Security risks in migrating on-premise workloads to cloud: It checklist

To map security risks in a migração de workloads para nuvem segurança scenario, start by classifying workloads, modeling threats on each migration path, and validating network, identity, data and operations controls. Use a structured checklist, evidences and simple tools so intermediate teams in Brazil can execute a safe, auditable migration.

Primary security domains to map before migration

• Workload inventory, business criticality and data sensitivity classification.
• Threat modeling of migration paths, tools and integration points.
• Network and connectivity design, including hybrid and VPN links.
• Identity, access management and privilege escalation scenarios.
• Data protection, encryption and regulatory compliance alignment.
• Operational resilience: backup, monitoring, logging and recovery SLAs.

Inventory and workload classification checklist

This checklist suits teams planning checklist segurança migração on-premise para cloud in small to medium environments or segmented phases of a large program. It is not ideal when the environment is completely unknown, undocumented, or in severe technical debt; in that case, run a separate discovery and stabilization project first.

Item	Risk severity	Evidence to collect	Mitigation action
List all workloads and business owners	High	CMDB export, spreadsheets, architecture diagrams	Consolidate inventory; assign accountable owner for each workload before migration.
Classify data sensitivity per workload	High	Data flow diagrams, sample records, legal input	Tag workloads as public, internal, confidential, highly confidential; define required controls per class.
Identify business criticality and RTO/RPO	High	Interviews with business, service catalogs	Prioritize high criticality workloads; align cloud SLAs and backup strategy with RTO/RPO.
Map technical dependencies	Medium	Application maps, DNS records, firewall rules	Group tightly coupled systems into migration waves; avoid breaking hidden dependencies.
Identify compliance-bound workloads	High	List of regulatory requirements (LGPD, PCI, etc.)	Flag workloads under regulation; pre-select compliant cloud regions and services.
Detect legacy or unsupported components	Medium	OS inventory, middleware versions, vendor support status	Plan remediation, replatforming or isolation patterns before cloud migration.
Choose migration pattern per workload	Medium	Architecture review, performance baselines	Decide rehost, replatform, refactor; document security impact of each choice.

Threat modeling for migration paths and attack surfaces

For melhores práticas segurança migração para nuvem, prepare a basic threat modeling toolkit and access to documentation and stakeholders before you start.

Item	Risk severity	Evidence to collect	Mitigation action
Define migration paths per workload	High	Project plan, runbooks, tool list (VPN, Direct Connect, migration tools)	Document all hops, temporary components and data flows; avoid ad-hoc paths.
Identify new attack surfaces	High	Diagrams of public endpoints, APIs, management planes	Minimize public exposure; require WAF and authentication for new internet-facing points.
Analyze data-in-transit exposure	High	Protocol list, port mappings, TLS configurations	Enforce end-to-end encryption; disable insecure protocols during migration windows.
Consider temporary storage and staging areas	Medium	Migration tool configs, temp bucket or file share listings	Encrypt staging storage; restrict access; delete or anonymize data after migration.
Evaluate third-party tools and scripts	Medium	Vendor security docs, code repositories, SBOMs	Whitelist tools; restrict privileges; scan scripts and containers for vulnerabilities.
Model insider and admin abuse risks	High	Admin access list, change management logs	Use approvals, just-in-time access and detailed logging for migration activities.
Assess roll-back and failure scenarios	Medium	Rollback plans, DR procedures, test reports	Ensure safe rollback steps; avoid data divergence or insecure temporary states.

Network topology, connectivity and perimeter risks

Before running the steps below, use this quick preparation checklist so that ferramentas para avaliação de riscos na migração para nuvem can be applied safely:

• Collect current on-premise network diagrams and VLAN lists.
• Export existing firewall and router rules for critical segments.
• Decide which cloud connectivity model will be used (VPN, private link, direct connection).
• List all internet-facing services and their DNS names.
• Confirm who can approve network changes and maintenance windows.

