Check ID: monitor_alert_create_policy_assignment
Provider: Azure
Service: monitor
Severity: MEDIUM
Categories: logging
Resource type: microsoft.insights/activitylogalerts

What this check verifies

Azure Monitor Activity Log alert configurations are assessed for an activity log alert on Microsoft.Authorization/policyAssignments/write, indicating monitoring of newly created Azure Policy assignments

Risk

Absent alerts on new policy assignments, unauthorized or accidental changes can silently weaken governance. Adversaries could assign permissive policies or replace deny rules, enabling misconfigurations, privilege expansion, and data exposure-degrading integrity and threatening confidentiality and availability.

Recommendation

Implement an activity log alert for Microsoft.Authorization/policyAssignments/write and route to an action group for timely response. Apply across all subscriptions, restrict assignment rights (least privilege), require change approval, and integrate notifications with your SIEM for defense in depth.

Remediation

az monitor activity-log alert create --name '<activity log rule name>' --resource-group '<resource group name>' --location global --scopes '/subscriptions/<subscription ID>' --condition "category=Administrative and operationName=Microsoft.Authorization/policyAssignments/write" --enabled true

References

Where this check fires

This check runs on every scheduled scan against your Azure account. Findings appear at Cloud Security → Findings filterable by Check ID = monitor_alert_create_policy_assignment. To re-evaluate after a fix, hit Run now on the account’s schedule under Cloud Security → Schedules — the next scan re-checks this control and marks the finding fixed or keeps it persistent.
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