Description:

Private endpoints enable secure, private connectivity to Azure services by using an Azure Virtual Network (VNet). By accessing Azure services through private endpoints, traffic remains within the Azure backbone network, eliminating exposure to the public internet. This approach provides enhanced security for critical services such as Azure Storage, Azure SQL Database, and other Azure resources by ensuring that communication is confined to trusted networks.

Rationale:

Using private endpoints ensures that all communication with Azure services occurs over the internal network, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and man-in-the-middle attacks. It also helps meet compliance and security requirements by keeping sensitive data from traversing the public internet. This is particularly important for organizations handling regulated data and those requiring a higher level of security.

Impact:

Enabling private endpoints ensures traffic flows over private IP addresses, enhancing security and reducing exposure to external threats. However, configuring private endpoints may require additional network setup, such as VNet peering, DNS configurations, and firewall rules to allow secure access to the service. Applications and services that require public access will need to be appropriately configured to work with private endpoints.

Default Value:

By default, Azure services are accessible over the public internet. Private endpoints must be explicitly configured for specific services.

Pre-requisites:

  • Azure account.

  • Azure Virtual Network (VNet) configured for private connectivity.

  • The user must have appropriate permissions to configure private endpoints (e.g., Network Admin, Owner).

Audit:

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal as a Network Admin, Owner, or Contributor.

  2. Navigate to the Azure service (e.g., Azure SQL Database, Azure Storage) that should be accessed via a private endpoint.

  3. Review the Private Endpoint Connections and verify that the service is accessed through private endpoints.

Implementation Steps:

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal with Network Admin, Owner, or Contributor privileges.

  2. Navigate to the Azure service (e.g., Azure SQL Database, Azure Storage) where you want to configure the private endpoint.

  3. For Azure SQL Database:

    • In the Networking section, select Private Endpoint Connections.

    • Click + Private Endpoint and configure the endpoint to use a private IP address from the associated VNet.

  4. For Azure Storage:

    • Go to the Networking section and select Private Endpoints.

    • Create a Private Endpoint and select the corresponding VNet and subnet.

  5. Configure DNS settings to ensure that the service resolves to the private IP address, either by using custom DNS servers or by configuring Azure DNS.

  6. Ensure that Network Security Groups (NSGs) and firewall rules are appropriately configured to allow access from trusted internal resources.

Backout Plan:

  1. Sign in to the Azure portal as a Network Admin, Owner, or Contributor.

  2. Navigate to the Private Endpoint configuration in the Azure service.

  3. Remove the Private Endpoint configuration to revert to the public access setup.

  4. Ensure that the DNS settings are updated to resolve to the public IP address of the service.

  5. Apply and save the changes.

References: