Determine Database Security Posture Goals
Implementation Effort: Medium
Customer IT and Security Operations teams must define data protection objectives, enable data security posture management, and align monitoring with organizational risk priorities.
User Impact: Low
All actions are performed by administrators; no user-facing changes or notifications are required.
Overview
Determining database security posture goals in Microsoft Defender for Databases involves setting clear objectives for protecting sensitive data, reducing exposure, and proactively managing risks across cloud and hybrid environments. This is achieved through Data Security Posture Management (DSPM), a capability within the Defender CSPM plan in Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Key Goals
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Discover Sensitive Data Automatically
- Use smart sampling and sensitive data discovery to identify managed and shadow data resources across Azure, AWS, and GCP 1.
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Evaluate Data Sensitivity and Exposure
- Assess how sensitive data is stored, accessed, and exposed across your environment.
- Identify misconfigurations or excessive permissions that increase risk 1.
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Prioritize Remediation Based on Risk
- Use Cloud Security Explorer and Attack Path Analysis to identify high-risk paths to sensitive data.
- Focus remediation efforts on issues that are part of potential attack paths 1.
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Monitor Continuously
- Continuously track changes in data posture and respond to suspicious activity using Defender for Databases alerts 2.
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Align with Compliance and Governance
- Integrate with Microsoft Purview to apply sensitivity labels and ensure alignment with regulatory requirements 3.
This approach supports the Zero Trust principle of "Verify Explicitly" by ensuring that data access and protection decisions are based on real-time visibility into sensitivity, exposure, and risk. Without clear posture goals, organizations may overlook critical vulnerabilities or misallocate security resources.