Azure Storage Encryption Overview and Best Practices

Azure Storage Encryption is a powerful feature that helps protect your data from unauthorized access. It's a must-have for any organization that handles sensitive information.

Azure Storage Encryption uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit algorithm, which is a widely accepted and secure encryption standard. This means your data is safe from prying eyes.

Encryption is a two-way process, meaning your data is encrypted both when it's stored and when it's transmitted. This ensures that your data remains secure, even when it's being transferred between Azure services.

Azure Storage Encryption is also highly scalable, making it a great choice for large-scale applications.

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Azure Storage Service Encryption can be broadly categorized into two types: server-side encryption and client-side encryption.

Server-side encryption is a type of encryption where the encryption and decryption of data is handled by the Azure Storage service itself.

Client-side encryption, on the other hand, requires the encryption and decryption of data to be handled by the client application or service.

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Microsoft Azure offers a wide range of storage solutions, including Azure Storage Service Encryption (SSE), which helps organizations protect their data at rest.

Azure Storage Service Encryption is a must-have feature for any organization looking to safeguard its data in the cloud.

Azure supports both client-side and server-side data encryption, giving you flexibility in how you approach encryption.

Client-side encryption is a good option when you need to protect sensitive data in transit, while server-side encryption is ideal for protecting data at rest.

Azure Data Encryption at Rest is enabled by default across all storage services, providing an added layer of security.

Encryption of data in transit is also supported, ensuring that your data is protected even when it's being transferred between different Azure resources.

Azure Storage Encryption is a simple feature to enable, and it applies to queues, files, tables, and blob storage.

You can enable or disable encryption for your storage account using the Azure dashboard, CLI, PowerShell, REST API, or the .NET client library.

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Both premium and standard storage of the resource manager accounts are encrypted, giving you peace of mind when it comes to data security.

Here are the key benefits of using Azure Storage Encryption:

Azure supports various encryption models, including server-side encryption that uses service-managed keys, customer-managed keys in Key Vault, or customer-managed keys on customer-controlled hardware.

Server-side encryption is a process that encrypts data before it's stored on Azure's servers. There are two primary methods for server-side encryption in Azure: service-managed keys and customer-managed keys.

The three server-side encryption models offer different key management characteristics: service-managed keys, customer-managed keys, and service-managed keys in customer-controlled hardware.

Here are the three server-side encryption models in more detail:

The Always Encrypted feature in Azure SQL is a powerful tool that allows you to encrypt data within client applications before storing it in Azure SQL Database. This feature gives you complete control over your data and ensures that only authorized parties can access it.

With Always Encrypted, you can maintain separation between those who own and can view the data and those who manage it but should not have access to it. This is especially useful for organizations that need to delegate on-premises database administration to third parties.

Here are some key benefits of using Always Encrypted:

By using Always Encrypted, you can rest assured that your data is secure and protected from unauthorized access. This feature is a great example of how Azure provides flexible and scalable encryption solutions to meet the needs of modern businesses.

Transparent encryption is a powerful tool for protecting your data. It's used to encrypt SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Synapse Analytics data files in real time.

Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) uses a Database Encryption Key (DEK), which is stored in the database boot record for availability during recovery. This ensures that your data remains secure, even in the event of a disaster.

TDE protects data and log files using AES and Triple Data Encryption Standard (3DES) encryption algorithms. Encryption of the database file is performed at the page level, making it a highly effective method for securing your data.

In Azure, TDE is enabled by default on newly created Azure SQL databases. This means that you don't have to worry about setting it up manually, as it's already taken care of for you.

Here are the key benefits of TDE:

Envelope Hierarchy is a key concept in encryption at rest, and it's used in Azure encryption models. It's a way to store encryption keys securely while still allowing for efficient access and management.

In an envelope hierarchy, a Key Encryption Key (KEK) is used to encrypt the Data Encryption Keys (DEKs). This is also known as envelope encryption or wrapping.

The KEK is stored securely in Azure Key Vault, which ensures that the data encryption keys themselves are encrypted and controlled. This is a big deal, because it means that even if the data encryption keys are compromised, the KEK can still be used to cryptographically erase the data.

Here's a breakdown of the key hierarchy:

By using a key hierarchy, you can limit the use of a single encryption key, which decreases the risk of the key being compromised and the cost of re-encryption when a key must be replaced. This is a big win for security and performance.

For another approach, see: Storage Account Key Azure

Key management is a crucial aspect of Azure storage encryption, and Microsoft recommends using Key Vault to manage and control access to encryption keys. Key Vault relieves organizations of the need to configure, patch, and maintain hardware security modules (HSMs) and key management software.

You maintain control over your keys when you use Key Vault, and Microsoft never sees them. Applications don't have direct access to the keys either.

Permissions to access keys can be assigned to services or to users through Microsoft Entra accounts. This ensures that only authorized personnel can access the encryption keys.

You can also import or generate keys in HSMs when using Key Vault. This flexibility is a significant advantage for organizations with specific key management requirements.

Azure Key Vault provides a common management experience across services, making it easier to manage encryption keys.

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