In Microsoft Defender for Cloud, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is used to ensure that users and groups have only the permissions required to perform their specific security or management tasks. Microsoft provides several built-in roles designed specifically for Defender for Cloud operations.

Security Admin:This role provides full management permissions for security policies, recommendations, and alerts within Defender for Cloud. A Security Admin can configure policies, suppress or dismiss alerts, enable or disable Defender plans, and manage settings at the subscription or management group level. According to Microsoft documentation, the Security Admin role “has all permissions of the Security Reader role plus the ability to update security policies and dismiss alerts and recommendations.” Therefore, Group1, which likely needs administrative control to manage and remediate findings, should be assigned Security Admin.

Security Assessment Contributor:This role is more limited and focuses on providing access for security posture assessment without granting the ability to change or modify configurations. The Security Assessment Contributor role allows viewing security recommendations and assessment data but not altering Defender for Cloud configurations or dismissing alerts. This makes it ideal for compliance or audit groups who need read and assess access. Hence, Group2 should be assigned Security Assessment Contributor.

These assignments ensure the right balance between operational control (Group1) and read-only assessment or compliance duties (Group2), aligning with Microsoft’s least-privilege and separation-of-duties best practices.

✅ Final Answer:

Group1 → Security Admin

Group2 → Security Assessment Contributor