Review & Remediate Security Risk Concerns via Cloud Security Explorer
Implementation Effort: Medium
This task requires security teams to use Cloud Security Explorer to proactively query and analyze API-related risks, and coordinate remediation across affected resources.
User Impact: Low
All actions are performed by security and platform administrators; no direct user involvement is required.
Overview
Cloud Security Explorer in Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a powerful tool that allows security teams to proactively identify and investigate security risks across cloud environments, including APIs protected by Defender for APIs. When used with the Defender CSPM plan, it enables deep visibility into API posture, misconfigurations, and potential attack paths.
Key Capabilities
- Query-based Risk Discovery: Use Cloud Security Explorer to run custom queries against the cloud security graph to find APIs with weak authentication, exposed endpoints, or sensitive data exposure 1.
- Contextual Risk Analysis: Results are enriched with context such as internet exposure, permissions, and lateral movement potential 2.
- Integrated Remediation: Each finding links to guided remediation steps or recommendations that can be tracked and resolved directly in the Defender for Cloud portal 3.
How to Use
- Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud > Cloud Security Explorer.
- Create a query targeting API-related resources (e.g., APIs with no authentication or exposed to the internet).
- Review the results and select a resource to view detailed findings.
- Follow the linked remediation steps or recommendations to resolve the issue.
- Optionally, export results or integrate with automation tools for continuous monitoring.
Failing to use Cloud Security Explorer may result in missed opportunities to detect and mitigate risks before they are exploited. This capability supports the Zero Trust principle of "Assume breach" by enabling proactive threat hunting and risk reduction.