1.4. The Azure Shared Responsibility Model

💡 First Principle: A clear delineation of security obligations between the cloud provider and the customer is fundamental to ensuring a comprehensive and gap-free security posture for any cloud workload.

Scenario: A company is migrating its applications to Azure and needs a clear understanding of its security obligations versus Microsoft's. As a Solutions Architect, you need to explain who is responsible for patching the underlying hosts of Azure App Service versus securing the application code.

At its core, the Azure Shared Responsibility Model is a fundamental principle clarifying security obligations in the cloud. Its core purpose is to define precisely who is accountable for what aspects of security, ensuring no gaps in protection. This model is crucial for designing secure and compliant cloud architectures.

Microsoft is responsible for "security of the cloud", encompassing the underlying infrastructure. Conversely, the customer (you, the Solutions Architect) is responsible for "security in the cloud", covering everything configured and managed within their Azure environment, including application code, data, and access controls.

Understanding this distinction is paramount for the AZ-305 exam. It directly impacts how you design, deploy, and manage your resources securely. Misinterpreting these roles can lead to significant security vulnerabilities or compliance issues in your Azure solutions.

⚠️ Common Pitfall: Assuming the cloud provider handles all security. This "security abdication" leads to customers neglecting their responsibilities for data protection, identity management, and network configuration, creating major vulnerabilities.

Key Trade-Offs:

• Control vs. Responsibility: As you move from IaaS to PaaS to SaaS, you cede more control to the provider, but you also offload more security responsibilities. Understanding this trade-off is key to choosing the right service model.

Reflection Question: How does understanding this shared model empower you to design more secure and compliant cloud solutions by clearly defining which security aspects are your responsibility (e.g., application code, data encryption) and which are Microsoft's (e.g., underlying platform security)?