Cloud Migration Services Made Easy: Security Considerations
You’re considering migrating your business to the cloud, but security is a concern. You want the assurance sensitive data will be protected — both for your business and your customers. As you evaluate cloud migration services, don’t just rely on a brochure or web page to gauge a cloud provider’s security practices. A better tactic is to ask pointed questions.
For instance: What is your definition of security? Do your policies involve secure data centers? How does your data encryption process work? Do you incorporate intrusion prevention and detection systems? If a provider leaves such questions unanswered or in the balance, it’s a red flag.
To help with your cloud migration planning and security concerns, we’ve created a checklist of Security Considerations as a takeaway. Download the checklist here.
Determine bandwidth requirements
Prior to migration and in conjunction with your cloud provider, determine bandwidth requirements going forward by evaluating current application and security performance. Network modeling tools can help gauge needed bandwidth improvements.
Confirm the use of data centers
Make sure your cloud provider stores and backs up sensitive data within a secure data center facility. Confirm data center locations and countries (centers are located globally), and whether their security framework is internationally accepted.
Meet regulatory and compliance rules
Given a data center’s location by country, it must be able to meet that country’s specific regulatory and compliance requirements. These apply when data is transmitted between cloud/network environments and is processed and stored.
Verify data encryption practices
Verify your cloud provider’s encryption practices on two levels: 1) When data is traveling over the network between your business and the database (i.e., data center), and 2) When data is “asleep” in the database and any back-up databases.
Establish baseline security controls
As part of your migration plan, develop policies for secure access to information via the new cloud environment, whether security gateways and services are (re)located in the cloud or remain onsite. Policies should govern all admins and users.
Test security practices
Throughout and after migration, assess your new cloud infrastructure’s performance relative to its security setup. One way is to hire a security expert to test passwords, authentication, encryption, and other security measures to help expose loopholes.
Take additional security precautions
For added security, make sure the cloud your business migrates to incorporates safeguards such as a web application firewall, intrusion prevention and detection systems, dual factor authentication, and antivirus programs, among other tools.
Download the other three checklists in this series below:
