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This pull request introduces several updates and improvements to Azure Landing Zones policies and documentation, with a focus on security benchmarking, compliance, and Kubernetes deprecation detection. The most significant changes include the addition of the Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark v2 initiative, updates to existing policy definitions, and new custom policies to improve compliance and security posture.

Policy and Initiative Updates:

  • Added support for the new built-in initiative "Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark v2" (e3ec7e09-768c-4b64-882c-fcada3772047), including ARM template changes to assign this initiative by default at the intermediate root management group scope if Defender for Cloud and Log Analytics are enabled. This allows customers to evaluate and prepare for the transition to the new security benchmark. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
  • Updated policy references in documentation to use new initiative URLs and versions, reflecting the latest compliance requirements (e.g., updated links for "Enforce-Encryption-CMK" and "Enforce-Guardrails-Network"). [1] [2]

New and Updated Policy Definitions:

  • Added a new custom policy Audit-AKS-kubenet to detect AKS clusters using the deprecated 'kubenet' network plugin, with default effect set to "Audit". This policy is included in the "Enforce-Guardrails-Kubernetes" initiative. [1] [2]
  • Updated policy Deny-FileServices-InsecureSmbChannel to version 2.0.0, improving compliance checks for storage accounts created with maximum compatibility. [1] [2]
  • Updated policy Deny-FileServices-InsecureSmbVersions to version 1.1.0, adding checks for storage accounts with protocolSettings.smb.versions set to null to ensure accurate compliance reporting.

Documentation Improvements:

  • Added a new section "🔃 Policy Refresh H1 FY26" to the changelog, summarizing the latest policy additions and updates, including AKS kubenet deprecation detection, SQL authentication guardrails, and new security benchmark initiatives. [1] [2]
  • Updated policy and initiative names and descriptions in documentation tables to reflect new versions and align with current Azure best practices.

These changes help keep Azure Landing Zones up-to-date with evolving security standards and provide customers with improved tools for compliance and governance.

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Some comments - also see my ping in teams about some more policies we may want to add.

Also lets merge this PR first and completing the release before we get to moving the wiki in this other PR Azure/Azure-Landing-Zones#165

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@Springstone a few comments for your review:

  1. I don't see the spreadsheet also updated?
  2. "What's new" has conflicts

Aside from that it LGTM, thanks as always - let me know when these 2 things are resolved and updated and we can merge and release

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Pull request overview

This PR introduces a comprehensive policy refresh for H1 FY26, updating Azure Landing Zones policies to align with evolving security standards and deprecation announcements. The primary focus is on enhancing security benchmarking, improving SQL authentication guardrails, and detecting deprecated Kubernetes configurations.

Changes:

  • Added new custom policy to detect AKS clusters using deprecated kubenet network plugin
  • Introduced Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark v2 initiative assignment for preview evaluation
  • Updated SQL, KeyVault, and Storage policies with enhanced compliance checks and typo corrections

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 15 out of 17 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

Show a summary per file
File Description
Audit-AKS-kubenet.json New policy to audit AKS clusters using kubenet network plugin scheduled for deprecation
Enforce-Guardrails-SQL.json Added policies to enforce Entra-only authentication for SQL databases
Enforce-Guardrails-Kubernetes.json Integrated new kubenet audit policy with configurable effect parameter
Enforce-Guardrails-KeyVault.json Corrected typos in HSM-related parameter names (Hms → Hsm)
Deploy-ASC-SecurityContacts.json Added attack path severity parameter for enhanced security monitoring
Deny-FileServices-InsecureSmbVersions.json Added null check for storage accounts created with maximum compatibility
Deny-FileServices-InsecureSmbChannel.json Added null check for SMB channel encryption compatibility
DINE-ASB2PolicyAssignment.json New policy assignment for Microsoft Cloud Security Benchmark v2 initiative
eslzArm.json Integrated ASB2 initiative and updated region mappings for private DNS zones
Whats-new.md Documented all policy changes in H1 FY26 refresh section

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…-ASC-SecurityContacts.json

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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@Springstone a few comments for your review:

  1. I don't see the spreadsheet also updated?
  2. "What's new" has conflicts

Aside from that it LGTM, thanks as always - let me know when these 2 things are resolved and updated and we can merge and release

Spreadsheet is updated in the ALZ Library as part of the policy docs migration. I've updated it here as well, but is moving.
What's New conflicts have been resolved.

…ileServices-InsecureSmbVersions.json

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
…ileServices-InsecureSmbChannel.json

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Jack Tracey <41163455+jtracey93@users.noreply.github.com>
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LGTM

@jtracey93 jtracey93 merged commit 53155ca into main Jan 21, 2026
6 of 7 checks passed
@jtracey93 jtracey93 deleted the policy-refresh-h1fy26 branch January 21, 2026 13:57
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3 participants