SOC is an abbreviation of Service and Organization Controls. SOC 2 is an auditing procedure that ensures that an organization’s service providers manage their data securely in order to protect the organization’s interests and client’s privacy.
SOC 2 is a voluntary compliance standard for service organizations, developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), which specifies how organizations should manage customer data.
SOC 2 is one of the more common compliance requirements that tech companies should meet today to be competitive in the market.
SOC 2 Trust Categories
SOC II five trust categories (Formerly known as principals in SSAE-16) are:
Security: The organization’s system must have controls in place to safeguard against unauthorized physical and logical access.
Availability: The system must be available for operation and must be used as agreed.
Processing Integrity: The system processing must be complete, accurate, well-timed, and authorized.
Confidentiality: The information held by the organization that is classified as “confidential” by a user must be protected.
Privacy: All personal information that the organization collects, uses, retains, and discloses must be in accordance with their privacy notice and principles. These are specified by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
Benefits of an SOC 2 Compliance:
- SOC 2 audits help you in improving your overall security outlook.
- Since SOC 2 compliant companies have all the right tools and procedures to safeguard sensitive information, customers feel confident in entrusting them with their data.
- SOC 2 requirements often overlap with other frameworks, like ISO 27001 and HIPAA, which means that you may end up killing two (or more) birds with one stone.
- You increase your brand reputation as a security-conscious company and establish a formidable competitive advantage.
- Achieving SOC 2 compliance may help you avoid data breaches and the financial/reputation damage that comes with them.