Verify that That 'All users with the following roles' is set to 'Owner'

Last updated: April 9, 2026

Framework Reference: A.5.24 Integration: Azure – Microsoft Defender for Cloud

Why this matters

Enabling alert notifications for users with the “Owner” role ensures that subscription owners receive security alerts directly from Microsoft Defender for Cloud. This ensures timely awareness and mitigation of security issues by those with the highest level of access.

What this check does

This Auto Check verifies whether email notifications are configured to be sent to all users with the “Owner” role.

Check passes if:

  • notificationsByRole is set to "Owner"

Check fails if:

  • The value is unset or set to any role other than "Owner"

Applies to:

  • Azure Subscriptions with Microsoft Defender for Cloud enabled

How to fix it

Azure Portal

  1. Go to Microsoft Defender for Cloud

  2. Click Environment Settings

  3. Select the relevant Management Group, Subscription, or Workspace

  4. Click Email notifications

  5. In the All users with the following roles dropdown, select Owner

  6. Click Save

  7. Azure CLI

Prepare an input.json file with the following content (replace <validEmailAddress> and <Your_Subscription_Id>):

json

{  "id": "/subscriptions/<Your_Subscription_Id>/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts/default1",  "name": "default1",  "type": "Microsoft.Security/securityContacts",  "properties": {    "email": "<validEmailAddress>",    "alertNotifications": "On",    "alertsToAdmins": "On",    "notificationsByRole": "Owner"  } } 

Then run:

az account get-access-token --query "{subscription:subscription,accessToken:accessToken}" --out tsv | xargs -L1 bash -c ' curl -X PUT -H "Authorization: Bearer $1" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/$0/providers/Microsoft.Security/securityContacts/default1?api-version=2017-08-01-preview \ -d@"input.json"'

Exceptions

None. This setting should be enabled by default and enforced across all subscriptions.

Further resources