Description:
Azure admin accounts (such as Global Administrator, Privileged Role Administrator, Account Administrator, and other high-privilege roles) provide the highest level of access to Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) and Azure subscriptions. These accounts have full control over all resources and can perform sensitive operations like user management, role assignments, and subscription-level changes.
To reduce the risk of misuse or accidental changes to critical resources, it is considered a best practice to limit the use of Azure admin accounts for daily operations. Admin accounts should only be used when necessary for specific administrative tasks and should not be used for regular work like browsing, email, or accessing non-administrative resources. Instead, users should use standard user accounts or accounts with lower privileges for their day-to-day activities.
Rationale:
By ensuring that Azure admin accounts are not used for daily operations, you:
Minimize risk: Admin accounts are high-value targets for attackers. Using them only for administrative tasks reduces the attack surface.
Improve security posture: Reduces the likelihood of making unintentional changes to resources, settings, or configurations.
Enforce the principle of least privilege: Regular work should be done with lower-privileged accounts to minimize the potential impact of a compromised account.
Comply with best practices: Limiting the use of admin accounts aligns with security frameworks like NIST, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 that emphasize least-privilege access.
Impact:
Restricting the use of admin accounts for daily operations will:
Improve overall security by reducing the chances of administrative accounts being exposed or misused.
Increase operational oversight as admin accounts will only be used for specific, tracked tasks.
Require careful planning to ensure users have appropriate non-administrative accounts for daily work, reducing friction in day-to-day operations.
Default Value:
By default, Azure admin accounts can be used for any operation, including daily activities. These accounts are typically assigned to users during the initial setup of Azure AD and are often used for tasks beyond administrative functions.
Pre-requisites:
Azure subscription with Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) configured.
Global Administrator or Privileged Role Administrator permissions to manage admin roles and permissions.
Non-admin accounts for users to perform day-to-day operations.
Audit:
Sign in to Azure portal as a Global Administrator.
Review the admin role assignments to ensure admin accounts are only assigned to users who need them for administrative tasks.
Verify that admin accounts are not used for regular operations like email access, browsing, or accessing resources not related to administrative work.
Implementation Steps (Manual):
Sign in to Azure portal:
Use an account with Global Administrator or Privileged Role Administrator permissions.
Navigate to Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD):
In the Azure portal, go to Azure Active Directory.
Review Admin Role Assignments:
In Azure Active Directory, navigate to Roles and administrators under the Manage section.
Review users assigned to high-privilege roles such as Global Administrator, Privileged Role Administrator, Account Administrator, and other Azure admin roles.
Ensure these roles are only assigned to users who need them for specific administrative tasks.
Assign Non-Admin Accounts for Daily Use:
Assign non-admin roles to users for daily operations (e.g., User Administrator, Security Reader, Global Reader, or Contributor for resource management).
Ensure that admins use standard, non-admin accounts for their daily activities and only use admin accounts for tasks like role assignments, security policy configuration, or system-level changes.
Create Separate Admin Accounts (if necessary):
For admin users who may need elevated privileges for specific tasks, create a dedicated admin account used exclusively for administrative tasks.
Assign them a standard user account for regular activities. Ensure these accounts are clearly separated and have different passwords.
Enforce Access Control Policies:
In Conditional Access, ensure that admin accounts are only allowed to log in from trusted networks or devices for added security.
Use Just-in-Time (JIT) access, where admin privileges are assigned only when required, and automatically removed after a specified period.
Set up Logging and Monitoring for Admin Accounts:
Enable audit logging to track when admin accounts are used for sensitive operations and ensure that admin actions are logged for compliance and security monitoring.
Configure Azure AD Sign-in logs to monitor admin account access.
Communicate the Policy to Users:
Inform your administrators and users about the policy that admin accounts should not be used for daily operations.
Provide guidance on how to manage standard user accounts for daily activities and how to use admin accounts only when needed for privileged tasks.
Test the Policy:
Test by logging in as an admin to confirm that the admin account cannot be used for regular work like email or browsing.
Ensure that admin accounts are only used for administrative tasks (e.g., managing user roles, setting policies, etc.).
Backout Plan (Manual):
Sign in to Azure portal:
Use an account with Global Administrator or Privileged Role Administrator permissions.
Navigate to Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD):
Go to Azure Active Directory in the Azure portal.
Reassign Admin Roles for Daily Use:
If you need to revert the policy and allow admin accounts to be used for daily operations again, assign admin roles to the users who require them for day-to-day tasks.
Go to Roles and administrators, select the required admin role, and reassign it to the appropriate users.
Verify Role Assignments:
After reassigning the roles, confirm that users can now use their admin accounts for regular operations.
Test by logging in as an admin and performing a regular non-administrative task (e.g., using email, browsing, etc.).
Test the Reverted Configuration:
Perform tests to ensure admin accounts are used for regular tasks again and that all necessary administrative functions are still available.