Assessing the Security Implications of Cloud Migration: A Risk Analysis Framework for Protecting Sensitive Data in Multi-Tenant Environments

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive risk analysis framework for organizations migrating sensitive data to cloud environments, with particular emphasis on multi-tenant infrastructures. We evaluate the complex security challenges inherent in transitioning from on-premises systems to cloud platforms through quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Our research identifies critical threat vectors unique to shared computing environments and establishes a multi-dimensional taxonomy of vulnerabilities specific to different cloud service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS). Through empirical analysis of 47 enterprise-level cloud migrations across financial, healthcare, and government sectors, we develop and validate a five-tier assessment methodology that systematically evaluates data protection requirements against cloud provider security capabilities. The framework incorporates cryptographic boundary enforcement, regulatory compliance mapping, advanced privacy-preserving computation techniques, and adaptive threat modeling. Our findings demonstrate that organizations implementing this framework experienced 37\% reduction in security incidents during migration and 42\% improvement in regulatory compliance outcomes. This research contributes to the field by providing a reproducible, vendor-agnostic approach to mitigating the complex security risks associated with cloud migration while preserving the operational and financial benefits that drive cloud adoption decisions.