The smooth migration of servers, applications, data, and infrastructure requires a cautiously drafted cloud migration strategy or plan. A well-planned strategy can save you from any security compromise and overhead costs. Moreover, the cloud migration process needs clear communication between the teams of SecOps and Development. Any disarray in communication, planning, and discussion can leave important things out.
Missing out on related threats can result in various risks such as accidental errors, API attacks, cloud malware injection, compliance violations, malware and ransomware attacks, web application misuse, DDoS ( Distributed Denial-of-Service), and hijacking of accounts or services. To ensure this does not happen with you, we have crafted a list of things you should keep in mind during cloud migration.
Some Vital Considerations to Keep in Mind During Cloud Migration:
Examine your stack, accesses, automation, and SecOps:
For a smooth cloud migration, you should do a security evaluation of the tech stack, access, user permissions, and security operations. Plan how you will manage and grant users access while migrating. Moreover, it seems like a good idea to provide privileged access control to DevSecOps teams, SREs, and architects. However, it is advisable not to rely entirely on the APIs of the service provider. You should maintain your specialized tools and services that can simplify the migration process.
Know Your Compliance and Regulatory Requirements Right from the Beginning:
Assess your compliance and security requirement changes sooner. All service providers have different compliance and audits for security. You need to set up specialized security and privacy requirements for your cloud. It becomes more rudimentary when working in the healthcare, government, and finance sectors. It is advisable to set some specialized rules to avoid any loss of sensitive data to any cyber attack during migration.
Learn About the Shared Responsibility Model:
Similar to the outsourcing model, the cloud has its shared responsibility model. Moreover, every cloud service provider has its set of shared responsibilities. Sort out the obligations of “in the cloud security,” “security of the cloud,” “during migration,” and “of the cloud” between you and your cloud service provider. Make sure your cloud provider has addressed all the areas before starting the migration.
Adopt Centralized Monitoring:
Cloud migration is an open invitation to cyber attacks. However, cloud migration can bring an upgrade to your legacy system, and you can add the required tools to manage and run the platform. A centralized monitoring system allows you to keep track of an immense number of functionalities and settings. Monitoring is vital to understand the flaws of a system and resolve them before security compromise.
Devise a Disaster Recovery Plan:
It is a standard practice to have a disaster recovery plan in an IT setup. Moreover, it is more necessary during the migration process. A disaster recovery system is a set of rules, procedures, and tools that helps the IT system to recover in case of any mishap. It is appropriate to place a disaster recovery plan for IT infrastructure.
Documentation of Every Process:
Documenting processes is an effective way to conduct everything correctly during the migration process. If you dislike document processes, you should start doing it now. Make sure everything related to steps, platform, tools, and the process is recorded on a document. It will help evaluate shortcomings and areas of improvement, and you can fix them before starting the migration process.
Form a LifeCycle Management Framework:
Maintaining a balance between policy enforcement and security solutions is necessary. Most notably when you are working in multiple environments. The security tools must work in their native habitat and compliance with the system in other settings. Furthermore, this includes having centralized monitoring, uniformity in security policies, active scaling and provisioning, and intermedial log collection.
Conclusion:
Indeed, migrating to the cloud results is worthwhile and can completely change the performance of an organization. However, doing anything without proper research can lead to misfortune. Thus, before migrating to the cloud, do background research on everything. Learn about the security protocols, threats, and steps to avoid data breaches and loss. If you plan and follow each step carefully, the cloud migration process will be easy.
