Monitoring, Compliance & Operational Excellence

Overview

View Diagram: Security Monitoring Flow

Security Monitoring Flow showing data collection, analysis, threat detection, and response pipeline Figure 1: Zero Trust security monitoring and threat detection architecture

This page covers operational aspects of Zero Trust: monitoring, compliance automation, audit logging, and day-to-day operational procedures in sovereign cloud environments.

Monitoring Strategy

Continuous Monitoring Requirements

FedRAMP: Continuous, automated monitoring with monthly analysis
GDPR: Real-time monitoring of data access; yearly audits
HIPAA: Continuous monitoring with immediate alerting
ITAR: Daily review of controlled data access

Key Metrics to Monitor

User Access Metrics:

  • Authentication attempts (success/failure rates)
  • MFA challenges (frequency, challenge types)
  • Failed access attempts (by user, resource, pattern)
  • Unusual access times (outside normal hours)
  • Geographic anomalies (impossible travel)

Device Metrics:

  • Compliance status changes
  • Operating system version distribution
  • Antimalware/antivirus status
  • Encryption status
  • Device age and lifecycle

Network Metrics:

  • VPN/SD-WAN connection patterns
  • Connection duration and frequency
  • Geographic origin of connections
  • Network bandwidth usage
  • Anomalous network behavior

Application Metrics:

  • API call rates (by user, app, resource)
  • Error rates by application
  • Response times
  • Rate limit violations
  • Authentication failures at app layer

Data Access Metrics:

  • Access patterns (normal baseline)
  • Large data transfers
  • Unusual access times
  • Sensitive data access
  • Export/download activities

Compliance Automation

Automated Audit Logging

What to Log:

  • All authentication attempts (success/failure)
  • All authorization decisions (grant/deny)
  • All data access (who, what, when)
  • All configuration changes
  • All administrative actions

Log Retention:

  • FedRAMP: 6-12 months minimum, 3 years recommended
  • GDPR: 3 years minimum for compliance
  • HIPAA: 6 years minimum
  • ITAR: 7 years minimum

Log Security:

  • Logs stored in secure, replicated storage
  • Log integrity protection (tamper detection)
  • Encryption in transit and at rest
  • Audit trail for log access itself

Compliance Reporting

Monthly Reports:

  • Access activity summary
  • Security incidents and responses
  • Policy violations
  • Configuration changes
  • Performance metrics

Annual Audits:

  • Comprehensive control assessment
  • Effectiveness validation
  • Gap identification
  • Remediation planning

Incident Response:

  • Immediate notification (24-48 hours)
  • Investigation documentation
  • Root cause analysis
  • Remediation and follow-up

Operational Procedures

Access Review Cycles

Daily:

  • Monitor alerts and anomalies
  • Verify high-risk access attempts
  • Check for policy violations

Weekly:

  • Review failed access attempts
  • Analyze access patterns
  • Update risk assessments

Monthly:

  • Access entitlement review
  • Policy effectiveness assessment
  • Compliance status review

Quarterly:

  • Comprehensive access audit
  • Entitlement recertification
  • Policy updates and refresh

Incident Response

Alert Triggering:

  • Multiple failed authentication attempts
  • Impossible travel detection
  • Anomalous data access
  • Policy violations
  • Compliance violations

Investigation Steps:

  1. Alert confirmation and severity assessment
  2. User/device verification
  3. Access pattern review
  4. Activity timeline reconstruction
  5. Business context verification

Response Actions:

  • Session termination (if high risk)
  • Account lockdown (if compromised)
  • Device isolation (if infected)
  • Credential reset (if exposed)
  • Data access revocation

Documentation:

  • Incident log entry
  • Timeline documentation
  • Evidence preservation
  • Follow-up actions

Sovereign-Specific Compliance

Data Residency Compliance

Policy: All identity and access data must stay within sovereign boundary

Implementation:

  • Identity provider in sovereign boundary
  • All policy enforcement local
  • Audit logs stored locally
  • No data export to cloud

Verification:

  • Regular audits of data location
  • Network flow analysis
  • Policy compliance checks
  • Customer-visible audit reports

Customer Control & Transparency

Policy: Customer maintains explicit control over access policies

Implementation:

  • Customer-defined access policies
  • Customer approval workflows
  • Policy change history (customer visible)
  • Access logs available to customer (real-time)

Verification:

  • Policy audit trail
  • Access log audits
  • Configuration change tracking
  • Customer attestation

Air-Gap Operational Procedures

Monitoring Without Cloud:

  • Local monitoring agents collect data
  • Periodic export of logs (secure transfer)
  • Local analysis and alerting
  • Offline compliance validation

Audit Procedures:

  • Local audit execution (no cloud dependency)
  • Offline report generation
  • Manual review and approval
  • Documentation storage (local)

Compliance Frameworks in Detail

FedRAMP Compliance

Key Controls (AC - Access Control):

  • AC-1: Access control policy
  • AC-2: Account management
  • AC-3: Access enforcement
  • AC-4: Information flow enforcement
  • AC-20: Use of external information systems

Continuous Monitoring (CM-3):

  • Monthly access reviews
  • Automated audit logging
  • Vulnerability scanning
  • Configuration compliance

GDPR Compliance

Key Articles:

  • Article 5: Lawful, fair processing; storage limitation
  • Article 6: Lawfulness of processing
  • Article 32: Security measures
  • Article 35: Data Protection Impact Assessment

Access Control Requirements:

  • Individuals’ access to their data
  • Data deletion upon request (“right to be forgotten”)
  • Data portability on request
  • Consent verification for processing

HIPAA Compliance

Key Rules (45 CFR §164.308):

  • Access controls
  • Audit controls
  • Integrity controls
  • Transmission security

Access Control Measures:

  • Unique user identification
  • Role-based access control
  • Automatic logoff after inactivity
  • Encryption for all data at rest and in transit

ITAR Compliance

Key Requirements (22 CFR Part 120-130):

  • U.S. person verification
  • Controlled technical data access restrictions
  • Export control compliance
  • Storage in approved jurisdictions

Access Control Implementation:

  • U.S. citizenship/residency verification
  • Nationality screening
  • Controlled data labeling
  • Access restrictions by data type

Next Steps

  1. Ready for hands-on implementation? Lab: Implement Zero Trust →
  2. Return to Module Overview →
  3. Continue to Module 2: Azure Local at Scale - Connected

Last Updated: October 2025