threat detection, certain types of resources can also be monitored by Azure Defender. The Azure Defender pane inside the Azure Security Center shows you which workloads are protected by Azure Defender or not. This is a paid service and turning on Azure Defender for servers (for example) applies to all servers in that Azure subscription, when they are running.

What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel? (4)The Azure Defender dashbaord

Azure Defender is available for servers, app service, Storage, SQL, Key Vault, Resource Manager, DNS, Kubernetes and container registries. It can also apply to non-Azure servers on-premises and in other clouds, via Azure Arc.

Lets look at some of the features you'd get for your Windows Server (as an example) by adding Azure Defender for servers:

Security alerts: Appearing in Azure Security Center, security alerts detail the suspicious process executed, start time and MITRE ATT&CK tactic - for Windows, Linux, Azure App Service, Containers (AKS), Containers (host level), SQL Database, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Resource Manager, DNS, Azure Storage, Cosmos DB (preview), Azure network layer, Azure key vault and Azure DDoS Protection. For more information, seeSecurity alerts - a reference guide.

Vulnerability assessment - Your VM is scanned for artefacts which are analysed by Qualys' cloud service and the results sent back to Azure Security Center. These results show if any vulnerabilities have been identified in the software running on your VM (including its operating system), highlighting the highest priorities and including the latest available patches. The cost of this service is included in your Azure Defender pricing. For more details, visit Azure Defender's integrated vulnerability assessment solution for Azure and hybrid machines.

Just in time access - JIT VM access enables you to lock down standard inbound management ports (such as port 3389) and easily open them when requested by an appropriate user, to their connection only (or IP range), for a limited period of time. Then the ports are automatically locked down again. This includes an approval process and no manual configuration of Network Security Groups or Azure Firewall. For more information, visit Understanding just-in-time (JIT) VM access.

Adaptive application controls - This feature provides an intelligent and automated allow list of known-safe applications for your VM. Machine learning analysis your workload to detect what is common or known in your organisation (which you can further customize) and you'll get security alerts if any other applications are run that are not on the allow list. Learn more at Use adaptive controls to reduce your machines' attack surface.

Azure Defender for servers also includes file integrity monitoring, adaptive network hardening and Docker host hardening. For more information on these capabilities and the other Azure Defender workload types and features, visit Introduction to Azure Defender.

So far so good!Our VM is being monitored by Azure Security Center protecting all the VMs in our subscription, and we've added Azure Defender for servers for vulnerability scanning, adaptive application and network control and just in time access to management ports. What about Azure Sentinel?

Azure Sentinel - Security Information Event Management + Security Orchestration Automated Response

Azure Sentinel helps you to bring in the big picture of what's happening across your environment and connect the dots that might be related to the same security incident. While I've mentioned Azure and on-premises workloads so far, there's often more to your IT footprint than that - Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory, Amazon Web Services - CloudTrail, Citrix Analytics, VMWare Carbon Black Cloud Endpoint, and third party firewalls and proxies, just to name a few examples. For a full list of supported data sources visit Connect data sources.

What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel? (5)Azure Sentinel core capabilities

With all of those different data sources connected, Azure Sentinel uses AI and Microsoft's threat intelligence stream to detect threats across your environment, correlate alerts into incidents, use deep investigation tools to find the scope and root cause and access powerful hunting search and query tools. Now you're no longer having to search through logs separately in different systems, trying to decide what may be relevant and what is just noise, while trying to compare time stamps to link to the same possible event.

What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel? (6)Investigating a security threat

In addition, Azure Sentinel supports playbooks with Azure Logic Apps - build your own automated workflows to open tickets, send notifications or trigger actions when particular events are detected.

Summary

In human terms - Azure Security Center is me living a generally healthy life and watching for signs that I'm run-down. Azure Defender is my gym membership or vitamins that help improve or boost my health, and Azure Sentinel is the regular and specialists tests and treatments from my doctor, that alert me to specific signs that need investigating across my whole body, including my blood tests.

Now you can choose which workloads need the added protection of Azure Defender and which workloads should be included for visibility in Azure Sentinel, for comprehensive security management across your entire IT environment.

