Plan Defender for Storage Deployment
Implementation Effort: Medium — Requires IT and Security teams to evaluate storage account coverage, configure policies, and integrate with existing security operations.
User Impact: Low — Deployment and configuration are handled by administrators; no direct user interaction is required.
Overview
Planning a deployment of Microsoft Defender for Storage involves evaluating your organization's storage security needs, selecting the appropriate Defender plan, and configuring protection at scale. Defender for Storage is an Azure-native, agentless solution that protects Azure Blob Storage, Azure Files, and Azure Data Lake Storage. It provides advanced threat detection, including malware scanning, sensitive data threat detection, and activity monitoring.
Deployment planning includes:
- Enabling Defender for Storage at the subscription or individual storage account level.
- Choosing deployment methods such as Azure Policy (recommended), ARM templates, Bicep, Terraform, PowerShell, or REST API.
- Configuring optional features like malware scanning and sensitive data threat detection.
- Setting monthly caps for malware scanning to manage costs.
- Overriding subscription-level settings for specific storage accounts when needed.
If Defender for Storage is not properly deployed, organizations risk exposure to threats like malicious uploads, data exfiltration, and unauthorized access. This planning activity supports the Zero Trust principle of "Assume Breach" by ensuring proactive threat detection and consistent security enforcement across storage workloads.