92% of organizations are concerned about their cloud security posture. Cloud migrations are riddled with hidden security risks. It’s either data exposure during transfer or misconfigured infrastructure. Maybe it’s post-migration blind spots. Whatever the case, don’t fail to prioritize cloud migration cybersecurity from day one. Those who do often see devastating breaches and compliance violations.

With more businesses accelerating their move to the public cloud, of course, you want to focus on speed. You’re under pressure to reduce costs and improve agility, so you cut corners and take risks with cloud security measures. 

But in cloud security, saying shortcuts are expensive is an understatement. For this reason, you’ve got to embed security throughout the migration lifecycle. You just can’t tack it on afterward.

This guide outlines: 

  • The most common cloud migration security risks
  • Cloud security considerations before and during migration
  • Post-migration best practices 

You’ll also learn about scalability with automation platforms like DuploCloud. These can help enforce cloud migration security-by-design at every step.

Key Takeaways

  • Cloud migration security risks include data exposure, access control issues, and compliance failures.
  • Organizations should inventory assets, assess security risk, and define data security requirements before migration.
  • Post-migration, ongoing compliance checks, access audits, and integrity verification are critical.

Common Risks in Cloud Migrations

Of course, migrating to cloud computing offers significant benefits. At the same time, it introduces new security challenges. Like what? This cloud migration risk can compromise your data integrity, system availability, and regulatory compliance. 

We outline much of this in our piece on cloud migration statistics. 

Many companies underestimate the complexity of securing a cloud environment during transitional phases. Of course, they then leave critical gaps that attackers can exploit. Below, you’ll find some of the most typical cybersecurity risks to watch for. That way, you can prepare for them when you’re planning and executing a cloud service migration.

Data Exposure During Transfer

The cloud migration process, especially across public networks, can expose your sensitive information. This is especially true if your cloud data is not properly encrypted. If you don’t have proper TLS configurations, unsecured APIs, or poor key management, you may end up with a data breach. You may also end up facing hackers. 

Misconfigured Infrastructure

Cloud misconfigurations remain a top cause of cloud migration security challenges. 

Examples include: 

  • Open storage buckets
  • Excessive permissions
  • Exposed management interfaces
  • Unpatched virtual machines 

These missteps come from rushing your migration strategy or being unfamiliar with cloud-native tooling.

Access Control Failures

Cloud environments operate with a shared responsibility model. You’ll want to be sure you implement strict Identity and Access Management (IAM) controls. Otherwise, users may gain unauthorized access to sensitive resources and poor data security. This increases the risk of insider threats and privacy and privilege escalation attacks.

Compliance Gaps

Cloud migration services can inadvertently introduce compliance violations. As an example, you might move protected health information (PHI). But you forget to ensure HIPAA compliance. This could lead to regulatory fines and legal consequences. 

The same goes for a cloud infrastructure that moves financial records without ensuring PCI DSS compliance. It’s a cloud migration strategy without the essential network security protocols in place.  

Security Considerations Before Migration

A secure cloud migration strategy starts long before the first workload is moved. 

You’ll want to lay the groundwork with: 

  • A thorough understanding of your current environment 
  • Clearly defined security requirements 
  • A well-architected cloud strategy 

These will help you prevent costly cloud security missteps that result in a security breach later. The following steps are critical to building a strong data protection security posture from day one.

Asset Inventory and Risk Assessment

Before migrating, organizations should perform a comprehensive inventory of their digital assets. 

These include: 

  • Applications
  • Databases
  • VMs
  • APIs

From there, you should map out your dependencies to recognize any potential security threat. This means you’ll need to identify your data sensitivity levels, compliance requirements, and business-critical workloads.

Risk assessments should prioritize which workloads to migrate first. They should then flag any that require enhanced controls or need to remain on-prem for regulatory reasons.

Defining Security Requirements Upfront

Part of your new cloud environment and security posture management is to set measurable security objectives. And you must do it before any workloads are moved. 

