AZ-500 Microsoft Azure Security Technologies Exam

Enforce AKS Cluster Security and Continuous Monitoring

Azure Policy for Kubernetes builds on Open Policy Agent (OPA) Gatekeeper to enforce rules across your AKS clusters. By installing the Azure Policy add-on, you deploy policy definitions as constraint templates and constraints. This setup provides real-time compliance reporting so you can see which pods or namespaces break rules. The add-on applies policies automatically and sends audit results back to the Azure Policy service. This central approach removes the need for manual checks and ensures consistent security.

To grant the right level of access, configure Azure AD–based RBAC in your AKS cluster. This integration uses least-privilege access to let you assign roles at both the namespace and cluster scopes. You can audit and block non-compliant RBAC configurations with Azure Policy. This ensures that only authorized identities perform administrative or developer tasks. Centralized identity management reduces the risk of over-permissioned users.

Isolate workloads with network policies and Pod Security Standards. These rules help limit communication between pods and enforce secure container settings. You can use Azure Policy to require:

• Allowed Host Paths: Block pods from mounting unsafe host directories
• AppArmor Profiles: Enforce approved security profiles on containers
• Capability Restrictions: Deny dangerous Linux capabilities
• Read-Only Filesystems: Ensure root file systems are immutable at runtime
  These measures ensure container isolation and help you meet CIS benchmarks.

Enable Microsoft Defender for Containers to scan images and protect running workloads. This service performs vulnerability assessments before deployment and provides runtime protections against attacks. Defender for Containers integrates with Azure Policy to check CVE status in your registry and clusters. You get:

• Image Scanning: Find vulnerabilities early
• Runtime Hardening: Prevent suspicious behaviors
• Continuous Remediation: Receive hardening recommendations
  This helps keep your container environment safe and up to date.

Integrate AKS with Azure Monitor and Log Analytics for full visibility into security events. Install data collection agents to gather logs on network traffic and resource changes. Then define custom alert rules that watch for anomalies in real time. Use dashboards and alerts to track security incidents and trigger investigations. This end-to-end pipeline—from policy enforcement to alerting—ensures rapid threat detection and response.

Conclusion

In this section, we covered how to secure and monitor AKS clusters by enforcing policies, controlling access, isolating containers, and detecting threats. We saw how Azure Policy for Kubernetes and OPA Gatekeeper standardize security rules, while Azure AD–based RBAC ensures only authorized identities can act. We explored network policies and Pod Security Standards that enforce container isolation and CIS compliance. We also enabled Microsoft Defender for Containers for vulnerability scanning and runtime protections. Finally, we tied it all together with Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and custom alerts to create a continuously monitored AKS environment.