What is SOC2?
SOC 2, or Service Organization Control 2, is an auditing framework developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) to assess and report on the effectiveness of a service organization's controls related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. It is specifically designed for organizations that provide cloud-based services, data storage, and other technology services.
SOC 2 compliance is important for service providers to demonstrate to their customers that they have the necessary controls in place to protect and manage sensitive data. The SOC 2 audit process evaluates an organization's controls against the AICPA's Trust Services Criteria, which are the following:
- Security: The system is protected against unauthorized access, both physical and logical.
- Availability: The system is available for operation and use as committed or agreed upon.
- Processing Integrity: System processing is complete, accurate, timely, and authorized.
- Confidentiality: Information designated as confidential is protected as committed or agreed upon.
- Privacy: Personal information is collected, used, retained, disclosed, and disposed of in accordance with the organization's privacy policies and applicable legal requirements.
Organizations that successfully complete a SOC 2 audit receive a SOC 2 report, which can be either a Type 1 or Type 2 report. A Type 1 report evaluates the design of the organization's controls at a specific point in time, while a Type 2 report assesses the effectiveness of those controls over a specified period of time, usually between six months and a year.
