System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) aims to provide trust and visibility into a service organization’s ability to maintain data security. Created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), SOC 2 focuses on safeguarding sensitive data through the five Trust Services Criteria: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
There are two types of SOC 2 reports. A Type I report evaluates an organization’s controls at a single point in time. A Type II report assesses how an organization’s controls perform over a period of time, typically 3-12 months. The length of the audit window is up to the organization, but generally organizations will do 3 months their first time and then increase to 6 or 12 months their second time, until they get to doing annual 12 month audit windows.
While not legally required, SOC 2 reports have become a de facto industry standard for data security and management. They’re typically required by enterprises when considering partnerships with third-party vendors.
Compliance requirements vary depending on which Trust Services Criteria are in scope for a SOC 2 audit.
Key security requirements:
Security
- Logical and Physical Access Controls: Ensure only authorized individuals can access systems and data.
- Intrusion Detection: Implement measures to detect and respond to security incidents.
- Data Encryption: Encrypt sensitive data in transit and at rest.
- Firewalls and Network Security: Implement firewalls to block unauthorized access to networks.
Availability
- System Monitoring: Regularly monitor system performance and availability.
- Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: Establish and maintain a disaster recovery plan to ensure continuous availability of services.
- Incident Handling: Define and follow procedures for managing incidents that affect availability.
- Redundancy: Use redundant systems, data centers, and other essential components to maintain service availability.
Processing Integrity
- Quality Assurance and Error Checking: Implement quality checks to ensure accurate data processing.
- Process Monitoring: Monitor processing systems to detect incomplete, inaccurate, or unauthorized transactions.
- Data Verification: Implement measures to verify data inputs and outputs.
- Integrity Monitoring Tools: Use tools to ensure data integrity during processing and storage.
Confidentiality
- Data Classification: Classify data based on its level of sensitivity.
- Access Restrictions: Restrict access to confidential data based on need-to-know.
- Confidentiality Policies: Develop and communicate policies regarding the handling of confidential data.
- Data Masking and Redaction: Utilize masking and redaction to hide portions of sensitive data where necessary.
Privacy
- Personal Information Identification: Identify personal information (PII) and ensure it’s treated with special consideration.
- Privacy Policies: Develop privacy policies and communicate them to relevant stakeholders.
- User Consent: Where applicable, obtain consent for the collection, processing, and sharing of personal data.
- Privacy Training: Train staff about privacy requirements and responsibilities.
