AZ-204 Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure Exam

Designing and Applying Security Policies

Securing APIs in Azure starts with API policies in Azure API Management to enforce security, performance, and compliance. These policies let you inspect and transform requests and responses at various stages of the API call. You can define rules for authentication, authorization, rate limiting, and data transformation. By using policies, you maintain consistent behavior across all your APIs without changing backend code.

To isolate your API gateway and backends, place Azure API Management inside an Azure Virtual Network (vNet). This setup uses private endpoints to keep traffic off the public internet and avoids public IP exposure. You can also connect to on-premises services securely through VPN or ExpressRoute. By restricting network access, you enforce an additional layer of network isolation that complements API-level security.

Inside your API’s inbound section, implement authentication and authorization policies to verify callers and control access. Common policies include:

• validate-jwt to check JSON Web Tokens
• basic authentication or bearer tokens for REST calls
• api-key header validation for simple key-based access

Beyond identity checks, strengthen your defenses with Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF) and CORS policies. WAF, often deployed on Azure Front Door, helps block OWASP Top 10 attacks, while CORS rules define which domains can call your API. You can also use Azure policies to set authorized IP ranges that audit or deny unwanted traffic. Together, these measures provide a layered security approach that meets organizational standards and protects your APIs from unauthorized access.

Conclusion

Implementing policies for APIs in Azure API Management involves a mix of authentication, authorization, network isolation, and advanced protections. By using API policies, you enforce consistent security checks without modifying backend code. Placing the gateway in a vNet and using private endpoints ensures traffic stays within trusted networks. Identity-based controls like validate-jwt and api-key policies verify and grant access only to authorized clients. Finally, adding WAF and CORS rules along with IP restrictions gives you a comprehensive security posture that aligns with organizational standards. Together, these features help you build robust and secure APIs on Azure.