Azure Financial Records Detection

Learn how to detect financial records in Azure environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for PCI-DSS compliance.

data exposure

PCI-DSS

azure

Why It Matters

The core goal is to identify every location where financial records are stored within your Azure environment, so you can remediate unintended exposures before they become breaches. Scanning for financial data in Azure is a priority for organizations subject to PCI-DSS, as it helps you prove you've discovered and accounted for all sensitive financial assets—mitigating the risk of data exposure and unauthorized access.

Primary Risk: Data exposure of financial records

Relevant Regulation: PCI-DSS Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard

A thorough scan delivers immediate visibility, laying the foundation for automated policy enforcement and ongoing compliance.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • Azure Global Administrator or Security Administrator
  • Storage Account Contributor privileges
  • Ability to deploy Azure Resource Manager templates

External Tools

  • Azure CLI or PowerShell
  • Cyera DSPM account
  • API credentials

Prior Setup

  • Azure subscription provisioned
  • Storage accounts configured
  • CLI authenticated
  • Network security groups configured

Introducing Cyera

Cyera is a modern Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) platform that discovers, classifies, and continuously monitors your sensitive data across cloud services. By leveraging advanced AI and machine learning techniques including Named Entity Recognition (NER) and pattern matching, Cyera automatically identifies financial records, payment card data, and bank account information within your Azure environment, ensuring you stay ahead of accidental exposures and meet PCI-DSS audit requirements in real time.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Configure your Azure environment

Ensure proper service principal permissions are configured and create necessary access policies for storage accounts, databases, and file shares containing financial data.

az login --service-principal --username APP_ID --password PASSWORD --tenant TENANT_ID

2
Enable scanning workflows

In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → DSPM → Add new. Select Azure, provide your subscription ID and service principal details, then define the scan scope to include storage accounts, SQL databases, and file systems.

3
Integrate with third-party tools

Configure webhooks or streaming exports to push scan results into Azure Security Center or Microsoft Sentinel. Link findings to existing ticketing systems like Azure DevOps or ServiceNow.

4
Validate results and tune policies

Review the initial detection report, prioritize storage accounts with large volumes of financial data, and adjust detection rules to reduce false positives. Schedule recurring scans to maintain continuous visibility.

Architecture & Workflow

Azure Storage & Databases

Source of financial data across blob storage, SQL, and file shares

Cyera Connector

Pulls metadata and samples data for classification

Cyera Back-end

Applies AI detection models and risk scoring

Reporting & Remediation

Dashboards, alerts, and automated playbooks

Data Flow Summary

Enumerate Resources → Send to Cyera → Apply AI Detection → Route Findings

Best Practices & Tips

Performance Considerations

  • Start with incremental or scoped scans
  • Use sampling for very large storage accounts
  • Tune sample rates for speed vs coverage

Tuning Detection Rules

  • Maintain allowlists for test financial datasets
  • Adjust confidence thresholds for card numbers
  • Match rules to your PCI-DSS scope

Common Pitfalls

  • Forgetting archived storage accounts
  • Over-scanning development environments
  • Neglecting to rotate service principal credentials

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🛡️ Prevent: Set up controls to prevent financial data exposure 🔧 Fix: Review and remediate exposed financial records