6 Implementing good security hygiene: Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Defender CSPM

With cyber-attacks increasing both in frequency and complexity (both of which are alarming trends), having good cyber hygiene has never been more important. Cyber hygiene can be considered as a set of practices aimed at ensuring the safety and security of your environment. I’d like to offer a comparison between cyber hygiene and oral hygiene. As any parent knows, telling their kids to brush their teeth and floss daily is essential for keeping their teeth and gums healthy. It prevents oral health problems (like cavities and gum disease), before they even start. Similarly, patching your software against common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) prevents security issues before they arise. Unfortunately, many of the breaches you read about in the news, are the result of poor cyber hygiene, which opens the door for bad actors.

A large number of cybercriminals still find success with their attack campaigns, due to poor cyber hygiene, like poor access controls or using software with well-known vulnerabilities. This challenge is shared by businesses across sectors, size, and industries. Therefore, having good cyber hygiene is crucial in having any kind of security posture.

6.1 Microsoft Defender for Cloud

6.2 Cloud security posture management

6.2.1 Onboarding your subscriptions to Defender for Cloud

6.2.2 Recommendations

6.2.3 Secure score

6.2.4 Free versus paid security-posture management capabilities in Microsoft Defender for Cloud

6.3 Cloud security graph

6.3.1 Attack paths

6.3.2 Cloud security explorer

6.3.3 Agentless scanning for machines

6.4 Security governance

6.4.1 Manually assigning owners and due date

6.4.2 When should you use grace period?

6.4.3 Programmatically assigning owners and due date

6.5 Regulatory compliance

6.5.1 Regulatory compliance in action

6.6 Summary