Ensure Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps integration with Microsoft Defender for Cloud is selected

Overview

This integration setting enables Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (formerly 'Microsoft Cloud App Security' or 'MCAS' - see additional info) to communicate with Microsoft Defender for Cloud.

Rationale

Microsoft Defender for Cloud offers an additional layer of protection by using Azure Resource Manager events. By analyzing the Azure Resource Manager records, Microsoft Defender for Cloud detects unusual or potentially harmful operations in the Azure subscription environment.

Microsoft Defender powers several of the preceding analytics for Cloud Apps. The subscription must have a Cloud App Security license to benefit from these analytics.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps works only with Standard Tier subscriptions.

Impact

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps works with a Standard subscription tier. Choosing the Standard pricing tier incurs an additional cost per resource.

Default Value

With a Cloud App Security license, these alerts are enabled by default.

Additional Information

NOTE: "Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps" ("MDCA") was formerly known as "Microsoft Cloud App Security" ("MCAS"). The "MCAS" acronym is still used within Azure in several places (e.g., Azure CLI).

Remediation guidance

From Azure Portal

Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Select the Environment Settings blade
Click on the subscription name
Select the Integrations blade
Check Allow Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps to access my data
Select Save

Using Azure Command Line Interface

Ensure the output of the command below is True

az account get-access-token --query "{subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken}" --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c 'curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $1" -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/<subscription ID>/providers/Microsoft.Security/settings/MCAS?api-version=2021-06-01 -d@"input.json"'

Where input.json contains the Request body json data as mentioned below.

{
 "id":
"/subscriptions/<subscription ID>/providers/Microsoft.Security/settings/MCAS",
 "kind": "DataExportSetting",
 "type": "Microsoft.Security/settings",
 "properties": {
 "enabled": true
 }
}

References

Multiple Remediation Paths

Azure

SERVICE-WIDE (RECOMMENDED when many resources are affected): Assign Azure Policy initiatives at management group/subscription scope and trigger remediation tasks.

az policy assignment create --name <assignment-name> --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id> --policy-set-definition <initiative-id>
az policy remediation create --name <remediation-name> --policy-assignment <assignment-id>

ASSET-LEVEL: Apply the resource-specific remediation steps above to the listed non-compliant resources.

PREVENTIVE: Embed Azure Policy checks into landing zones and IaC workflows to block or auto-remediate drift.

References for Service-Wide Patterns

Azure Policy overview: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/policy/overview
Azure Policy remediation: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/policy/how-to/remediate-resources
Azure Policy initiative structure: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/policy/concepts/initiative-definition-structure

Operational Rollout Workflow

Use this sequence to reduce risk and avoid repeated drift.

1. Contain at Service-Wide Scope First (Recommended)

Azure: assign policy initiatives at management group/subscription scope and run remediation tasks.

az policy assignment create --name <assignment-name> --scope /subscriptions/<subscription-id> --policy-set-definition <initiative-id>
az policy remediation create --name <remediation-name> --policy-assignment <assignment-id>

2. Remediate Existing Affected Assets

Execute the control-specific Console/CLI steps documented above for each flagged resource.
Prioritize internet-exposed and production assets first.

3. Validate and Prevent Recurrence

Re-scan after each remediation batch.
Track exceptions with owner and expiry date.
Add preventive checks in IaC/CI pipelines.

Query logic

These are the stored checks tied to this control.

Azure subscriptions with MCAS disabled

Connectors

Microsoft Azure

Covered asset types

Connector

Expected check: eq []

{
  connectors(
    where: { dataExportSettings_SOME: { name: "MCAS", enabled: false } }
  ) {
    ...AssetFragment
  }
}