Does Microsoft Defender for Storage scan files in a file share?

Question

I have files in a file share in Azure Files in a Storage Account. On the account I have enabled Microsoft Defender for Storage.

I understand that this does not support On-upload malware scanning or On-demand malware scanning but does it still scan the files periodically?

This article says that Hash Reputation Analysis detects potential malware in Azure files but doesn't support SMB files shares. In Azure Files all i can do is create file shares which support SMB, so is it or isn't it supported?
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/defender-for-storage-introduction

Answer 1

Microsoft Defender for Storage does not support malware scanning for files stored in Azure Files shares. Both on-upload and on-demand malware scanning capabilities are currently limited to Azure Blob Storage and do not extend to Azure Files.

Regarding hash reputation analysis, this feature is also not applicable to Azure Files shares accessed via the SMB protocol. Therefore, Defender for Storage does not perform periodic or real-time malware scans on files within Azure Files shares.

To protect data stored in Azure Files shares, consider implementing alternative security measures, such as using antivirus solutions on the client machines accessing the shares or integrating third-party security tools that support scanning of SMB file shares.https://www.reddit.com/r/AZURE/comments/1ge0af6/defender_for_storage_malware_scanning_on_file/

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/defender-for-cloud/introduction-malware-scanning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyZBqphTNrk

Answer 2

Hi JWE Admin,

Adding more information to the above response! Thanks for raising this good question.

Microsoft Defender for Storage does not support periodic scanning of files in Azure Files shares. The primary scanning methods available are on-upload and on-demand malware scanning, which are not applicable to SMB file shares

Regarding Hash Reputation Analysis, it indeed detects potential malware in Azure Files but does not support SMB file shares

This means that while you can create file shares in Azure Files that support SMB, the hash reputation analysis feature will not be applicable to those shares.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/discussions/microsoftdefendercloud/limitations-of-hash-reputation-analysis/3475943

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