This includes defining: 

  • Encryption standards
  • Access controls
  • Logging requirements
  • Third-party integration security

Don’t wait until you’re halfway through the migration process from your servers to discover the worst. Oops. Your cloud provider has an IAM model that doesn’t support your compliance needs.

Choosing a Secure Cloud Architecture

Select cloud architectures and cloud resources that offer strong default security postures. For example, choose managed databases with built-in encryption and auto-patching. Also choose a serverless cloud environment with minimized attack surfaces.

Finally, be sure you design with principles like least privilege and zero trust. Plus, you’ll get defense-in-depth. This helps to ensure scalable, secure foundations.

Cloud Migration Security Planning

A successful cloud migration isn’t just about moving data. It’s about data security throughout a systematic move. You can embed security into every phase of your migration plan. That way, you can minimize exposure and maintain compliance. The following strategies help ensure your cloud migration journey is efficient and free of security incidents.

Building a Migration Strategy with Security Built-In

Security should be integrated into your migration roadmap from the beginning. This means defining guardrails for each stage (planning, pilot, execution, and post-migration. It’s as opposed to conducting a security audit as an afterthought.

Use a phased migration strategy that allows for testing, validation, and refinement. Align each phase with appropriate controls. This includes enabling logging before data migration begins.

Role of Encryption in Data Transfer

Be sure to use end-to-end encryption to protect data during transfer. Then, make sure to encrypt data at rest before exporting from your source environment. Finally, ensure it’s encrypted in transit with modern TLS standards.

Also, you can use secure key management practices to prevent unauthorized decryption. These include cloud-native services like AWS KMS or third-party tools like HashiCorp Vault.

Network Segmentation and Isolation

Migrating workloads into flat, unrestricted networks can expose them to unnecessary risk. Use network segmentation to isolate environments (e.g., dev, test, production), and restrict traffic between them.

Implement: 

  • Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs)
  • Private subnets
  • Security groups 

This will help you control ingress/egress. Use firewalls and cloud-native network ACLs to limit access only to required services.

Security Best Practices During Migration

As workloads move to the cloud, maintaining strong security controls is essential. It will prevent gaps and misconfigurations. You might be enforcing least-privilege access. Maybe you’re monitoring for real-time threats. 

Either way, the following practices will help safeguard your environment: 

Enforcing Identity and Access Management (IAM)

IAM is one of the most critical controls during migration. Ensure your grant users and services only have the permissions they need. Be sure to rotate their credentials frequently and audit their usage.

Also, be sure to use federated identities (e.g., SSO via Okta or Azure AD) and enforce MFA. Then, disable default or legacy accounts that can be exploited.

Real-Time Threat Detection and Monitoring

Don’t fly blindly during migration. Instead, enable real-time threat detection and monitoring tools like: 

  • AWS GuardDuty
  • Azure Security Center
  • Google Chronicle 

These services use AI and rule-based systems to detect anomalies and surface risks.

And don’t forget to use SIEM platforms. These will help you correlate logs across hybrid environments. You’ll also be able to receive alerts on suspicious activity as it occurs.

Automating Policy Enforcement

Security automation ensures that compliance rules are consistently applied. This is true even as your cloud resources scale or shift. Use infrastructure-as-code (IaC) with embedded security policies to create secure-by-default configurations.

Of course, tools like DuploCloud allow you to: 

  • Automate IAM policies
  • Enforce network rules
  • Deploy only compliant infrastructure

And you can do it all without manual intervention.

Post-Migration Security Checklist

Completing a cloud migration doesn’t mean the security work is over. 

The post-migration phase is critical for validating that: 

  • Protections are in place
  • Configurations are correct
  • Compliance requirements are being met 

Use this checklist to ensure your new environment is secure, resilient, and audit-ready.

Continuous Compliance Monitoring

Once migration is complete, ongoing compliance monitoring is essential. Use cloud-native tools and third-party platforms to track changes to: 

  • Configurations
  • Permissions
  • Audit logs

Automated compliance scans can detect drift from security baselines. It can also ensure you remain aligned with frameworks like CIS Benchmarks, NIST, or SOC 2.

