For VMs running on Windows Server 2012 and later, the SMB 3.0 protocol can be used. By encrypting data that is using SMB 3.0, data in transit over Azure Virtual Networks can be secured. This encryption can help protect against tampering and eavesdropping attacks. SMB encryption for specific shares or for the entire server can be enabled by administrators.

By default, after SMB encryption is turned on for a share or server, only SMB 3.0 clients are allowed to access the encrypted shares.