How Proactive Network Security Helps Secure Azure Workloads

Today’s network security landscape is a dynamic and challenging frontier. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have escalated, with over 21 million mitigated in 2024—a 53% surge from 2023—peaking at 5.6 terabits per second (Tbps) in Q4, driven by botnets like Mirai variants. Application-layer threats, such as HTTP/HTTPS floods, spiked 548% against telecom sectors, exploiting vulnerabilities in web-facing services. Geopolitical hacktivism has also fueled targeted assaults, with Ukraine seeing a 519% attack increase in 2024. 

Beyond DDoS, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and Secure Shell (SSH) attacks are on the rise, with over 35% of cloud breaches in 2024 tied to compromised credentials or brute-force attempts on exposed endpoints, according to industry reports. Misconfigured servers, unpatched vulnerabilities (e.g., CVE-2024-3080 in ASUS routers), and weak network policies amplify these risks. For enterprises leveraging Azure’s vast ecosystem, these threats underscore the need to secure virtual networks, public endpoints, and remote access points. Maintaining business continuity, data integrity, and customer trust is crucial. 

A robust network security strategy strengthens the security and quality of Azure deployments. Proper network security practices ensure availability, so DDoS floods can’t knock critical apps offline, potentially costing you millions if the outage occurs during a peak time. A secure network also helps you protect sensitive data, as network breaches risk customer data, your own IP, and personal data triggering potential compliance violations (e.g. GDPR, CCPA) and loss of trust. These benefits include managing cloud complexity and countering threats like remote access, making proactive network security essential. 

Application architectures and Azure Native Services for protection 

Let’s examine two Azure architectures, their threats, and how native services—including Azure Front Door, Azure Firewalls and Azure Network Security Perimeter—mitigate them. 

Example 1: Multi-Tier Web Application 

Architecture: A customer-facing web app on Azure App Service, Azure SQL Database backend, and Azure Virtual Network (VNet) connectivity. Traffic flows through Azure Front Door; admins access VMs via RDP/SSH. 

Threats:  

  - DDoS floods targeting the front-end. 

  - RDP/SSH brute force attacks on exposed VM ports (e.g., 3389, 22). 

  - SQL injection via public endpoints. 

Azure Services for Protection: 

• Azure Front Door: Acts as a global entry point, providing DDoS protection and Web Application Firewall (WAF) capabilities. It mitigates volumetric and application-layer attacks using Microsoft’s CDN-scale infrastructure, offloading traffic before it reaches the VNET. 

• Azure DDoS Protection: Complements Front Door by protecting VNet resources with real-time traffic analysis, absorbing multi-Tbps floods with 200+ Tbps capacity. 

• Azure Web Application Firewall (WAF): Blocks Layer 7 exploits (e.g., SQL injection, XSS) using OWASP rules. 

• Azure Bastion: Provides secure RDP/SSH access to VMs via a browser-based, managed jumpbox, eliminating public IP exposure for cost-effective dev/test scenarios. 

• Azure Firewall: Inspects VNet traffic, blocking unauthorized RDP/SSH attempts with application-aware rules (e.g., deny port 3389 from untrusted IPs). 

• Network Security Groups (NSGs): Locks down VNet subnets, restricting inbound traffic to trusted sources and protecting against exploits targeting unpatched vulnerabilities (e.g., RDP CVE-2021-34527). 

• Azure Network Security Perimeter: Defines a secure boundary around PaaS services, enforcing centralized policies to block traffic and ensure compliance with organizational standards. 

Example 2: Microservices with Kubernetes 

Architecture: A microservices app on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), with Azure Load Balancer, Azure Cosmos DB, and API server VNET integration for private network traffic between API server and node pools. Azure Front Door manages ingress; DevOps teams use SSH to manage nodes. 

Threats:  

  - DDoS targeting public IP resources. 

  - SSH brute-force or credential stuffing on AKS nodes. 

-insecure network communications between pods, containers running with excessive permissions, leaking of secrets and data breach. 

  - API abuse and container vulnerabilities. 

Azure Services for Protection: 

• Azure Front Door and Azure Web Application Firewall: Delivers global load balancing and DDoS protection for AKS ingress, filtering floods and Layer 7 threats with integrated WAF, reducing load on downstream services. 

• Azure DDoS Protection: Shields Bastion and Firewall from flood attacks, using adaptive mitigation to maintain uptime. 

• Azure Bastion Developer: Secures SSH access to AKS nodes via private connectivity, avoiding public endpoints—ideal for DevOps workflows. 

• Azure Firewall: Deploys at the VNet edge to filter traffic, blocking SSH exploits and enforcing FQDN-based rules for outbound container updates, thwarting CVE-driven attacks. 

• Network Security Groups (NSGs): Applies granular controls to AKS subnets, denying unauthorized SSH (port 22) or RDP traffic and mitigating risks from misconfigured pods. 
• Azure Network Security Perimeter: Defines a secure boundary around PaaS services, enforcing centralized policies to block traffic and ensure compliance with organizational standards. 

These tools form a defense-in-depth strategy, leveraging Azure’s scale and intelligence to counter both brute-force and targeted threats. 

Strategies to help secure your Azure workloads 

Securing Azure workloads involves consistent monitoring and auditing. Enterprises should use Azure Monitor and Security Center to detect anomalies, such as RDP login spikes or UDP floods, which trigger real-time alerts. Additionally, it is important to audit configurations regularly by reviewing NSGs, Firewall rules, Front Door policies, and Bastion access on a regular basis to correct any misconfigurations, as these are a common cause of breaches according to 2024 data. 

After monitoring and auditing has succeeded, patching proactively is vital. Update your VMs, containers, and services to address vulnerabilities like CVE-2024-3080, which led to a 3.4 Tbps attack in 2021. After patching, integrate Azure Sentinel with global feeds to preempt exploits or DDOS attacks using Microsoft's threat intelligence.  

Finally, test your resilience by simulating DDoS and RDP attacks and common vulnerabilities to validate Azure Front Door, Azure Bastion, Azure Firewall, and NSG efficacy, refining your incident response. 

Protect your business with a network security strategy  

In network security, threats are multifaceted: DDoS, RDP/SSH exploits, and vulnerabilities threaten Azure workloads, demanding comprehensive security. Azure delivers the tools and native services needed to help fortify your networks against diverse risks. 

Stay ahead of network threats by integrating security into deployments and maintaining it with monitoring, audits, and testing. While Azure provides the platform, your strategy, including network security, is ultimately what ensures safety.