Secure & scalable quick starts for Azure Functions using Azure Developer CLI

In today’s rapidly evolving digital environment, ensuring security and seamless networking is more important than ever for all cloud-based applications. Azure Functions provides advanced identity. Networking features to secure your applications. This blog post dives into the core concepts related to security and networking in Azure Functions and provides next steps to get started today.

The Azure Functions team recently released a new feature. Getting Started Quick Start and Sample Take advantage of the Azure Developer CLI!

This sample is safe and scalable.

• Demonstrates best practices for building secure apps.

• Use ID for all connections to dependencies such as Azure Storage

• Includes VNet integration for outbound communications

• Built on a strong Flex consumption plan

• Shows how to leverage the Azure Developer CLI for seamless deployment.

Try it today and integrate sample code into your existing function app to strengthen your security posture. See here. Deep Dive Here we detail recommended best practices related to identity and networking and share an interactive demo that guides you on how to get started today.

Here are some highlights from the talk – what you need to know about identity and networking!

Identity

• Managed identities are a critical aspect of securing Azure Functions without having to manually manage credentials. It simplifies the authentication process to Azure services by managing identities in Azure Entra (also known as Azure Active Directory).

• Identity can be used to authenticate to any service that supports Entra authentication, eliminating the need for hard-coded credentials in your code. Managed identities enable you to securely access Azure services such as Azure SQL Database, Azure Storage, Azure Service Bus, Azure Open AI, and even Azure KeyVault without embedding secrets in your application code. This approach improves security by reducing the risk of credential exposure and simplifies credential management.

• There are two types of managed identities: system-assigned and user-assigned. System-assigned managed identities are created and managed by Azure and are tied to the lifecycle of an Azure resource, such as an Azure Function. User-assigned managed identities are created as standalone Azure resources and can be assigned to multiple Azure resources and have a more durable lifecycle.

• It is also important to consider the login ID of your own interactive users. Entra provides a robust identity platform that supports a variety of authentication methods, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), and conditional access policies. With Entra, you can provide a secure and seamless login experience for your users while they access your applications.

Networking

• Azure Functions leverages Azure Virtual Networks to provide a secure network fabric that provides an isolation boundary for your application. This isolation helps protect your functions from unauthorized access and potential threats.

• Network Security Groups (NSGs) allow you to add an extra layer of security by controlling inbound and outbound traffic.

• Private endpoints allow Azure Functions to communicate with specified resources over private IP addresses, preventing them from being exposed to the public internet. This setting enhances security by restricting access to your functions.

• Azure Functions can integrate with virtual networks, allowing functions to securely access resources within the network. This integration is essential for scenarios where functions need to interact with databases or other services that have restricted access to calls originating from a virtual network.

• Service endpoints allow your functions to connect to Azure services over the Azure backbone network, providing secure, high-performance connectivity. This setup reduces latency and improves the overall performance of your application.

So, what are you waiting for? Build a secure Azure Function today and let us know what you think!

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