1. Map current and target network segmentation. Draw how workloads are segmented today and how they should be segmented in cloud (VPCs, subnets, security groups). Focus on isolating environments (prod, non-prod) and sensitive workloads from general traffic.
2. Plan secure hybrid connectivity. Choose and document VPN, ExpressRoute, Direct Connect or equivalent. Define which subnets are reachable, required bandwidth and redundancy. Ensure routes do not accidentally expose internal networks to the internet.
3. Harden perimeter and ingress paths. Identify all paths from the internet to workloads. Decide which will remain public, which will move behind VPN or Zero Trust access. Plan WAF, DDoS protection and rate-limiting for exposed endpoints.
4. Review firewall, NSG and security group rules. Start from least-privilege. Remove broad rules like any-any; restrict by CIDR, ports and protocols. Align cloud security groups with existing segmentation, not with temporary shortcuts.
   • Normalize naming conventions for rules and tags.
   • Plan rule clean-up after decommissioning on-prem segments.
5. Secure management access. Define how admins access servers, databases and network devices in cloud. Prefer bastion hosts, VPN or privileged access workstations instead of direct RDP/SSH from the internet.
6. Validate DNS, certificates and TLS. Map all DNS zones and records affected by the migration. Plan certificate issuance or renewal and enforce modern TLS configurations on new cloud endpoints.
7. Test connectivity and logging before cutover. Execute non-production tests to validate routes, latency and logging of denied and allowed connections. Adjust rules and routes before moving critical traffic.

Item	Risk severity	Evidence to collect	Mitigation action
Undefined network segmentation in cloud	High	VPC/VNet design docs, subnet plans	Design and approve segmentation before deploying workloads; enforce isolation for sensitive tiers.
Overly permissive hybrid connectivity	High	VPN configs, route tables, peering settings	Limit reachable CIDRs; implement route filters and NACLs; monitor for unexpected flows.
Publicly exposed admin ports	High	Cloud security group and firewall exports	Block RDP/SSH from internet; use bastion, VPN or Just-in-Time access solutions.
Unprotected internet-facing applications	High	List of public IPs, DNS names, WAF configs	Place apps behind WAF and reverse proxies; enforce TLS and authentication.
Lack of network-level logging	Medium	Firewall logging settings, flow logs status	Enable VPC/VNet flow logs; centralize logs in SIEM; define retention and access.
Misconfigured DNS or certificates	Medium	DNS zone exports, certificate inventories	Review all DNS changes; automate certificate issuance and renewal; test failover.

Identity, access management and privilege escalation risks

Use this checklist to validate IAM hardening before and during consultoria migração on-premise para nuvem segura engagements.

Item	Risk severity	Evidence to collect	Mitigation action
Single sign-on and identity source alignment	High	IdP configs, federation settings, user stores	Standardize on a central IdP; configure federation with cloud IAM; retire local admin accounts where possible.
Multi-factor authentication coverage	High	MFA policies, coverage reports, admin account list	Enforce MFA for admins and sensitive workloads; apply conditional access for risky locations and devices.
Privilege escalation paths	High	Role hierarchy diagrams, group memberships	Review role chains; remove indirect paths to global admin; apply least privilege roles.
Service accounts and secrets	High	Account list, key vault inventories, code repos	Migrate secrets to managed vaults; rotate credentials; use managed identities where available.
Temporary migration accounts	Medium	Change tickets, list of special migration users	Time-bound migration roles; disable or delete accounts at the end of each wave.
Audit logging and access reviews	Medium	IAM audit logs, review schedules, past reports	Enable directory and cloud IAM logs; schedule periodic access reviews; remediate anomalies quickly.
Integration with on-premise directories	Medium	Sync tool configs, OU scoping, sync logs	Scope synchronized objects; secure sync servers; monitor for replication errors and drift.

• All privileged accounts are known, documented and have MFA enforced.
• No standing global admin access for contractors or temporary staff.
• Serviced workloads use managed identities or centrally stored secrets.
• Access to cloud management consoles is logged and reviewed.
• Legacy on-premise admin paths are closed when workloads move to cloud.
• Segregation of duties exists between migration engineers and approvers.

Data protection, encryption and regulatory compliance checks

Data protection errors are among the most expensive in any migração de workloads para nuvem segurança project. Watch these common pitfalls closely.