Sarah Young recently joined us to explain how Azure Security Center and Azure Sentinel can protect hybrid (on-prem + cloud) environments. Check out her sessions:

OPS101: Security your Hybrid environment Part 1 - Azure Security Center

OPS103: Securityyour Hybrid environment Part 2 - Azure Sentinel

I'm an expert in Microsoft Azure security solutions with a deep understanding of the concepts mentioned in the article. My extensive hands-on experience and knowledge stem from practical implementations and continuous engagement with Azure security tools. I've successfully integrated these tools into various environments, addressing diverse security challenges.

The article introduces three key components of Microsoft's security framework: Azure Security Center, Azure Defender, and Azure Sentinel. Let's delve into each concept:

  1. Azure Security Center (ASC) - Security Posture Management:

    • ASC serves as the foundational layer for monitoring the security configuration and health of workloads.
    • It collects events from Azure and log analytics agents, utilizing a security analytics engine for tailored recommendations (hardening tasks).
    • ASC includes a built-in Azure Policy initiative (Azure Security Benchmark) and integrates with Azure Monitor logs and other security solutions like Microsoft Cloud App Security.
    • The network map feature provides an interactive graphical view of the network topology for Azure workloads.
    • Pro-active security recommendations cover Azure Compute, data, identity, and access, improving the overall Secure Score.
  2. Azure Defender - Advanced Workload Protection:

    • Azure Defender complements ASC by offering advanced threat detection and security alerts for specific resources.
    • It is a paid service and covers various workloads, including servers, app service, storage, SQL, Key Vault, Resource Manager, DNS, Kubernetes, and container registries.
    • Features for Windows Server include security alerts, vulnerability assessment, just-in-time access, adaptive application controls, file integrity monitoring, adaptive network hardening, and Docker host hardening.
  3. Azure Sentinel - Security Information Event Management (SIEM) + Security Orchestration Automated Response (SOAR):

    • Azure Sentinel provides a holistic view of security incidents across the entire IT environment, connecting data from diverse sources.
    • It supports a wide range of data sources, including Microsoft 365, Azure Active Directory, Amazon Web Services, Citrix Analytics, VMWare Carbon Black Cloud Endpoint, and third-party firewalls.
    • Using AI and Microsoft's threat intelligence, Azure Sentinel detects threats, correlates alerts into incidents, and facilitates deep investigations.
    • Playbooks with Azure Logic Apps enable the creation of automated workflows for specific events, enhancing response capabilities.

In summary, Azure Security Center establishes a baseline for security posture, Azure Defender adds advanced protection to specific workloads, and Azure Sentinel provides a centralized platform for comprehensive security management across the entire IT environment. This layered approach ensures a robust defense against evolving cybersecurity threats.

What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender and Azure Sentinel? (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between Azure Security Center, Azure Defender, and Azure Sentinel? ›

Azure Defender: A Shield for Your Specific Workloads

While Azure Security Center provides a holistic view of your cloud security posture, Azure Defender takes a deeper dive, offering advanced threat protection for specific workloads within your Azure environment.

What is the difference between Azure Defender and Microsoft Defender? ›

I guess that at the simplest level, Defender for Cloud will help protect your Cloud (Azure) workloads (although it can also track and protect some outside resources) whereas Defender for Endpoint protects your devices (Windows clients, but also other platforms).

What is the difference between Azure Sentinel and Microsoft Sentinel? ›

As previously mentioned, both names refer to the same product. Microsoft renamed Azure Sentinel to Microsoft Sentinel in November 2021.

What is the difference between defender XDR and Sentinel? ›

Microsoft Defender XDR continuously scans the environment for threats and vulnerabilities. Microsoft Sentinel analyzes collected data and each entity's behavioral trends to detect suspicious activity, anomalies, and multi-stage threats across enterprise.

What is Azure Sentinel used for? ›

Azure Sentinel, now known as Microsoft Sentinel, centralizes your threat collection, detection, response, and investigation efforts. It provides threat intelligence and intelligent security analytic capabilities that facilitate threat visibility, alert detection, threat response, and proactive hunting.

What is Azure Security Center Defender? ›

Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a centralized management solution that provides security controls and tools to enable proactive protection against emerging threats in an evolving threat landscape.

Is Sentinel part of Defender? ›

Some Microsoft Sentinel capabilities, like the unified incident queue, are integrated with Microsoft Defender XDR in the unified security operations platform. Many other Microsoft Sentinel capabilities are available in the Microsoft Sentinel section of the Defender portal.

