Azure Compliance FrameworksCore Frameworks
NIST Cybersecurity Framework v2.0
Best for: The official page describes CSF 2.0 as being for industry, government, and organizations to reduce cybersecurity risks. It is presented as a resource to help organizations better understand and improve their management of cybersecurity risk.
| Mandatory? | Voluntary — widely adopted across sectors |
| Who validates? | Self-assessment; optional third-party |
| Renewal | No fixed cycle; continuous improvement |
| Scope | All organizations; six functions: Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover |
🏛 NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) · NIST CSF v2.0 (Feb 2024) Official source →
Controls by Category
DE.AE-02: Potentially adverse events are analyzed to better understand associated activities. (3 controls)
DE.AE-03: Information is correlated from multiple sources. (1 control)
DE.AE-04: The estimated impact and scope of adverse events are understood. (1 control)
DE.AE-06: Information on adverse events is provided to authorized staff and tools. (1 control)
DE.AE-07: Cyber threat intelligence and other contextual information are integrated into the analysis. (1 control)
DE.AE-08: Incidents are declared when adverse events meet the defined incident criteria. (1 control)
DE.CM-01: Networks and network services are monitored to find potentially adverse events. (4 controls)
DE.CM-02: The physical environment is monitored to find potentially adverse events. (1 control)
DE.CM-03: Personnel activity and technology usage are monitored to find potentially adverse events. (3 controls)
DE.CM-06: External service provider activities and services are monitored to find potentially adverse events. (1 control)
DE.CM-09: Computing hardware and software, runtime environments, and their data are monitored to find potentially adverse events. (1 control)
GV.OC-02: Internal and external stakeholders are understood, and their needs and expectations regarding cybersecurity risk management are understood and considered. (6 controls)
Azure subscriptions should not have guest accounts with owner permissionsAzure subscriptions should not have guest accounts with read permissionsAzure subscriptions should not have guest accounts with write permissionsAzure subscriptions should prohibit Custom Subscription Administrator rolesAzure subscriptions should limit owners to 3Azure subscriptions should have more than one owner
GV.OC-03: Legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements regarding cybersecurity — including privacy and civil liberties obligations — are understood and managed. (8 controls)
App Service apps should use the latest TLS versionApp Service API apps should require HTTPS for all accessFunction apps should use the latest TLS versionFunction apps should require HTTPS for all accessApp Service web apps should use the latest TLS versionKey Vault secrets should have an expiration dateAzure Monitor should have activity log collection enabled for all regionsStorage accounts should have secure transfer enabled
GV.RM-03: Cybersecurity risk management activities and outcomes are included in enterprise risk management processes. (5 controls)
Azure subscriptions should have Microsoft Defender for App Service enabledAzure subscriptions should have Microsoft Defender for Key Vault enabledAzure subscriptions should have Microsoft Defender for Servers enabledAzure subscriptions should have Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL Database servers enabledAzure subscriptions should have Microsoft Defender for Storage enabled
GV.RR-01: Organizational leadership is responsible and accountable for cybersecurity risk and fosters a culture that is risk-aware, ethical, and continually improving. (5 controls)
Azure subscriptions should not have blocked accounts with read and write permissionsAzure subscriptions should not have blocked accounts with owner permissionsCustom RBAC roles should not be usedAzure subscriptions should prohibit Custom Subscription Administrator rolesAzure subscriptions should limit owners to 3
GV.RR-02: Roles, responsibilities, and authorities related to cybersecurity risk management are established, communicated, understood, and enforced. (2 controls)
GV.RR-04: Cybersecurity is included in human resources practices. (2 controls)
GV.SC-02: Cybersecurity roles and responsibilities for suppliers, customers, and partners are established, communicated, and coordinated internally and externally. (2 controls)
GV.SC-07: The risks posed by a supplier, their products and services, and other third parties are understood, recorded, prioritized, assessed, responded to, and monitored over the course of the relationship. (1 control)
