hi, from a long time I’m facing a really threatening issue of SOMEONE trying to login to my account.

my sign in history shows that after like every 2 hours a new guy from new place is trying to log into my account but unable to do it coz of wrong password.

Now this is really scary coz in a way someone is just keep on trying to use different passwords until he got the right one.

I’m not getting what to do right now instead just waiting when he logs in and then log out from there.

otherwise, I have used almost kind of Secuity measures like using authenticator app and two step verification.

If anyone know anything that i can do right now from stop this then please help

​hi, from a long time I’m facing a really threatening issue of SOMEONE trying to login to my account.my sign in history shows that after like every 2 hours a new guy from new place is trying to log into my account but unable to do it coz of wrong password.Now this is really scary coz in a way someone is just keep on trying to use different passwords until he got the right one.I’m not getting what to do right now instead just waiting when he logs in and then log out from there.otherwise, I have used almost kind of Secuity measures like using authenticator app and two step verification.If anyone know anything that i can do right now from stop this then please help  Read More

​

Our Microsoft MVPs supporting the Mentoring Circles for the Data & AI Bootcamp 

MVPs are helping prepare university students for the challenges and opportunities of the real world through the Microsoft Data & AI Bootcamp, hosted in partnership with Akkodis.

The two-week long bootcamp was designed to address the barriers that students may face in obtaining a technology certification by providing a flexible and accelerated learning program. In addition, the bootcamp highlighted the importance of building interpersonal skills through the power of networking, being an active participant in a wider community and empowering the students to showcase the best version of themselves on LinkedIn.

Connecting Microsoft MVPs to our next generation of leaders

Microsoft MVP for M365, Cameron Dwyer

Mentoring is a powerful form of professional development that connects experienced professionals in a field of interest, offering mentees guidance, feedback, and insights. During the Microsoft Data & AI Bootcamp, 28 passionate MVPs from across Australia and New Zealand put their hands up to give back as industry mentors in a Mentoring Circle session.

Microsoft MVP for M365, Cameron Dwyer, who works as a Chief Technology Officer, led a mentoring circle during the bootcamp. He describes being a mentor as a fulfilling experience, particularly in today’s rapidly evolving IT landscape.

Cameron says, “the rate of change, driven significantly by advancements in cloud computing and AI, presents both exciting opportunities and new challenges. Sharing knowledge and experiences to help navigate this dynamic environment was both rewarding and enlightening.”

“It is easy to forget how much business and industry knowledge you build up over a career. Hearing some of the questions that came out during mentoring, it wasn’t so much the technical skills that were blocking people taking the next step in their career it was more about the unknowns of the business world and how to go about finding that first role. It was a privilege to be part of their journey and growth,” continued Cameron.

The Iceberg Theory

Luke Murray, Microsoft Azure MVP

Luke Murray, a Microsoft Azure MVP and Cloud Architect & Consultant, shared his experiences as a tech professional in the bootcamp as a mentor. Luke also provided an Azure demo to the students studying for their Microsoft AI-900 certification and revealed insights on navigating a career during a Careers in Tech panel alongside other industry leaders, including Arafat Tehsin, AI Platform MVP.

When it comes to building a career in technology, Luke believes that whilst technology is always changing, the IT industry is almost an ever-green industry. He encouraged the students to either follow their passion areas or follow what they are curious about.

Luke compared a career journey to an iceberg analogy. “What people see is above the line (above the water). However, underneath the line (underneath the surface) is persistence, failure, hard work, most of us didn’t land our ideal job or role, some of us are still looking and that ideal role you may want can change – as technology changes, or what you want to do changes based on your own experience, and that’s ok, but in the end, we are learning, adapting, growing with each step,” explained Luke.

He continued, “instead of looking for a role that suits, look for a goal – something that you may want to achieve, or be part of, then you can reach out to likeminded people, locally or globally, who might work on or be part of the same goal, a job role, then becomes a means to achieving that goal.”

Focus on understanding core concepts & experiment by building projects

Cameron recommends those navigating their career to understand the core concepts we are trying to solve with technology and not so much focus on memorising the technical details. He says, “as technologies constantly evolve, it’s crucial to grasp the underlying principles, understand the problems they aim to solve, and how they conceptually address those issues. The specifics, like syntax and commands, can always be looked up in manuals or guides. It’s impractical to memorize every technical detail, but if you focus on understanding the core concepts and their applications, you’ll be well-equipped to find the finer details when necessary.”

