Dellenny offers a straightforward breakdown of the Shared Responsibility Model in Microsoft Azure, clarifying which security tasks belong to Microsoft and which to cloud customers.

Shared Responsibility Model in Cloud Computing Simplified

Author: Dellenny

Organizations moving workloads to the Microsoft Azure cloud need clarity on how security responsibilities are divided. The Shared Responsibility Model provides a framework for understanding which aspects of security are managed by Microsoft and which fall to the customer.

What Is the Shared Responsibility Model in Azure?

On-premises: Your IT team manages everything, including hardware, OS, applications, and security controls.
In Azure: Microsoft and customers share security responsibilities.
- Microsoft secures the underlying infrastructure: physical datacenters, networking, and core services.
- Customers are responsible for securing what they deploy—data, applications, access controls, and configurations.

How Responsibilities Are Divided

The split can change depending on the Azure service type:

1. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Microsoft manages: Physical hosts, networking, datacenter security.
Customer manages: Virtual machines, operating systems, apps, network settings, data.
Example: With Azure Virtual Machines, the user is responsible for OS patching, firewall setup, and identity management.

2. Platform as a Service (PaaS)

Microsoft manages: Infrastructure, runtime, platform updates.
Customer manages: App logic, code, and data access.
Example: For Azure App Service or Azure SQL Database, Microsoft secures the platform, while users secure data and permissions.

3. Software as a Service (SaaS)

Microsoft manages: Entire stack from infrastructure to application.
Customer manages: Data integrity, user access, device security.
Example: In Microsoft 365, Microsoft provides a secure service, but customers must define user, sharing, and governance settings.

Importance for Azure Users

Misunderstanding this model can lead to security problems—most often from misconfiguration on the customer side, not infrastructure failure. Key reasons to understand your role:

Strengthen the security posture
Stay compliant with regulations (GDPR, HIPAA)
Reduce risk from configuration or identity errors
Make audits and incident response smoother by clarifying responsibilities

Azure Security Best Practices

Use Azure Security Center (Defender for Cloud) for continuous monitoring
Enable encryption for data in transit and at rest with Azure Key Vault
Implement RBAC for least-privilege account permissions
Enable MFA (multifactor authentication) for all users, especially admins
Leverage Azure Policy to automate compliance and enforce security standards

Conclusion

The Shared Responsibility Model in Microsoft Azure highlights the partnership between provider and customer. For cloud security, Microsoft takes care of the platform; customers secure what they build and manage inside Azure.