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Are you a chip designer considering data migration to the cloud but are unsure of how to protect your data and other sensitive assets? The process can be simpler and safer than you think. 


Protecting Your Assets During Data Migration

Here are some tips to help you ensure a safe and secure migration to the cloud.

Understand Your Data Situation 

Data migration can be a great time to take stock of your assets. If you don’t handle data migration to the cloud properly, you can put your company’s data at risk.

When migrating, you should keep a few questions in mind:  Can you use the data now and in the future? Does the data follow your data governance framework's policies about storage and retention? What data can you discard safely?

Data management tools exist to assist you with the process of inventorying data. Many cloud vendors will offer their solutions to help with data migration to the cloud. You can also pay for third-party data inventory services.

 

Consider Your Compliance Regime

Your organization needs a solid understanding of compliance requirements before cleaning your data.

In industries like healthcare and finance, regulators and government bodies enforce strict rules regarding data safety. Data migration to the cloud starts with careful adherence to these rules.

Most likely, your organization is aware of its regulatory requirements. Yet staying on top of regulatory changes and ensuring compliance remain ongoing challenges.

 

Manage Data Access

When it comes to data access, many organizations follow the least privilege principle: end-users should only receive the information they need to do their job.

The same principle applies to cloud data migration. Due to the sensitive nature of migration, only authorized personnel should have access to your data.

During data migration to the cloud, you should use two-factor authentication as an extra precaution. Two-factor authentication ensures data security even for authorized users through a two-step verification process.

Encrypt Data At Transit

Data at rest is particularly susceptible to attack. It is essential, therefore, to encrypt data at rest so it stays safe. You can also protect data at rest using key management services and hardened encryption, as well as encrypted network protocols.

For large-scale data migrations to the cloud, cloud vendors can provide specialized solutions, including the physical transport of data-bearing media to the cloud data center.

 

Evaluate the Impact on Your Data Center

Data transfer to the cloud comprises only part of protecting your assets. Don't forget to keep an eye on any physical devices in your data center, such as hard drives and storage servers. Make sure you account for both in your IT asset management plan.

Decommissioning activities, no matter their size, require a robust checklist. Ensure the rest of your storage media and other data-bearing equipment are always secure. 

 

Wipe Remaining Data Drives

Data sanitization isn't something you should leave to chance. You should find out how your IT asset disposal (ITAD) company wipes storage media and communicate to them what you expect from reselling the sanitized equipment.

You should also make sure your partner ITAD firm uses safe data sanitization and decommissioning protocols. You won't have to worry about decommissioning activities if your ITAD company handles its data wiping correctly.

 

Research Your Cloud Provider’s Security

When you move data to the cloud, you have to reassess your cloud provider’s security and its limitations. It is essential to learn about any new access and entitlement rules to ensure a smooth transition.

Despite their relative safety, clouds do have weaknesses. According to a recent study, certain common lapses in entitlement management could leave parts of the public cloud open to attacks. 

Make sure to watch for news about cloud vulnerabilities and ensure that you apply patches or setting changes as soon as they become available.


Data Migration to the Cloud: Synopsys Can Help

Synopsys provides comprehensive and standards-based cloud security guidance and services. Wherever you might be in the cloud data migration process, our services can help you make wiser, more informed decisions. Together, we can develop a comprehensive and integrated approach to identifying and mitigating your cloud data security risks.


Synopsys, EDA, and the Cloud

Synopsys is the industry’s largest provider of electronic design automation (EDA) technology used in the design and verification of semiconductor devices, or chips. With Synopsys Cloud, we’re taking EDA to new heights, combining the availability of advanced compute and storage infrastructure with unlimited access to EDA software licenses on-demand so you can focus on what you do best – designing chips, faster. Delivering cloud-native EDA tools and pre-optimized hardware platforms, an extremely flexible business model, and a modern customer experience, Synopsys has reimagined the future of chip design on the cloud, without disrupting proven workflows.

Take a Test Drive!

Synopsys technology drives innovations that change how people work and play using high-performance silicon chips. Let Synopsys power your innovation journey with cloud-based EDA tools. Sign up to try Synopsys Cloud for free!


About The Author

Wagner Nascimento is vice president and chief information security officer at Synopsys. As the CISO, Wagner is responsible for developing and implementing the Information Security Program for the enterprise . Wagner has over 20 years of experience in the cybersecurity space, leading security efforts in other larger organizations such as VISA, Cisco, and Albertsons. A Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Wagner is adept in security architecture/analysis, cyber threat detection, risk management, incident response, and contingency planning. He has a B.S. in Information Technology from American Intercontinental University and an MBA (Finance, Strategic Management) from California State University, East Bay.

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