One possible solution to monitor the security configuration of DC1 by using Microsoft Defender for Cloud is to use the Guest Configuration feature. Guest Configuration is a service that audits settings inside Linux and Windows virtual machines (VMs) to assess their compliance with your organization’s security policies. You can use Guest Configuration to monitor the security baseline settings for Windows Server in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud portal by following these steps:
On DC1, open a web browser and go to the folder named \dc1.contoso.com\install. Download the Guest Configuration extension file (GuestConfiguration.msi) and save it to a local folder, such as C:\Temp.
Run the Guest Configuration extension file and follow the installation wizard. You can choose to install the extension for all users or only for the current user. For more information on how to install the Guest Configuration extension, see Install the Guest Configuration extension.
After the installation is complete, sign in to the Microsoft Defender for Cloud portal (2).
In the left pane, select Security Center and then Recommendations.
In the recommendations list, find and select Vulnerabilities in security configuration on your Windows machines should be remediated (powered by Guest Configuration).
In the Remediate Security Configurations page, you can see the compliance status of your Windows VMs, including DC1, based on the Azure Compute Benchmark. The Azure Compute Benchmark is a set of rules that define the desired configuration state of your VMs. You can also see the number of failed, passed, and skipped rules for each VM. For more information on the Azure Compute Benchmark, see Microsoft cloud security benchmark: Azure compute benchmark is now available.
To view the details of the security configuration of DC1, click on the VM name and then select View details. You can see the list of rules that apply to DC1 and their compliance status. You can also see the severity, description, and remediation steps for each rule. For example, you can see if DC1 has the latest security updates installed, if the firewall is enabled, if the password policy is enforced, and so on.
To monitor the security configuration of DC1 over time, you can use the Compliance over time chart, which shows the trend of compliance status for DC1 in the past 30 days. You can also use the Compliance breakdown chart, which shows the distribution of compliance status for DC1 by rule severity.
By using Guest Configuration, you can monitor the security configuration of DC1 by using Microsoft Defender for Cloud and ensure that it meets your organization’s security standards. You can also use Guest Configuration to monitor the security configuration of other Windows and Linux VMs in your Azure environment.
