Azure Security Course

Lesson 1 • Shared Responsibility Model

Defines security duties split between Microsoft and the customer across IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS. Prevents misconfigured ownership assumptions.

Lesson 2 • Azure Security Benchmark Introduction

Presents the Azure Security Benchmark as a prescriptive control baseline. Students learn to use it as a gap-analysis tool for their environments.

Lesson 3 • Azure Global Infrastructure Overview

Maps Azure regions, availability zones, and data residency concepts. Provides the physical and logical context for security boundary decisions.

Lesson 4 • Cloud Security Fundamentals

Covers CIA triad, threat actors, and cloud-specific attack surfaces. Anchors all subsequent Azure security decisions in foundational risk thinking.

Lesson 1 • Azure Active Directory Core Concepts

Covers tenants, users, groups, and directory roles in Azure AD. Establishes the identity plane that all access control chapters build upon.

Lesson 2 • Authentication Methods and MFA

Examines password policies, MFA options, and passwordless authentication. Reduces credential-based attack risk across all Azure workloads.

Lesson 3 • Role-Based Access Control Design

Covers built-in and custom RBAC roles, scope hierarchy, and least-privilege design. Prevents over-permissioned identities from expanding blast radius.

Lesson 4 • Privileged Identity Management

Implements just-in-time privileged access, approval workflows, and access reviews. Minimises standing privileged access exposure in production environments.

Lesson 5 • Managed Identities and Service Principals

Eliminates credential storage by using managed identities for Azure service authentication. Secures application-to-service communication without secrets in code.

Lesson 1 • Azure Firewall and Forced Tunneling

Deploys Azure Firewall for centralised traffic inspection and FQDN-based filtering. Forced tunnelling routes internet-bound traffic through security inspection points.

Lesson 2 • Private Endpoints and Service Endpoints

Eliminates public internet exposure for PaaS services using private connectivity. Reduces data exfiltration risk by keeping traffic within the Azure backbone.

Lesson 3 • Network Security Groups and Application Security Groups

Teaches inbound and outbound rule creation, priority logic, and ASG-based grouping. Enforces micro-segmentation at the subnet and NIC level.

Lesson 4 • Virtual Network Architecture and Segmentation

Covers VNet design, subnets, and address space planning for security isolation. Provides the network foundation for all subsequent perimeter controls.

Lesson 1 • Data Classification and Sensitivity Labeling

Applies sensitivity labels and classification schemes to Azure data assets. Drives encryption and access decisions based on data sensitivity tiers.

Lesson 2 • Encryption in Transit and TLS Enforcement

Enforces TLS 1.2+ across Azure services and configures secure transfer requirements. Prevents interception of data moving between clients and Azure endpoints.

Lesson 3 • Azure Key Vault Design and Operations

Manages secrets, keys, and certificates using Key Vault with access policies and RBAC. Centralises cryptographic material management and rotation.

Lesson 4 • Azure Storage Security Controls

Secures Blob, File, Queue, and Table storage with SAS tokens, firewall rules, and immutability. Prevents unauthorised access and accidental data deletion.

Lesson 1 • Secure Score and Recommendations

Interprets Secure Score metrics and prioritises actionable hardening recommendations. Drives measurable posture improvement through structured remediation.

Lesson 2 • Workflow Automation and Remediation

Automates alert response and recommendation remediation using Logic Apps and playbooks. Reduces mean time to remediate by eliminating manual triage steps.

Lesson 3 • Defender Plans for Azure Workloads

Enables workload-specific Defender plans for VMs, SQL, storage, and containers. Extends threat detection to each resource type with tailored analytics.

Lesson 4 • Microsoft Defender for Cloud Overview

Introduces Defender for Cloud's CSPM and CWP capabilities across Azure workloads. Establishes the central console for posture visibility and threat detection.

Lesson 1 • Analytics Rules and Detection Engineering

Builds scheduled, NRT, and fusion analytics rules to surface malicious patterns. Teaches KQL-based detection logic tuned to reduce false positives.

Lesson 2 • Microsoft Sentinel Architecture and Onboarding

Configures Sentinel workspaces, data connectors, and log ingestion from Azure sources. Establishes the detection platform for all subsequent analytics work.

Lesson 3 • Incident Investigation and Hunting

Uses Sentinel's investigation graph, bookmarks, and hunting queries to trace attack paths. Develops analyst skills for proactive threat discovery beyond alert queues.

Lesson 4 • SOAR Playbooks and Incident Response

Automates containment and notification actions using Sentinel playbooks and Logic Apps. Standardises incident response to reduce human error under pressure.

Lesson 1 • Secrets Management in Application Code

Eliminates hardcoded credentials by integrating Key Vault references and managed identities. Prevents secret leakage in source control and deployment artefacts.

Lesson 2 • Container and Kubernetes Security

Secures Azure Kubernetes Service clusters, container images, and runtime environments. Addresses container-specific threats including image vulnerabilities and privilege escalation.

Lesson 3 • Secure CI/CD Pipeline Integration

Integrates SAST, DAST, dependency scanning, and IaC security checks into Azure DevOps. Enforces security gates that block vulnerable code from reaching production.

Lesson 4 • API Security and Azure API Management

Secures APIs with OAuth 2.0, rate limiting, and threat protection policies in APIM. Prevents API abuse, data leakage, and unauthorised access at the gateway layer.

Lesson 1 • Security Metrics and Executive Reporting

Defines KPIs, KRIs, and security dashboards for communicating risk to leadership. Translates technical findings into business-impact language for decision-makers.

Lesson 2 • Security Architecture Review Process

Conducts structured architecture reviews using threat modelling and control validation. Embeds security review gates into project delivery and change management.

Lesson 3 • Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Security Considerations

Extends Azure security controls to on-premises and multi-cloud environments via Arc and Defender. Maintains consistent posture across heterogeneous infrastructure.

Lesson 4 • Landing Zone Security Design

Applies Azure Landing Zone security controls including policy-driven governance and segmentation. Ensures security is built into the platform before workloads are deployed.