Azure Disk Encryption helps protect and safeguard your data to meet your organizational security and compliance commitments. It uses the BitLocker feature of Windows to provide volume encryption for the OS and data disks of Azure virtual machines (VMs), and is integrated with Azure Key Vault to help you control and manage the disk encryption keys and secrets.
If you use Microsoft Defender for Cloud, you're alerted if you have VMs that aren't encrypted. The alerts show as High Severity and the recommendation is to encrypt these VMs.
Certain recommendations might increase data, network, or compute resource usage, resulting in additional license or subscription costs. You must have a valid active Azure subscription to create resources in Azure in the supported regions.
Do not use BitLocker to manually decrypt a VM or disk that was encrypted through Azure Disk Encryption.
Windows VMs are available in a range of sizes. Azure Disk Encryption is supported on Generation 1 and Generation 2 VMs. Azure Disk Encryption is also available for VMs with premium storage.
Windows Server 2008 R2 requires the .NET Framework 4.5 to be installed for encryption; install it from Windows Update with the optional update Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2 for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64-based systems (KB2901983).
Windows Server 2012 R2 Core and Windows Server 2016 Core requires the bdehdcfg component to be installed on the VM for encryption.
Networking requirements
To enable Azure Disk Encryption, the VMs must meet the following network endpoint configuration requirements:
To get a token to connect to your key vault, the Windows VM must be able to connect to an Azure Active Directory endpoint, [login.microsoftonline.com].
To write the encryption keys to your key vault, the Windows VM must be able to connect to the key vault endpoint.
The Windows VM must be able to connect to an Azure storage endpoint that hosts the Azure extension repository and an Azure storage account that hosts the VHD files.
If your security policy limits access from Azure VMs to the Internet, you can resolve the preceding URI and configure a specific rule to allow outbound connectivity to the IPs. For more information, see Azure Key Vault behind a firewall.
Group Policy requirements
Azure Disk Encryption uses the BitLocker external key protector for Windows VMs. For domain joined VMs, don't push any group policies that enforce TPM protectors. For information about the group policy for "Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM," see BitLocker Group Policy Reference.
BitLocker policy on domain joined virtual machines with custom group policy must include the following setting: Configure user storage of BitLocker recovery information -> Allow 256-bit recovery key. Azure Disk Encryption will fail when custom group policy settings for BitLocker are incompatible. On machines that didn't have the correct policy setting, apply the new policy, and force the new policy to update (gpupdate.exe /force). Restarting may be required.
Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring (MBAM) group policy features aren't compatible with Azure Disk Encryption.
Warning
Azure Disk Encryption does not store recovery keys. If the Interactive logon: Machine account lockout threshold security setting is enabled, machines can only be recovered by providing a recovery key via the serial console. Instructions for ensuring the appropriate recovery policies are enabled can be found in the Bitlocker recovery guide plan.
Azure Disk Encryption will fail if domain level group policy blocks the AES-CBC algorithm, which is used by BitLocker.
Encryption key storage requirements
Azure Disk Encryption requires an Azure Key Vault to control and manage disk encryption keys and secrets. Your key vault and VMs must reside in the same Azure region and subscription.
The following table defines some of the common terms used in Azure disk encryption documentation:
Terminology
Definition
Azure Key Vault
Key Vault is a cryptographic, key management service that's based on Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) validated hardware security modules. These standards help to safeguard your cryptographic keys and sensitive secrets. For more information, see the Azure Key Vault documentation and Creating and configuring a key vault for Azure Disk Encryption.
Azure CLI
The Azure CLI is optimized for managing and administering Azure resources from the command line.
BitLocker
BitLocker is an industry-recognized Windows volume encryption technology that's used to enable disk encryption on Windows VMs.
Azure Disk Encryption for Windows virtual machines (VMs) uses the BitLocker feature of Windows to provide full disk encryption of the OS disk and data disk.
