Build and secure your apps with Azure App Service and Defender for Cloud

We’re excited to share one of our latest security capabilities in the Better Together tab in the Azure portal. Azure App Service customers can now more easily secure their web apps by enabling Defender for App Service, part of Microsoft Defender for Cloud’s Cloud Native Application Platform (CNAPP) solution. The Better Together experience is designed to improve your development journey by recommending and deploying the right services at the right time, with a specific focus on Azure App Service, Azure Container Apps (ACA), and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).

In this blog, we will discuss the importance of web app security and explore new activation options.

Why secure your web app from the start?

Organizations of all sizes are rapidly moving their application development processes to the cloud, and with the help of generative AI, they are becoming more productive, and are therefore developing and publishing apps at speed and scale. While this helps businesses grow and deliver applications to those who need them faster, it also increases the attack surface and provides more opportunities for malicious actors to exploit resources. In addition to the increased attack surface, users are downloading and entering information into apps every day, often without thinking twice. This is thanks to the rapid adoption of smart devices.

Cloud resources have unique identities that developers use within a specific cloud architecture, and without proper protection, attackers can exploit these identities. Securing web apps requires securing both the frontend gateway and the runtime with native and agentless detection methods. Compromised web apps can lead to data theft (e.g., storage, files, keys, databases), crypto mining, ransomware attacks, DDoS incidents, and significant disruption to production availability. Securing these applications is essential to prevent unauthorized access that can have serious consequences. By ensuring strong security, you can maintain user trust, protect business operations, and comply with regulations.

Azure App Service and Defender for App Service are better together.

When you migrate and deploy your on-premises applications to the cloud in Azure App Service, you get built-in security protections. This includes platform maintenance such as compliance with ISO, SOC, and PCI standards, creating IP address restrictions, and applying security patches. Because Azure is a fully managed platform as a service (PaaS), App Service automatically Patch and maintain OS and language frameworks. For all support Software Stack Includes security patches whether it’s .NET, .NET Core, Java, Node.js, PHP or Python.. Strengthening your security posture may require you to manage, monitor, detect, and respond to additional threats that arise in your environment.

To get these ongoing and improved security assessments and recommendations from Defender for App Service, we’ve introduced new ways to enable and discover Defender for App Service in Defender for Cloud without leaving Azure App Service. Let’s look at a few examples.

1. Activate in pre-generated mode: When you create a new web app in App Service, you will now see an option to enable Defender for App Service. Monitoring + Security tag.

2. Activate in postmethod: If you’ve already created a web app, go to the new Better Together tab in the left navigation, where you can select Defender for App Service.

3. Get activation recommendations from Copilot for Azure. Ask questions about recommended services to pair with Azure App Service using Copilot for Azure. For example, you can ask: “What security tools should I use with Azure App Service?” “What are the popular services distributed with my app service?”

Enabling Defender for App Service gives you peace of mind knowing that your applications are proactively monitored for security threats, while also providing the contextual information you need to investigate and respond to incidents. Integrating security into your software development lifecycle allows you to stay focused on what you do best, while automatically and seamlessly identifying potentially harmful attacks targeting your applications, giving you the full lifecycle protection you need to stop malicious actors across your environment.

Get started

new Better Together The Azure Portal features are evolving features designed to help administrators more easily and quickly find guidance to build and deploy applications more efficiently and securely, helping you be more productive and performant. Your feedback is always welcome! With Better Together, we strive to provide end-to-end guidance through three main paths.

• Service Recommendations: We provide tailored suggestions for the most appropriate services to optimize the performance of your application.
• Scenario Recommendations: Provides tailored advice based on your specific use case to help you achieve the best results.
• Problem Diagnosis: Proactively identify and resolve potential problems to maintain smooth operations.

New to Azure App Service? Learn more about its features and benefits and get started. Azure FreeTo learn more about how Defender for Cloud can help you secure your web applications, visit Defender for App Service. Product Description and Try it for free Through your Azure subscription