Exploring Strategies for Mitigating Risk During Cloud Migration

Managing Risk and Security in Cloud Migrations: Protecting Your Data

When organizations embark on a cloud migration, the first and foremost consideration should be risk and security. Moving sensitive data to the cloud requires careful planning and the implementation of robust safeguards. However, a successful cloud migration can ultimately reduce an organization’s attack surface, improve flexibility, and lead to cost savings. To manage and mitigate the risks involved, it is essential to have a comprehensive understanding of your organization’s data.

Assessing Data and Workflows

Before data can be migrated to the cloud, a thorough assessment should be conducted to identify where the data currently resides and which workflows depend on it. This evaluation helps determine what data can be moved at each stage of migration, which teams will be affected, and any considerations, such as APIs, that need to be managed and updated. By anticipating potential security risks, such as misconfigured APIs or unauthorized data access, you can take proactive steps to avoid them.

Ensuring Data Protection

Encryption plays a crucial role in protecting sensitive data during the migration process. While encryption is typically built into transfer options offered by cloud providers like Google Cloud, it is important for your security team to evaluate and verify that the specific data transfer plan meets your organization’s requirements. Encryption should be employed to safeguard data both during transit and at rest in the cloud environment.

Post-migration, one commonly overlooked security blind spot is data duplication. Backups made prior to migration may be forgotten or left unchecked as attention shifts to user experience. It is important to establish a dedicated step in your migration roadmap to assess the state of backups to prevent sensitive data from being overlooked or exposed. Best practices include reducing unnecessary or unsecured backups over time.

Ensuring Compliance

An essential aspect of a cloud migration is involving your compliance team to mitigate the risk of violating regulations during the move or in the new cloud environment. Depending on your region and industry, compliance with specific regulations may be required. Your cloud partner can assist you by providing documentation such as certifications, control mappings, and responsibility matrices, as well as offering tailored best practice recommendations. Simplicity is key in maintaining compliance during a cloud migration, storing sensitive data in fewer locations and limiting access to it to simplify compliance audits. Automating compliance processes in the cloud, such as continuous checks for configuration/control drift and non-compliance, can reduce the burden on security teams while ensuring adherence to regulations.

Building Guardrails and Security Monitoring

Building guardrails into the base configurations of your new cloud environment is an effective strategy to leverage cloud flexibility while minimizing security incidents. By establishing predetermined configurations and access controls, organizations can reduce the risk of inadvertent vulnerabilities or data exposure.

Security monitoring remains critical throughout and after a cloud migration. While visibility into resources and potential threats can be enhanced in the cloud, it operates differently from a traditional data center. Leveraging the security portals provided by your cloud provider can help maintain an effective view of your new environment. Understanding how your assets connect and operate, whether in a single cloud, a hybrid environment, or a multi-cloud setup, is crucial for identifying vulnerabilities and eliminating blind spots.

Conclusion: A Comprehensive Approach

Successfully managing and reducing security risks in a cloud migration requires a collaborative effort involving IT, security, and compliance teams. A thorough assessment of data, the implementation of encryption, compliance considerations, and ongoing security monitoring are all vital components of a comprehensive strategy. By following these guidelines, organizations can navigate the complexities of a cloud migration while ensuring the protection of sensitive data, maintaining compliance, and creating a secure cloud environment.

Sources: Google Cloud – Partner Perspectives