To enable Azure Disk Encryption, your Azure VM must be power on. Navigate to your Azure VM, then select Disks. Next select Additional settings. In additional settings, select the disk you want to encrypt and then select the key vault, the key and the version.
Select a virtual machine in the Virtual Machine Library window and click Settings. Under Other in the Settings window, click Encryption. Choose appropriate encryption option and set the encryption password. The password must be eight characters or longer.
Azure Storage encryption automatically encrypts your data stored on Azure managed disks (OS and data disks) at rest by default when persisting it to the cloud.
If your requirements include encrypting all of the above and end-to-end encryption, use Azure Disk Encryption. If your requirements include encrypting only data at rest with customer-managed key, then use Server-side encryption with customer-managed keys.
Azure Storage encryption is enabled for all storage accounts, including both Resource Manager and classic storage accounts. Azure Storage encryption cannot be disabled. Because your data is secured by default, you don't need to modify your code or applications to take advantage of Azure Storage encryption.
What is VMware Encryption? VMware vSphere encryption was first introduced in vSphere 6.5 and vSAN 6.6; enabling encryption both in virtual machines (VMs) and disk storage. It only requires the vCenter vSphere Server, a third-party Key Management Server (KMS), and ESXi hosts to work.
To encrypt virtual machine disks, right-click on a virtual machine in the vSphere client inventory, and choose VM Policies > Edit VM Storage Policies. In the Edit VM Storage Policies dialog box, choose the VM Encryption Policy to enable encryption on the virtual machine disk(s).
There is no charge for encrypting virtual disks in Azure. Cryptographic keys are stored in Azure Key Vault using software-protection, or you can import or generate your keys in Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) certified to FIPS 140-2 level 2 standards.
Select the Start button, then select Settings > Update & Security > Device encryption. If Device encryption doesn't appear, it isn't available. If device encryption is turned off, select Turn on.
Go to the All Users object and search for the account associated to the device. Go to the Devices object under the Manage heading. Select the appropriate listed device. If the device is registered with Bitlocker encryption, then the Bitlocker Key ID and Recovery Key will be visible.
Azure Disk Encryption is integrated with Azure Key Vault to help you control and manage the disk-encryption keys and secrets in your key vault subscription. You can create a key vault or use an existing one for Azure Disk Encryption.
All Azure hosted services are committed to providing Encryption at Rest options. Azure services support either service-managed keys, customer-managed keys, or client-side encryption.
Essentially, ADE encrypts your data end-to-end whereas SSE only encrypts it at end. Server Side Encryption is always enabled. You cannot turn it off as it's a platform-level feature.
In summary, Azure Disk Encryption (ADE) uses BitLocker to encrypt OS level drives, such as the OS disk and any added data disks.Storage Encryption only encrypts the storage account.
Device encryption is a feature intended to protect your data. It should be enabled, but you should use it with caution. You should make sure you have your recovery key in case you need it, and you should have a backup of your files in case you lose access to the device.
Azure Storage encrypts all data in a storage account at rest. By default, data is encrypted with Microsoft-managed keys. For additional control over encryption keys, you can manage your own keys. Customer-managed keys must be stored in Azure Key Vault or Key Vault Managed Hardware Security Model (HSM).
For Hyper-V VM encryption, BitLocker is needed to encrypt virtual machines and disks. Virtual machine with encryption feature is able to encrypt I/Os before data gets stored in the VMDK. An encrypted virtual machine makes sure someone does not have unauthorized access to your data.
Ensure that antivirus programs are installed on the virtual machines and kept current with updates. Virtual machines, like physical machines are at risk for viruses and worms. Utilize strong encryption between the host and virtual machines. Avoid internet surfing from the host computer.
By setting the deletionProtection flag, a VM instance can be protected from accidental deletion. If a user attempts to delete a VM instance for which you have set the deletionProtection flag, the request fails.
On the Configuration and policies page, select Disks (Preview) in the Encryption section. By default, Encryption type is set to Encryption at-rest with a platform managed key. For Encryption type, select Encryption at-rest with a customer managed key from drop-down list.
