Azure Employee Data Remediation

Learn how to fix employee data exposure in Azure environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for GDPR compliance and data protection.

data exposure

GDPR

azure

Why It Matters

The core goal is to remediate exposed employee information across your Azure environment, ensuring that sensitive HR data is properly secured and access-controlled. Fixing employee data exposure in Azure is critical for organizations subject to GDPR, as it helps you demonstrate proper data protection measures and avoid costly compliance violations.

Primary Risk: Data exposure of sensitive employee information

Relevant Regulation: GDPR General Data Protection Regulation

Proper remediation ensures immediate risk reduction, strengthens your security posture, and maintains ongoing compliance with data protection requirements.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • Azure Security Admin or Global Admin
  • Storage Account Contributor access
  • SQL Database security permissions

External Tools

  • Azure CLI or PowerShell
  • Cyera DSPM account
  • Microsoft Purview (optional)

Prior Setup

  • Azure subscription active
  • Resource groups configured
  • Network security groups defined
  • Azure Key Vault provisioned

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 Natural Language Processing (NLP) to identify employee data patterns, Cyera automatically flags exposed information and provides intelligent remediation recommendations tailored to your Azure environment, ensuring GDPR compliance through automated risk assessment.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Assess and prioritize exposures

Review the exposure findings from your discovery scan, prioritizing by risk level and data sensitivity. Focus on publicly accessible storage accounts and databases containing employee PII first.

az storage account list --query "[?publicNetworkAccess=='Enabled']"

2
Implement access controls

Apply network security groups, private endpoints, and Azure RBAC to restrict access to employee data. Configure conditional access policies and enable Azure AD Identity Protection for enhanced security.

3
Enable encryption and key management

Activate Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) for Azure SQL databases, enable storage account encryption with customer-managed keys, and implement Always Encrypted for highly sensitive columns containing employee data.

4
Validate remediation and monitor

Verify that access controls are working correctly, test encryption implementation, and set up continuous monitoring with Azure Security Center and Cyera to prevent future exposures.

Architecture & Workflow

Azure Resources

Storage accounts, SQL databases, and compute resources

Cyera AI Engine

Analyzes exposure patterns and generates remediation plans

Security Controls

RBAC, network security groups, and encryption

Monitoring & Compliance

Continuous validation and GDPR reporting

Remediation Flow Summary

Identify Exposure → Apply Controls → Enable Encryption → Validate & Monitor

Best Practices & Tips

Security Implementation

  • Use private endpoints for database connections
  • Implement least-privilege access principles
  • Enable audit logging for all data access

Encryption Strategy

  • Use customer-managed keys in Azure Key Vault
  • Enable column-level encryption for PII
  • Implement transport encryption (TLS 1.2+)

Common Pitfalls

  • Forgetting to secure backup copies
  • Over-privileged service accounts
  • Neglecting to update network security rules

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🛡️ Prevent: Set up proactive employee data protection 🔍 Detect: Implement employee data discovery scanning