10 Azure PIM Best Practices

Azure PIM provides a central way to manage identity and access for your Azure resources. It helps you control who has access to what, and when they have access. PIM also provides a way to audit and review access to ensure that only the right people have the right access.

In this article, we will discuss 10 best practices for using Azure PIM. By following these best practices, you can help ensure that your Azure resources are secure and that only the right people have access to them.

1. Use PIM to manage your privileged identities

When you use PIM to manage your privileged identities, you can:

– Ensure that only the right people have access to the right resources
– Rotate credentials on a regular basis to reduce the risk of theft
– Monitor and audit activity to detect and investigate suspicious activity

By using PIM to manage your privileged identities, you can help keep your Azure environment secure and compliant.

2. Assign the right role for the job

When it comes to managing identities and access in Azure, you need to make sure that you’re assigning the right roles to the right people. The last thing you want is to give someone too much access and have them accidentally delete something or break something.

The best way to avoid this is to use Azure’s built-in role-based access control (RBAC). With RBAC, you can create custom roles with just the right permissions for each person.

For example, you could create a custom role called “Storage Account Manager” that has permission to manage storage accounts but not other resources. Or you could create a custom role called “Virtual Machine Operator” that has permission to start and stop virtual machines but not create or delete them.

Assigning the right role for the job is one of the most important Azure PIM best practices because it helps you prevent accidents and ensures that only the people who need access to a resource have access to it.

3. Create custom roles when needed

By default, Azure PIM comes with a set of built-in roles that cover most common scenarios. However, in some cases, you might need to create custom roles to fit your organization’s specific needs.

Creating custom roles is not difficult, and it gives you full control over what users can do in Azure PIM. For example, you can create a custom role that allows users to only view data, or one that allows them to edit data but not delete it.

Creating custom roles also allows you to fine-tune the permissions for each user, which is important for security. In general, it’s always a good idea to give users the least amount of permissions they need to do their job. By creating custom roles, you can make sure that each user has exactly the permissions they need and nothing more.

4. Leverage Azure AD groups and dynamic groups

Groups in Azure AD can be used for two different purposes: security and administration. Security groups are used to grant access to resources, while administrative groups are used to manage role-based access control (RBAC) assignments.

When it comes to PIM, you should use both types of groups. For example, you can create a security group that contains all the users who need access to a certain resource, and then assign that group the appropriate RBAC roles. Alternatively, you can create an administrative group that contains all the users who need to be able to perform a certain action, such as creating new resources.

Dynamic groups are especially useful for PIM because they allow you to automatically add or remove users from a group based on certain criteria, such as their job title or location. This can save you a lot of time and effort when managing large numbers of users.

5. Manage access with time-bound permissions

When it comes to managing identities and access in Azure, you need to make sure that you have a process in place for granting and revoking permissions on an as-needed basis. This is especially important for sensitive resources, such as those used for financial transactions or storing personal data.

Time-bound permissions allow you to specify an expiration date for a given permission, after which the user will no longer have access to the resource. This ensures that users only have access to the resources they need for as long as they need it, and helps to prevent accidental or unauthorized access to sensitive data.

To set up time-bound permissions in Azure, you can use the Azure Portal or the Azure CLI.

6. Enable MFA for all admins

MFA adds an extra layer of security to your Azure PIM environment by requiring users to authenticate with more than just a username and password. This makes it much harder for attackers to gain access to your Azure PIM, even if they have stolen a user’s credentials.

Enabling MFA is easy to do in the Azure portal. Simply go to the “Azure Active Directory” blade, select “Security”, and then enable MFA for all admins.

Once MFA is enabled, you can also require MFA for specific roles within your Azure PIM. For example, you could require MFA for the “Owner” role, but not for the “Contributor” role. This would add an extra layer of security for your most sensitive data.

Overall, enabling MFA for all admins is one of the best ways to secure your Azure PIM environment.

7. Monitor, audit, and report on admin activity

As the Azure PIM administrator, you are responsible for managing and securing sensitive data in your organization. To do this effectively, you need to have visibility into who is accessing what data and when.

Azure PIM provides built-in auditing and reporting capabilities that give you this visibility. You can use these features to track admin activity, identify potential security risks, and investigate suspicious activity.

Monitoring, auditing, and reporting on admin activity is a critical Azure PIM best practice because it helps you keep your data safe and secure.

8. Securely share privileged accounts

When an administrator needs to share a privileged account with another user, they should use Azure PIM to do so. This ensures that the account is only shared with the intended user, and that the user only has access to the account for the duration that they need it.

Azure PIM also provides a audit trail of who accessed the account and when, so you can be sure that the account is being used as intended.

9. Automate administrative tasks

As your organization grows and becomes more complex, the number of administrative tasks will increase. If these tasks are not automated, they will quickly become overwhelming, and important details will be missed.

Automating administrative tasks will help to ensure that all tasks are completed accurately and on time. It will also free up time for you and your team so that you can focus on more strategic tasks.

There are a number of ways to automate administrative tasks in Azure PIM. One option is to use Azure Automation. This service allows you to create and run PowerShell scripts to automate a variety of tasks, including those related to PIM.

Another option is to use Azure Logic Apps. This service enables you to create workflows that automate tasks by connecting different Azure services. For example, you could create a workflow that automatically creates a new user in Azure AD when a new employee is added to your HR system.

Finally, you can also use Azure Functions. This service allows you to write code that is triggered by events, such as a new item being added to a list. You could use this to trigger a notification to be sent to the appropriate people when a new product is added to your PIM system.

10. Protect critical resources with RBAC controls

RBAC is a critical security control that can help prevent unauthorized access to Azure resources. By using RBAC, you can granularly control who has access to what resources, and what actions they can perform on those resources.

For example, you could use RBAC to allow only certain users to have access to your Azure PIM environment, or to allow only certain users to perform certain actions, like creating new roles or assigning permissions to users.

RBAC is an important best practice because it can help you prevent accidental or unauthorized access to your Azure PIM environment and its resources. By properly configuring RBAC controls, you can help ensure that only authorized users have access to the resources they need, and that they can only perform the actions that you want them to be able to perform.