Two types of keys are used for VM encryption: Data encryption key (DEK): The ESXi host generates and uses internal keys to encrypt VMs and disks . These XTS-AES-256 keys are used as DEKs . Key encryption key (KEK): The vCenter Server instance requests AES-256 keys from the KMS .
Log into the Azure portal, and from the left menu, select App Services, then the app name. From the app's navigation menu, go to TLS/SSL settings > Private Key Certificates(. pfx) > Upload Certificate. In the PFX Certificate File section, choose your PFX file.
The Secure Boot and vTPM checkboxes are enabled by default. Fill in the Administrator account information and then Inbound port rules. On the validation page, review the details of the VM. After the validation succeeds, select Create to finish creating the VM.
In an Azure Virtual Desktop deployment, Microsoft manages portions of the services on the customer's behalf. The service has many built-in advanced security features, such as Reverse Connect, which reduce the risk involved with having remote desktops accessible from anywhere.
In the search box on the taskbar, type Manage BitLocker and then select it from the list of results. Or, select Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Device encryption > BitLocker drive encryption.
By default, Azure Data Lake Store manages the keys for you, but you have the option to manage them yourself. Three types of keys are used in encrypting and decrypting data: the Master Encryption Key (MEK), Data Encryption Key (DEK), and Block Encryption Key (BEK).
While costs vary dramatically based on factors such as organization size and the industry involved, the most expensive aspect of full disk encryption is the "user time incurred operating computer" featuring the technology.
In the Data Protection window, click on the icon of the hard drive (aka System Storage). Under System Storage, if you see the following text: OSDisk (C) and In compliance underneath, then your hard drive is encrypted.
On PCs designed for Windows 10 and Windows 11, the system disk is encrypted by default, but that encryption uses a clear key. The encryption doesn't protect your data unless you sign in with a Microsoft account, which protects the data and also saves a recovery key in OneDrive.
You can enable disk encryption on existing or running IaaS Windows VMs in Azure by using the Resource Manager template to encrypt a running Windows VM.
This is because the system will lose the files required to make encryptions. Windows versions like Windows 10 Home do not support content encryption. This might be the cause of the encryption option being greyed out. This implies that file encryption cannot be done on Windows 10 Home using the built-in method.
You must select the option in the Azure Key Vault access policy settings to enable access to Azure Disk Encryption for volume encryption. If you have enabled the firewall on the key vault, you must go to the Networking tab on the key vault and enable access to Microsoft Trusted Services.
Log into the Azure portal, and from the left menu, select App Services, then the app name. From the app's navigation menu, go to TLS/SSL settings > Private Key Certificates(. pfx) > Upload Certificate. In the PFX Certificate File section, choose your PFX file.
Azure Disk Encryption helps protect and safeguard your data to meet your organizational security and compliance commitments. ADE encrypts the OS and data disks of Azure virtual machines (VMs) inside your VMs by using the DM-Crypt feature of Linux or the BitLocker feature of Windows.
Navigate to your storage account in the Azure portal. Under Settings, select Configuration. Under Minimum TLS version, use the drop-down to select the minimum version of TLS required to access data in this storage account.
Go to the All Users object and search for the account associated to the device. Go to the Devices object under the Manage heading. Select the appropriate listed device. If the device is registered with Bitlocker encryption, then the Bitlocker Key ID and Recovery Key will be visible.
Every virtual machine has one attached operating system disk. That OS disk has a pre-installed OS, which was selected when the VM was created. This disk contains the boot volume.
Upload the VHD file using the Azure Portal. In the Azure Portal, select Storage Accounts. Select the storage account where the Security Access Manager VHD file will be uploaded to. ...
Create an image using the Azure Portal. In the Azure Portal, select Images. Click Add to create a new image.
Prepare a certificate for use with a VM. To use the certificate during the VM create process, obtain the ID of your certificate with az keyvault secret list-versions. ...
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