GV.SC-09: Supply chain security practices are integrated into cybersecurity and enterprise risk management programs, and their performance is monitored throughout the technology product and service life cycle. (1 control)
ID.AM-01: Inventories of hardware managed by the organization are maintained. (2 controls)
ID.AM-02: Inventories of software, services, and systems managed by the organization are maintained. (6 controls)
Virtual machines should have the Guest Configuration extension installedVirtual machines should use system-assigned managed identity with the Guest Configuration extensionVirtual machines should have the Log Analytics agent installed for Azure Security Center monitoringVirtual machine scale sets should have the Log Analytics agent installed for Azure Security Center monitoringVirtual machines should have system updates installedVirtual machines should have a vulnerability assessment solution enabled
ID.AM-03: Representations of the organization's authorized network communication and internal and external network data flows are maintained. (8 controls)
Application gateways should have Web Application Firewall (WAF) enabledKey vaults should have resource logs enabledNetwork security groups should have Diagnostic Settings configuredSubnets should have a network security group configuredNetwork security groups should have flow logs configuredAzure subscriptions should have Network Watcher enabledFlow log resources should have flow logging enabledNetwork Watcher flow logs should have traffic analytics enabled
ID.AM-05: Assets are prioritized based on classification, criticality, resources, and impact on the mission. (4 controls)
ID.AM-07: Inventories of data and corresponding metadata for designated data types are maintained. (2 controls)
ID.AM-08: Systems, hardware, software, services, and data are managed throughout their life cycles. (5 controls)
Virtual machines should use just-in-time network access control for management portsCompute virtual machine scale sets should have automatic OS image patching enabledVirtual machines should have system updates installedVirtual machines should have a vulnerability assessment solution enabledSQL databases should have vulnerability findings resolved
ID.IM-02: Improvements are identified from security tests and exercises, including those done in coordination with suppliers and relevant third parties. (1 control)
ID.RA-01: Vulnerabilities in assets are identified, validated, and recorded. (4 controls)
Virtual machines should have a vulnerability assessment solution enabledAzure subscriptions should have Microsoft Defender for Azure SQL Database servers enabledUnprotected SQL Server virtual machines should have Azure Defender for SQL enabledUnprotected Azure SQL servers should have Azure Defender for SQL enabled
ID.RA-03: Internal and external threats to the organization are identified and recorded. (3 controls)
ID.RA-04: Potential impacts and likelihoods of threats exploiting vulnerabilities are identified and recorded. (1 control)
ID.RA-05: Threats, vulnerabilities, likelihoods, and impacts are used to understand inherent risk and inform risk response prioritization. (2 controls)
ID.RA-08: Processes for receiving, analyzing, and responding to vulnerability disclosures are established. (1 control)
ID.RA-09: The authenticity and integrity of hardware and software are assessed prior to acquisition and use. (2 controls)
PR.AA-01: Identities and credentials for authorized users, services, and hardware are managed by the organization. (7 controls)
Azure subscriptions should not have blocked accounts with read and write permissionsAzure subscriptions should not have blocked accounts with owner permissionsAzure subscriptions should not have guest accounts with owner permissionsAzure subscriptions should not have guest accounts with read permissionsAzure subscriptions should not have guest accounts with write permissionsAzure subscriptions should prohibit Custom Subscription Administrator rolesAzure subscriptions should limit owners to 3
PR.AA-02: Identities are proofed and bound to credentials based on the context of interactions. (2 controls)
PR.AA-03: Users, services, and hardware are authenticated. (3 controls)
PR.AA-04: Identity assertions are protected, conveyed, and verified. (3 controls)
PR.AA-05: Access permissions, entitlements, and authorizations are defined in a policy, managed, enforced, and reviewed, and incorporate the principles of least privilege and separation of duties. (2 controls)
PR.DS-01: The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data-at-rest are protected. (4 controls)
