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What is the role of vulnerability monitoring in cloud workload protection for VMs?
Learn how cloud workload protection enhances virtual machine security by applying security baselines to harden configurations and continuously monitoring for software vulnerabilities, providing a proactive defense against threats.
Question
How does cloud workload protection enhance security for virtual machines (VMs)?
A. By increasing CPU and memory allocation
B. By automatically resizing storage based on demand
C. By applying security baselines and monitoring for vulnerabilities
D. By allowing unlimited public access to improve accessibility
Answer
C. By applying security baselines and monitoring for vulnerabilities
Explanation
Cloud Workload Protection enhances security by enforcing security baselines, detecting vulnerabilities, and providing threat protection for virtual machines (VMs). For more information, please refer to the “Enhanced security features provided by cloud workload protection” lecture.
Cloud Workload Protection Platforms (CWPPs), such as Microsoft Defender for Servers, enhance the security of virtual machines through a combination of proactive hardening and continuous monitoring. Applying security baselines and monitoring for vulnerabilities are two core pillars of this protection.
Applying Security Baselines
A security baseline is a standardized level of security configuration that is applied to a system to reduce its attack surface. CWPPs enhance VM security by:
- Assessing OS Configuration: The platform assesses the operating system configuration of the VM against well-defined security best practices, such as those defined in the Azure Security Benchmark or CIS Benchmarks.
- Identifying Misconfigurations: It identifies settings that deviate from the baseline, such as weak password policies, misconfigured security controls, or unnecessary services that are running.
- Providing Remediation Guidance: For each identified misconfiguration, the platform provides actionable recommendations to bring the VM into compliance with the security baseline, effectively hardening the operating system.
Monitoring for Vulnerabilities
This capability focuses on identifying known security flaws in the software running on the virtual machine. A CWPP enhances VM security by:
- Software Inventory and Scanning: The platform scans the VM to discover all installed software and identifies their versions.
- Identifying Known Vulnerabilities: It cross-references the installed software against a comprehensive database of known vulnerabilities (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures, or CVEs). In Microsoft’s ecosystem, this is powered by Microsoft Defender for Vulnerability Management.
- Prioritizing Patching: It provides a prioritized list of vulnerabilities, often categorized by severity, allowing security teams to focus on patching the most critical security flaws first. By identifying and facilitating the remediation of these vulnerabilities, it closes attack vectors before they can be exploited.
Analysis of Incorrect Options
A. By increasing CPU and memory allocation. This is a performance and resource management task. Adjusting a VM’s size is unrelated to its security posture and is not a function of a CWPP.
B. By automatically resizing storage based on demand. This is a storage management feature related to scalability and cost-efficiency. It does not enhance the security of the workload itself.
D. By allowing unlimited public access to improve accessibility. This is the antithesis of a security best practice. A CWPP would flag unlimited public access as a critical security risk and recommend restricting access through firewall rules or features like Just-in-Time (JIT) VM Access.
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