SOC 2® Services
By Sita Bhat, Senior Consultant
SOC stands for System and Organisation Controls and was designed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). SOC 2® is the reporting standard used to describe how an organisation designs and operates its controls. The controls are described in the framework most commonly known as the Trust Services Criteria (TSC). The service organisation assesses the appropriateness of the design and operational effectiveness of controls outlined in the description. This evaluation aims to offer reasonable assurance that the service commitments and system requirements have been met in accordance with the Trust Service Criteria (TSC) relevant to the specific trust services category or categories covered in the examination scope.
What to Know About SOC 2®
Firstly, SOC 1® is an audit report describing controls related to the protection of financial statements and reports. Secondly, SOC 2® is an audit report related to controls on security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy. There are two types of SOC 2® reports: Type 1 and Type 2. A Type 1 report is restricted to an assessment of how the security controls are designed, and a Type 2 report includes the operating effectiveness of the security controls. Finally, SOC 3®, a higher-level compliance report, is suitable for distribution to any of the organisation’s customers. This report, devoid of sensitive information, is designed to showcase both the effectiveness of design and operations, essentially aligning with a Type 2 report.
The purpose of SOC standards is to create a level of confidence and trust for organisations when they engage a third-party to provide important services. SOC 2® compliance is critical for protecting the given organisation and its customers from data breaches, threats and vulnerabilities. Enterprise customers will also require service providers to meet the TSC and the compliance requirements prior to engaging in contracts. Moreover, SOC 2® compliance is a competitive differentiator, it enables the service provider to boost establishment, credibility and remain attuned to customer needs.
What Are Organisations Missing?
Business leaders choose to improve efficiency, enhance operations, or transfer risk by outsourcing functions such as data centre hosting, cloud software solutions, and managed security to service organisations. These service providers collect, transmit, store, and dispose of information. Both your customer’s information and your organisation’s information could be at risk. The absence of proper governance in service organisations increases the risk to customers, investors, and the businesses themselves.
With new security threats proliferating the internet, data security standards are constantly evolving. This makes it challenging for even the savviest CIO to keep a cloud-based data system compliant and secure.
The Problem SOC 2® Services Solves
SOC 2® reporting solves the issue of how a business leader can trust that a service provider is taking its obligations seriously by conducting a Type 1 and Type 2 report to evaluate data protection systems and procedures. The AICPA created SOC 2® to fill the need for rigorous independent examinations of the operational controls in service organisations.
Further to this, SOC 2® bolsters company culture, provides documentation to meet legal and compliance challenges, assists with risk management and improves overall security.
Who Is the SOC 2® Service for?
If you are a service provider or a service organisation that stores, processes or transmits any kind of information you may need to involve an SOC 2® consultancy and audit team. Service providers that have an SOC 2® Type 1 and Type 2 report ready to give to an organisation, will ultimately have a commercial advantage over their competitors.
On the contrary, the SOC 2® Type 1 and Type 2 reports are an invaluable resource for user organisations to confirm the effectiveness of their service provider’s internal controls and to ensure their clients sensitive data is protected.
For security-conscious businesses, SOC 2® compliance is a minimum requirement when considering a SaaS provider.
Key Benefits of SOC 2®
Privasec’s SOC 2® services ensures you save time, reduce cost and receive exceptional results. Our SOC 2® services are end-to-end, offering a lifecycle of SOC 2® Type 1 pre work, gap assessment, remediation services, the controls matrix and mapping exercises, service description and optimal consulting services.
Further to the lifecycle approach, the audit team at Privasec, a cyber security solutions provider in Singapore, will take over and drive the SOC 2® Type 2 test designs, ensuring that the controls are operating effectively prior to providing the required deliverables. The consulting and auditing teams at Privasec possess exceptional skills to provide your organisation with guidance and direction throughout the entire SOC 2® process.
How to Prepare/Plan for Your SOC 2® Service
Are you ready to get SOC 2® certified? Follow these steps to begin your organisation’s journey:
- Ensure that you are a service provider, store customer data in the cloud, require compliance to security controls.
- Take a look at the Trust Services Criteria (TSC) and determine the controls and principles you want to implement.
- Ensure that you have resources and time ready for the duration of the SOC 2® engagement.
- Prepare and create policies and procedures or update all internal processes, employee training and education and organise these documents into a shared file.
Next Steps
Curious about the SOC 2® process? Get in touch with the Privasec team and we can provide you with a free walkthrough of our SOC 2® approach and methodology.