Let's Talk Azure!

In this episode, Sam and Alan dive deep into the world of token theft and token replay attacks. They explore what these threats are and discuss effective countermeasures to reduce the risk of token theft and prevent replay attacks. Here’s a breakdown of what they covered: Understanding Authentication Tokens: What are they and why are they crucial for secure authentication? Token Theft and Replay Attacks: An overview of how these attacks work and their potential impact on organisations. Reducing Token Theft Risks: Practical strategies to minimize the chances of tokens being stolen. Preventing Token Replay: Measures you can implement to block access when stolen tokens are reused. What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure VM Image Builder which is a service that simplifies the creation, customisation, and management of virtual machine images in Azure, automating tasks like software installation, configuration, and patching for consistent deployments. Here is what we covered: What are Virtual Machine images? And how they are used in Azure. What are the challenges with image creation? What is Azure VM builder and how does it help? How much does the service cost? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Key Microsoft Entra, Intune and Defender features and updates Lots of Azure changes and new features What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

Alan and Sam dive into Microsoft's Security Exposure Management platform. Alan takes us through the various components and the benefits on using this platform. Here are a few things we covered: What is Microsoft Security Exposure Management? What components make up the platform? Who benefits from the platform? What integrations does the platform have? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure Container Storage which is a volume management service built natively for containers, which enables cost-effective performance scaling and simplified management of volumes for stateful container applications. What are containers and their storage requirements? Why Azure Container Storage is useful How do you create storage? What are the configuration options? How much does the service cost? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

Alan and Sam talk about External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and how Microsoft's Defender EASM helps discover and monitor your digital assets. Here are a few things we covered: What is External Attack Surface Management? What is Defender EASM and how can it help identify your risks? How do you setup Defender EASM? how much does it cost? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure Storage Accounts which provide scalable, secure, and highly available cloud storage for various data types, including blobs, files, queues, and tables. It serves as a foundational service in Microsoft Azure, enabling applications to store and retrieve data efficiently across multiple redundancy options and access tiers, here is what we covered: What is Azure Storage accounts and why are they useful? What types of data do they support? How do you create them? What are the configuration options? How much do they cost? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Key Microsoft Entra and Defender features and updates Lots of Azure changes and new features What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

Alan and Sam dive into Microsoft's Unified Security Operations Platform and how it can benefit SOC analysts in their day to day. Here are a few things we covered: What is a Security Operations Centre (SOC)? What is the new Microsoft Unified Security Operations Platform? What are the benefits of the new platform? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure Storage Actions a serverless framework currently in preview that allows users to perform common data operations on millions of objects across multiple Azure Storage accounts without needing additional compute resources. It involves creating storage tasks with defined conditions, operations, and assignments. Users can monitor and manage these tasks, which run asynchronously, via metrics and reports. Azure Storage Actions is integrated with Azure Event Grid for event handling, and is supported in several regions, here is what we covered: What is Azure Storage Actions and why are they useful? How do you create them? What are the configuration options? How much does it cost? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Key Microsoft Entra and Defender features and updates Lots of Azure changes and new features What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

Alan and Sam talk about the use of Managed Identities for Azure resources. Alan takes us through the methods used for programmatic access to Azure resources and the risks of some of the options. Here are a few things we covered: What is programmatic access? What methods are usually used to gain programmatic access? What are Managed Identities for Azure resources, and how they can be used. What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week Alan and Sam discuss Data API builder. It is a powerful tool designed to streamline the process of creating and deploying APIs for data-driven applications. It facilitates the rapid development of secure, scalable, and high-performance APIs that can seamlessly interact with various data sources, including databases, file systems, and third-party services. By automating much of the setup and configuration, Data API builder reduces the complexity and time required to bring data APIs to production, allowing developers to focus on building features and functionality rather than managing infrastructure. This tool is particularly beneficial for organizations looking to enhance their data accessibility and integration capabilities while ensuring robust security and performance standards. _What are CRUD APIs? Why are they important? How do you use it? What are some of the use cases for the solution? How much does it cost? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Build + RSA Updates key Microsoft Entra and Defender features and updates Lots of Azure changes and new features What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript

Alan and Sam talk about why it is important to monitor your network for connected devices. Alan runs us through the benefits of doing it with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Here are a few areas we covered: Why is it important to monitor your network? How can you find devices using Microsoft solutions? What are the benefits of devices being discovered and searchable in the Defender XDR Portal How is it licensed What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form, Or leave us a voice message in the bottom right corner of our site.Read transcript