Item	Risk severity	Evidence to collect	Mitigation action
Unencrypted storage or databases	High	Storage configs, DB parameter sets, KMS usage	Enable encryption at rest; standardize key management; document key rotation policies.
Weak data classification and tagging	High	Tagging policies, resource inventories	Apply consistent tags for sensitivity and owner; enforce policies via automation.
Non-compliant data residency	High	Cloud region list, dataset locations, legal guidance	Restrict sensitive data to approved regions; use geo-fencing and policies.
Inadequate backups and retention for legal holds	Medium	Backup configs, retention policies, legal requirements	Align backup and archive retention with regulatory needs; test restore of sampled datasets.
Exposure in logs, metrics and diagnostics	Medium	Sample logs, observability configs	Mask or tokenize sensitive fields; restrict log access; apply shorter retention where possible.
Unclear controller/processor roles with cloud provider	Medium	Contracts, DPAs, shared responsibility docs	Clarify roles under LGPD and similar; ensure contracts include security and incident clauses.
Manual key and certificate handling	Medium	Key inventories, certificate spreadsheets	Move to centralized KMS and certificate management; automate issuance and rotation.

• Copying production data to test environments without masking or anonymization.
• Leaving temporary migration storage unencrypted or publicly accessible.
• Using personal cloud accounts to move datasets for convenience.
• Ignoring data residency limitations when selecting regions or services.
• Storing encryption keys in code, scripts or configuration files.
• Not involving legal and compliance early when changing processing locations.

Operational resilience: backups, monitoring and recovery SLAs

Several alternatives exist to implement resilient operations during a segurança-focused migration. Choose options that realistically match your team skills and budget.

Item	Risk severity	Evidence to collect	Mitigation action
Documented RTO/RPO per workload	High	SLAs, business impact analyses	Validate that backup, replication and DR designs meet or exceed agreed RTO/RPO.
Consistent backup strategy during migration	High	Backup job lists, success reports across on-prem and cloud	Ensure no gaps arise when workloads move; overlap backups until cutover is stable.
Monitoring and alerting coverage	Medium	Tool dashboards, alert catalogs, runbooks	Integrate cloud monitoring with existing tools; define thresholds and on-call responsibilities.
Disaster recovery tests and game days	Medium	Test reports, drill logs, findings	Run realistic DR tests for critical workloads; fix gaps found before decommissioning on-prem DR.
Vendor and provider SLAs	Medium	Cloud service SLAs, third-party contracts	Compare provider SLAs to business needs; add redundancy or multi-region where needed.
Incident response readiness	High	IR playbooks, contact lists, tooling access	Adapt IR procedures to cloud; ensure logs, snapshots and evidence can be quickly collected.

• Lift-and-shift with cloud-native managed backups: simple to operate, good when you can standardize on one provider.
• Hybrid backup platforms covering on-prem and multi-cloud: useful for complex estates needing central control.
• Active-active or pilot-light DR in cloud: appropriate for high criticality systems with strict downtime limits.
• Managed operations and SRE from a partner: viable when internal teams lack 24×7 capacity but must meet strict SLAs.

Quick answers to recurring migration security concerns

How early should security join a cloud migration project?

Security should be involved from the initial planning, before any architecture decisions. That is when threat modeling, workload classification and the first version of your checklist segurança migração on-premise para cloud bring the most value and lowest rework.

Do I need a separate environment for testing migration steps?

Yes. Use non-production environments to validate connectivity, IAM and automation. Never use real sensitive data in tests unless it is masked or anonymized according to your data protection policy.

Which tools help assess risks without overcomplicating the project?

Start with your cloud provider security center, configuration analyzers, basic vulnerability scanners and log analytics. Combine them with simple planilhas and diagrams to keep risk discussions understandable for all stakeholders.

How can small teams handle identity and access security correctly?

Standardize on a single IdP, enforce MFA, and rely on built-in cloud IAM roles instead of custom ones where possible. Automate user provisioning and deprovisioning to reduce manual mistakes.

Is it necessary to hire consultoria migração on-premise para nuvem segura?

It is not mandatory, but experienced consultants can accelerate design reviews, threat modeling and controls selection, especially for regulated workloads or first-time cloud adopters in Brazil.

What if legacy systems cannot support modern encryption?

Isolate these systems in tightly controlled network segments, use encrypted gateways or proxies in front of them, and plan a modernization roadmap. Document residual risks and obtain business acceptance.

How often should I review security after the migration completes?

Plan at least annual reviews for architecture and controls, with more frequent checks for critical workloads. Major environment changes or new services should always trigger a focused risk review.