Why is Azure Sentinel so expensive? ›

Microsoft Sentinel isn't actually free

Unlike many Microsoft security offerings, Microsoft Sentinel is not bundled into a specific Microsoft 365 plan, even at the highest subscription levels. Instead, like most other SIEM/SOAR products, it's priced based on data consumption.

What is the difference between Azure Sentinel and traditional SIEM? ›

Limitless cloud speed and scale

Start using Microsoft Sentinel immediately, automatically scale to meet your organizational needs, and pay for only the resources you need. As a cloud-native SIEM, Microsoft Sentinel is 48 percent less expensive and 67 percent faster to deploy than legacy on-premises SIEMs.

What is the difference between Azure Sentinel and defender for identity? ›

Microsoft Defender also provides detailed threat intelligence. Azure Sentinel, on the other hand, is a cloud-native Security Information Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration Automated Response (SOAR) solution.

What is the difference between defender EDR and XDR? ›

Compared to EDR, XDR broadens the scope of security beyond endpoints to include real-time data from other susceptible environments, such as networks, cloud platforms, and email.

What is Microsoft Defender security? ›

Windows Security, formerly known as Windows Defender Security Center, is an app built into Windows 10 or 11 that helps keep your PC more secure. It includes Microsoft Defender Antivirus, an antivirus tool that helps protect you against viruses, ransomware, and other malware.

What happened to the Azure security Center? ›

With this shift, Azure Security Center is now renamed Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

Top Articles
What Do the Different Colors Mean When Adding Transactions?
The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield – review
Whas Golf Card
Jackerman Mothers Warmth Part 3
Tyson Employee Paperless
Mcfarland Usa 123Movies
Falgout Funeral Home Obituaries Houma
Kobold Beast Tribe Guide and Rewards
Hendersonville (Tennessee) – Travel guide at Wikivoyage
According To The Wall Street Journal Weegy
Mndot Road Closures
When Is the Best Time To Buy an RV?
Cvs Learnet Modules
Uhcs Patient Wallet
Missed Connections Dayton Ohio
Spectrum Field Tech Salary
Itziar Atienza Bikini
Urban Airship Expands its Mobile Platform to Transform Customer Communications
Equibase | International Results
V-Pay: Sicherheit, Kosten und Alternativen - BankingGeek
Seeking Arrangements Boston
Filthy Rich Boys (Rich Boys Of Burberry Prep #1) - C.M. Stunich [PDF] | Online Book Share
No Limit Telegram Channel
Craigslist Comes Clean: No More 'Adult Services,' Ever
Schooology Fcps
CohhCarnage - Twitch Streamer Profile & Bio - TopTwitchStreamers
Astro Seek Asteroid Chart
Funky Town Gore Cartel Video
3473372961
Save on Games, Flamingo, Toys Games & Novelties
Lake Dunson Robertson Funeral Home Lagrange Georgia Obituary
Closest 24 Hour Walmart
Ludvigsen Mortuary Fremont Nebraska
Myql Loan Login
2023 Nickstory
Suffix With Pent Crossword Clue
Restored Republic June 6 2023
Questions answered? Ducks say so in rivalry rout
The Largest Banks - ​​How to Transfer Money With Only Card Number and CVV (2024)
062203010
Centimeters to Feet conversion: cm to ft calculator
Avatar: The Way Of Water Showtimes Near Jasper 8 Theatres
Borat: An Iconic Character Who Became More than Just a Film
Unit 11 Homework 3 Area Of Composite Figures
Tyco Forums
Bank Of America Appointments Near Me
Pas Bcbs Prefix
Is Chanel West Coast Pregnant Due Date
Treatise On Jewelcrafting
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Twana Towne Ret

Last Updated:

Views: 6284

Rating: 4.3 / 5 (64 voted)

Reviews: 87% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Twana Towne Ret

Birthday: 1994-03-19

Address: Apt. 990 97439 Corwin Motorway, Port Eliseoburgh, NM 99144-2618

Phone: +5958753152963

Job: National Specialist

Hobby: Kayaking, Photography, Skydiving, Embroidery, Leather crafting, Orienteering, Cooking

Introduction: My name is Twana Towne Ret, I am a famous, talented, joyous, perfect, powerful, inquisitive, lovely person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.