Protecting Administrative Credentials during Azure Server Deployment

A

Azure Key Vault is a secure store for storage various types of sensitive information. In this question, we would store the administrative credentials in the Key Vault.

With this solution, there is no need to store the administrative credentials as plain text in the deployment scripts.

All information stored in the Key Vault is encrypted.

Azure Key Vault can be used to Securely store and tightly control access to tokens, passwords, certificates, API keys, and other secrets.

Secrets and keys are safeguarded by Azure, using industry-standard algorithms, key lengths, and hardware security modules (HSMs). The HSMs used are

Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 Level 2 validated.

Access to a key vault requires proper authentication and authorization before a caller (user or application) can get access. Authentication establishes the identity of the caller, while authorization determines the operations that they are allowed to perform.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/key-vault/key-vault-overview

The best solution for encrypting administrative credentials during the deployment of servers in Azure is to use Azure Key Vault.

Azure Key Vault is a cloud service that provides a secure repository for storing and managing cryptographic keys, secrets, and certificates. It allows you to centralize the management of keys, secrets, and certificates that are used by your applications and services.

Using Azure Key Vault, you can securely store your administrative credentials as a secret, and then retrieve them during the deployment process. Azure Key Vault provides several benefits for managing secrets, including:

1. Secure storage: Azure Key Vault provides secure storage for keys, secrets, and certificates, protecting them from unauthorized access.

2. Centralized management: Azure Key Vault provides a central location for managing keys, secrets, and certificates, simplifying their management.

3. Access policies: Azure Key Vault allows you to define fine-grained access policies that control who can access your secrets, and what they can do with them.

4. Auditing and logging: Azure Key Vault provides auditing and logging capabilities, allowing you to track who accessed your secrets, and when.

Azure Information Protection is a service that helps you classify, label, and protect your data and documents, but it's not directly related to securing administrative credentials during deployment.

Azure Security Center is a service that provides centralized security management and threat protection for your Azure resources. While it can help you monitor and protect your resources, it doesn't provide a specific solution for encrypting administrative credentials.

Azure Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a security feature that requires users to provide two or more forms of authentication before they can access their resources. While MFA can help you secure your resources, it doesn't provide a specific solution for encrypting administrative credentials during deployment.