Auditing Access and Permissions

Regularly review who has access to what. Over time, IAM policies can become bloated or obsolete, especially in fast-moving teams.

Use tools to: 

  • Audit access logs
  • Detect unused permissions
  • Generate least-privilege recommendations 

This helps reduce the attack surface and mitigate insider risks.

Verifying Data Integrity and Protection

Confirm that you didn’t lose, modify, or expose data during migration. Use checksums or hash validations to ensure data integrity. Re-enable data loss prevention (DLP), antivirus, and backup systems in the new environment.

Also, test disaster recovery (DR) processes to verify data can be restored securely if needed.

Tools and Platforms That Simplify Cloud Migration Security

Securing a cloud migration is complex. But the right tools can make it manageable. You could be automating compliance. Or maybe you’re integrating security into CI/CD pipelines. The bottom line is that platforms help you reduce manual effort. Plus, they enforce best practices at scale. 

Below are key tools and approaches that will streamline security. This works through the migration lifecycle and beyond.

Security Automation with DuploCloud

DuploCloud offers an AI platform that automates infrastructure deployment. And you’ll get security and compliance built in. Our policy-driven approach helps you make sure that your every resource provisioned during a migration is compliant from the start. This includes: 

  • VMs
  • Containers
  • IAM roles 
  • VPCs

DuploCloud acts as a bridge between DevOps and security. Our system enables developers to launch secure environments without needing deep cloud expertise. It continuously scans configurations for drift. It also enforces compliance policies across the CI/CD pipeline.

Cloud-Native vs. Third-Party Security Tools

Cloud-native tools (like AWS Config, Azure Defender, or GCP Security Command Center) are integrated and easy to use. Sadly, they’re also often limited in scope or coverage across multi-cloud environments.

In contrast, third-party tools (e.g., Wiz, Prisma Cloud, Lacework) provide: 

  • Deeper visibility
  • Cross-platform support
  • More robust automation features

Of course, the ideal approach usually involves a hybrid of both. You’ll need to integrate it through a centralized control plane.

Integrating Security into CI/CD After Migration

Post-migration, security must remain a core part of the deployment process. You’ll need to integrate: 

  • Static analysis tools
  • Secret scanners
  • Vulnerability management platforms 

They should integrate directly into your CI/CD pipelines.

Use tools like Snyk, Checkov, or GitHub Advanced Security to catch issues early. DuploCloud, for example, automates these validations as part of each infrastructure deployment. 

This reduces manual effort and speeds up secure delivery.

Making Security a Default, Not an Afterthought

In the end, trying to “bolt on” security after cloud migration is risky, inefficient, and often expensive. It creates patchwork environments where inconsistencies and vulnerabilities flourish.

Instead, treat security as a core design principle. It should be built into your architecture, your processes, and your tooling from day one.

Modern cloud environments move too quickly for manual security checks to keep up. Automation ensures that every deployment meets your organization’s policies. It doesn’t matter if it’s encryption standards, IAM rules, or compliance frameworks.

When you partner with a DevSecOps platform like DuploCloud, it’s possible to shift security left. And you won’t slow down your development teams. We allow organizations to bake in security and compliance controls automatically

So you can free up security teams to focus on higher-order risks.

Contact DuploCloud to book a demo. 

FAQs

What are the top security risks during cloud migration?

The biggest risks include: 

  • Data exposure during transfer
  • Misconfigured resources
  • Overly broad IAM permissions
  • Compliance violations

How can I ensure data is secure during migration?

Use end-to-end encryption, strong key management, and verify data integrity with checksums or hashes. Avoid transferring sensitive data over public networks.

Should I use native or third-party security tools?

Both have benefits. Native tools offer deep integration. Third-party tools provide broader coverage and customization. Many organizations use a mix.

What is the role of DuploCloud in cloud migration security?

DuploCloud automates secure infrastructure deployment. This ensures compliance and security are built-in from the start. It simplifies IAM, networking, and policy enforcement.

How do I maintain security after the migration is complete?

Conduct regular audits and enforce IAM best practices. Also, monitor compliance continuously and integrate security into your CI/CD pipelines.