“That doesn’t mean just read the concepts and you’ll be ok. I encourage you to dive in and experiment with the technology by building projects yourself. Although it might seem daunting at first, I’ve seen time and again that creating something from scratch gives a profound sense of empowerment. It’s like acquiring a new tool that unlocks the ability to build things you never thought possible, opening up a world of opportunities”, explained Cameron.

A mentoring exercise from Luke Murray

For Luke, having been around formal and informal mentors during his career, has helped him navigate frustrating and uncertain times. He is passionate about giving back and sharing his knowledge as a mentor. Luke also benefits through mentoring as he gets the opportunity to talk to people at various points in their own career and different backgrounds, and learn from them directly, helping to give Luke an open-minded perspective.

Luke shared an exercise that has been useful in his own career, called Fear Setting – What If, which is inspired by author, Tim Ferriss in this TED Talk. Whether you are a mentee or mentor, feel free to use this in your own mentoring journey.

Step 

Description 

Define Your Fear 

Write down what you are afraid of. Be specific and detailed. This could be anything from starting a new project, asking for a raise, ending a relationship, etc. Include all the worst things you can imagine happening if you take the step you’re considering. 

Prevent 

For each worst-case scenario you’ve listed, write down what you could do to prevent it from happening. Think of strategies or actions that could decrease the likelihood of these fears coming true. 

Repair 

Consider what you could do to repair the damage if the worst-case scenario does happen. This could include people you could ask for help or steps you could take to recover. 

Benefits of Attempt or Partial Success 

Reflect on the potential benefits of attempting the action or even achieving partial success. This helps balance out the focus on the negative and can provide motivation for moving forward. 

Cost of Inaction 

Consider the cost of not taking the action. This is often overlooked but is crucial. Reflect on what your life might look like in six months, a year, or three years if you don’t take this action. 

How can MVPs empower student communities
MVPs bring so much value to the wider community as industry mentors and it is one of the best ways to empower students. Hearing from those who have been there and done that, can be very inspirational.

Industry professionals and MVPs can encourage students to join the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador program, or connect directly with Student Ambassadors for community collaboration or mentoring through Find an Ambassador. 

​Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More 

In my previous blog: Simple Self-Troubleshooting Steps for Function App Not Seeing Triggers, I‘ve mentioned a simple self-check method for Synctriggers. However, more and more enterprises are leaning towards using more secure network architectures. Due to the involvement of many different components, it is easy for minor configuration issues to cause the entire app to be unusable. Therefore, in this article, I will delve into more detailed content, specifically discussing NSG, UDR, DNS, and Storage Account.

TOC

NSG rules

UDR and Firewall

DNS

Storage Account

NSG rules

Please refer to this network architecture diagram first. Most enterprises want the Function App to run in a completely private network environment, hence this setup.

For outbound traffic, since the Function App is set up with VNET integration, NSG (i.e., Network Security Group) can be used to restrict which protocols and ports are allowed, and UDR (i.e., User Defined Route / Route Table) can be used to control which routes different source and destination traffic should take.

For inbound traffic, since the Function App is set up with a Private Endpoint, NSG can be used to restrict which protocols and ports are allowed to be accepted.

Firstly, in Azure’s network architecture, an invocation passes through various resources in the following order: outbound NSG > outbound UDR > inbound NSG.

Let’s take a look at the configuration of each sample component.

1) In the outbound NSG “NSG-SNET-FUNCTION-APP” rules are matched in order of ascending priority. Therefore, this synctriggers invocation (i.e., TCP port 443) will match the first rule “Rule_1”

Name

Access

Direction

Protocol

Priority

Source Address Prefix

Source Port Range

Destination Address Prefix

Destination Port Range

Rule_1

Allow

Outbound

*

100

VirtualNetwork

*

VirtualNetwork

*

Rule_2

Deny

Outbound

*

200

*

*

*

*

2) In the outbound route table “RT-SNET-FUNCTION-APP” rules are matched based on the specificity of the target address, with more specific addresses taking precedence. In this example, this invocation will match the only one rule, directing all the traffic to firewall for additional processing.

3) In the inbound NSG “NSG-SNET-PE” the invocation will finally match “Rule_2” such that the traffic will be blocked.

Name

Access

Direction

Protocol

Priority

Source Address Prefix

Source Port Range

Destination Address Prefix

Destination Port Range

Rule_1

Deny

Inbound

Udp

100

*

*

*

*

Rule_2

Deny

Inbound

Tcp

200

*

*

*

*

The solution is to add a rule in ‘NSG-SNET-PE’ that allows TCP port 443, such as ‘Rule_3’.