PR.DS-02: The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data-in-transit are protected. (6 controls)
App Service apps should use the latest TLS versionApp Service API apps should require HTTPS for all accessFunction apps should use the latest TLS versionFunction apps should require HTTPS for all accessApp Service web apps should use the latest TLS versionStorage accounts should have secure transfer enabled
PR.DS-11: Backups of data are created, protected, maintained, and tested. (2 controls)
PR.IR-01: Networks and environments are protected from unauthorized logical access and usage. (4 controls)
PR.IR-02: The organization's technology assets are protected from environmental threats. (2 controls)
PR.IR-03: Mechanisms are implemented to achieve resilience requirements in normal and adverse situations. (2 controls)
PR.IR-04: Adequate resource capacity to ensure availability is maintained. (1 control)
PR.PS-01: Configuration management practices are established and applied. (3 controls)
PR.PS-02: Software is maintained, replaced, and removed commensurate with risk. (3 controls)
PR.PS-03: Hardware is maintained, replaced, and removed commensurate with risk. (2 controls)
PR.PS-04: Log records are generated and made available for continuous monitoring. (6 controls)
Application Insights components should prohibit log ingestion and querying from public networksApplication Insights components should have a Log Analytics workspace configured for Azure Monitor LogsKubernetes clusters should have logging enabledLog Analytics workspaces should prohibit log ingestion and querying from public networksLog Analytics workspaces should prohibit ingestion that is not based on Azure Active DirectoryAzure Monitor should have activity log collection enabled for all regions
PR.PS-05: Installation and execution of unauthorized software are prevented. (1 control)
PR.PS-06: Secure software development practices are integrated, and their performance is monitored throughout the software development life cycle. (2 controls)
RC.CO-03: Recovery activities and progress in restoring operational capabilities are communicated to designated internal and external stakeholders. (3 controls)
RC.CO-04: Public updates on incident recovery are shared using approved methods and messaging. (1 control)
RC.RP-01: The recovery portion of the incident response plan is executed once initiated from the incident response process. (2 controls)
RC.RP-02: Recovery actions are selected, scoped, prioritized, and performed. (2 controls)
RC.RP-03: The integrity of backups and other restoration assets is verified before using them for restoration. (4 controls)
RC.RP-04: Critical mission functions and cybersecurity risk management are considered to establish post-incident operational norms. (1 control)
RC.RP-05: The integrity of restored assets is verified, systems and services are restored, and normal operating status is confirmed. (1 control)
RC.RP-06: The end of incident recovery is declared based on criteria, and incident-related documentation is completed. (1 control)
RS.AN-03: Analysis is performed to establish what has taken place during an incident and the root cause of the incident. (1 control)
RS.AN-06: Actions performed during an investigation are recorded, and the records' integrity and provenance are preserved. (4 controls)
Monitor log profiles should have retention set to 365 days or greaterStorage accounts containing activity log containers should use customer-managed keys for encryptionAzure subscriptions should have auto provisioning of the Log Analytics agent enabledSQL servers auditing to storage accounts should have retention set to 90 days or more
RS.AN-07: Incident data and metadata are collected, and their integrity and provenance are preserved. (1 control)
RS.AN-08: An incident's magnitude is estimated and validated. (1 control)
RS.CO-02: Internal and external stakeholders are notified of incidents. (1 control)
RS.CO-03: Information is shared with designated internal and external stakeholders. (1 control)
RS.MA-01: The incident response plan is executed in coordination with relevant third parties once an incident is declared. (3 controls)
RS.MA-02: Incident reports are triaged and validated. (1 control)
RS.MA-03: Incidents are categorized and prioritized. (1 control)
RS.MA-04: Incidents are escalated or elevated as needed. (1 control)
RS.MA-05: The criteria for initiating incident recovery are applied. (1 control)
RS.MI-01: Incidents are contained. (1 control)
RS.MI-02: Incidents are eradicated. (1 control)
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