Azure PII Data Protection

Learn how to prevent exposure of PII in Azure environments. Follow step-by-step guidance for GDPR compliance and data privacy protection.

data exposure

GDPR

azure

Why It Matters

The core goal is to proactively secure every location where personally identifiable information (PII) is stored within your Azure environment, preventing unauthorized access before it becomes a compliance violation or data breach. Implementing comprehensive PII protection in Azure is essential for organizations subject to GDPR, as it ensures you maintain data minimization principles and demonstrate proper safeguarding of EU citizen data.

Primary Risk: Data exposure of personally identifiable information

Relevant Regulation: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

A proactive protection strategy delivers immediate risk reduction, establishing automated controls and continuous monitoring to maintain privacy compliance.

Prerequisites

Permissions & Roles

  • Azure Owner or Contributor role
  • Microsoft Purview Data Reader permissions
  • Azure Policy Contributor access

External Tools

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

Prior Setup

  • Azure subscription configured
  • Resource groups organized
  • Network security groups defined
  • Identity and access management 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 Named Entity Recognition (NER) models, Cyera automatically identifies PII patterns within Azure storage accounts, databases, and data lakes, ensuring comprehensive protection against data exposure while maintaining GDPR compliance requirements.

Step-by-Step Guide

1
Configure Azure security baseline

Enable Azure Security Center and configure baseline policies for data protection. Set up resource tagging for sensitive data identification and implement least-privilege access controls.

az policy assignment create --name "PII-Protection-Policy" --policy "built-in-pii-policy"

2
Deploy Cyera protection controls

In the Cyera portal, navigate to Integrations → Cloud Providers → Add Azure. Provide your subscription details and service principal credentials, then configure automated PII scanning and protection policies across storage accounts, SQL databases, and Cosmos DB.

3
Implement data encryption and access controls

Enable Azure Key Vault for encryption key management, configure customer-managed keys for storage accounts containing PII, and set up conditional access policies to restrict data access based on location and device compliance.

4
Establish monitoring and alerting

Configure Azure Monitor and Sentinel to track PII access patterns, set up real-time alerts for unauthorized access attempts, and establish automated remediation workflows for policy violations. Schedule regular compliance assessments.

Architecture & Workflow

Azure Storage & Databases

Primary locations for PII data storage

Cyera AI Engine

Scans and classifies PII using NER models

Azure Security Center

Applies security policies and controls

Monitoring & Alerts

Real-time protection and compliance tracking

Protection Flow Summary

Discover PII Assets → Apply Classifications → Enforce Controls → Monitor Compliance

Best Practices & Tips

Data Minimization

  • Implement data retention policies
  • Use pseudonymization where possible
  • Regular data purging schedules

Access Control Strategy

  • Role-based access control (RBAC)
  • Multi-factor authentication mandatory
  • Regular access reviews and audits

Common Pitfalls

  • Overlooking temporary storage locations
  • Insufficient logging and monitoring
  • Not testing data breach response procedures

References & Further Reading

Next Steps

🔍 Detect: Identify existing PII exposures in Azure 🔧 Fix: Remediate discovered PII vulnerabilities