Name

Access

Direction

Protocol

Priority

Source Address Prefix

Source Port Range

Destination Address Prefix

Destination Port Range

Rule_3

Allow

Inbound

TCP

50

VirtualNetwork

*

VirtualNetwork

443

Rule_1

Deny

Inbound

Udp

100

*

*

*

*

Rule_2

Deny

Inbound

Tcp

200

*

*

*

*

If you are unsure whether the relevant traffic complies with the expected NSG rules during transmission, you can temporarily record these behaviors by setting up ‘NSG flow logs’

Step 1. Please separately go to your each target NSG on the Azure Portal.

Step 2. Select “NSG flow logs” and click “Create”.

Step 3. Choose “Network security group” and then select “Select target Resource” as “Network security group”.

Step 4. Choose the Storage Account where the logs will be stored as blobs. After confirming, click “Review + Create” and then “Create”.

Step 5. After creation, wait 5 minutes for it to take effect.

Step 6. After creation, try to reproduce synctriggers connection. Please record the detailed operation time in UTC+0 format.

Step 7. After reproduction, please wait 10 minutes to ensure all logs are written to the corresponding Storage Account before exporting them.

Step 8. Go to the corresponding Storage Account, select “Containers”, then “insights-logs-networksecuritygroupflowevent”.

Step 9. Click on “Switch to Access key”.

Step 10. This step is a bit troublesome, as you need to obtain log files from different folders based on different conditions (NSG name/time). You can refer to the picture; below is the folder structure where you might need to obtain files.

Step 11. Use a JSON parser to open this file to verify the requests, it’s an example.

UDR and Firewall

The primary purpose of setting up UDR is to route outbound traffic from the VNET through a Firewall for execution and logging. In this example, all traffic from the Function App will be executed through the Firewall.

As different enterprises may use different brands of Firewalls, the log formats may vary. Generally, as shown in the diagram, it appears that all traffic from the Function App to its Private Endpoint is being blocked by the Firewall rules.

The solution is to modify the ‘default-block’ rule or add a new rule to override it, allowing all TCP port 443 traffic from 10.10.1.0/24 to 10.10.2.0/24

DNS

Most enterprises also want to maintain their own internal DNS Server. In this example, when the Function App sends a request to its Private Endpoint, the following process occurs:

1) my-function-app tries to resolve its Private Endpoint using the Custom DNS under VNET-FUNCTION-APP.

2) Since VNET-FUNCTION-APP is configured to route all traffic through the Firewall, the actual requester is the Firewall.

3) The Firewall uses the Azure DNS under VNET-FIREWALL to resolve its Private Endpoint.

4) Since the privatelink.azurewebsites.net Private DNS Zone does not have a Virtual network link with VNET-FIREWALL, the Azure DNS under VNET-FIREWALL cannot resolve my-function-app.azurewebsites.net using the recursive resolver function.

5) The request fails due to the resolution failure.

There are two solutions to this issue:

Solution 1: Modify the DNS Server in VNET-FIREWALL to 10.11.1.1, 10.11.1.2, which is the custom DNS Server.

Solution 2: Create a virtual network link for privatelink.azurewebsites.net to connect to the VNET-FIREWALL.

Assuming we use Solution 1, the process will continue as follows:

3) The Firewall uses the custom DNS Server under VNET-FIREWALL to resolve its Private Endpoint.

4) The Custom DNS Server can add an A record for my-function-app.azurewebsites.net pointing to 10.10.2.1, or implement a conditional forwarder as described in this article (Azure DNS Private Resolver – Azure Example Scenarios), forwarding unknown domains to Azure DNS for resolution using the recursive resolver function.

5) After the resolution is complete and the Private Endpoint IP is obtained, the actual request will be initiated.

Storage Account

The Synctriggers behavior saves a file named ‘last’ under the Storage blob to record the execution details using a hash.

Therefore, before each execution, the Function App communicates with the Storage Account to ensure that Synctriggers can continue to execute. Consequently, the network between the Function App and the Storage Account is a key consideration for Synctriggers. Please refer to the following architecture diagram.

In this diagram, we need to ensure:

1) The Private Endpoints for both blob and file services of the Storage are enabled.

2) The corresponding Private DNS Zones ‘privatelink.blob.core.windows.net’ and ‘privatelink.file.core.windows.net’ have established virtual network links with the relevant VNET.

3) The NSG needs to set up rules to allow or receive requests on TCP ports 443/445.

4) The Firewall also needs to set up rules to allow requests on TCP ports 443/445 from specific sources or destinations.

​Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More