The system of controls known as SOC2 ensures that organizations protect the privacy and security of their customers’ data. It’s a critical compliance measure for companies that store or process sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, personal identification numbers (PINs), bank account numbers, and other financial or medical information.
This article provides an overview of SOC2, including compliance’s key components and benefits. We’ve also included a checklist to help you start your journey toward achieving SOC2 certification.
What is SOC2 and Why Does it Matter
SOC2 is a comprehensive set of standards created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). SOC2 aims to ensure that organizations maintain integrity by protecting the privacy and security of their customers’ data.
SOC2 is a system of controls that helps organizations protect the privacy and security of their customers’ data. It’s a critical compliance measure for companies that store or process sensitive information. Suppose your company wants to keep track of people’s credit card numbers, personal identification numbers, bank account numbers, or other types of financial or medical information. In that case, you need to be SOC2 certified.
The Important Components of SOC2
There are five key requirements or controls in SOC2: security, privacy, availability, processing integrity, and confidentiality. These requirements help assess an organization’s data security capabilities by focusing on various privacy and security components such as:
- Security: Security control helps organizations protect their customers’ data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. This includes implementing physical and technical safeguards to prevent unauthorized access and procedures for managing and monitoring access to data.
- Privacy: Privacy control helps organizations protect their customers’ data from unauthorized access or use. It also requires organizations to have procedures to obtain customer consent before collecting, using, or disclosing their data.
- Availability: The availability control helps ensure customers’ data is accessible when needed. This can be particularly important for customers who may need access to the information when contacting your organization is inconvenient.
- Processing integrity: The processing integrity control helps organizations process customer data as intended and with reasonable accuracy and completeness.
- Confidentiality: Confidentiality control requires organizations to keep customer data confidential. This involves implementing procedures to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure of customer data.
The five controls in SOC2 help organizations maintain integrity by protecting the privacy and security of their customers’ data. If you want to ensure your company is doing everything it can to protect people’s information, you must become SOC2 certified.
Benefits of Compliance With SOC2
There are many benefits to compliance with SOC2. The foremost benefit is that it helps organizations protect the privacy and security of their customers’ data. This can be critical for companies that store or process sensitive information.
SOC2 also helps organizations demonstrate their commitment to data protection. This can be important for customers looking for organizations that take data security seriously. Additionally, SOC2 can help organizations improve their data security operations by identifying and addressing any weaknesses in their data security posture.
Finally, compliance with SOC2 can help organizations reduce their risk of financial and legal penalties. This is because organizations that are SOC2 certified have been shown to have robust data protection procedures in place.
Who needs to be compliant with SOC2?
The modern threat landscape has made people more aware of data security and privacy. Specifically, as the cyber threat landscape continues to grow, the need for data protection is a painful awareness amongst people that organizations need to recognize.
Therefore, organizations handling sensitive customer data must be SOC2 compliant to gain customers’ trust. This includes companies that store or process credit card numbers, social security numbers, bank account information, and other types of private information.
SOC2 certification is critical for organizations that want to ensure their customers’ data privacy and security. The five controls in SOC2 work together to help organizations maintain their integrity by protecting their customers’ data confidentiality and security.
How to get started on your journey toward achieving certification
If you’re looking to get started on your journey to achieving SOC2 certification, there are a few things you need to know. The first step is to assess your current state and identify areas of improvement. Once you better understand where you need to focus your efforts, you can start implementing the relevant controls.
It’s also important to note that SOC2 is not a one-time event – it’s an ongoing process that requires regular monitoring and assessment. You’ll need to ensure that your data protection procedures are up-to-date and compliant with the latest standards.
Finally, it’s crucial to have a strong leadership commitment to data security and privacy. This means that top management needs to be actively involved in assessing and implementing data protection controls.
To start your journey toward achieving SOC2 certification, you need to understand where you stand today!
Checklist For Becoming Certified
Assess your current state and identify any areas where you need improvement.
- Implement the relevant controls.
- Regular monitoring and assessment are required to maintain compliance.
- Strong leadership commitment to data security and privacy is necessary.
- Ensure your data protection procedures are current and compliant with the latest standards.
- SOC2 is not a one-time event but an ongoing process requiring regular evaluation and review.
- Compliance with SOC2 is achieved at different levels depending on the scope of the services provided.
- The more sensitive your customers’ data is, the higher the level of certification you should aim for.
- To get certified, you must undergo an independent security audit from a qualified party.
Here is all you need to know about SOC2: what it is, who needs to be compliant, and how you can get started on your journey toward achieving certification.
Conclusion
Compliance with SOC2 can help organizations reduce their risk of financial and legal penalties. This is because organizations that are SOC2 certified have been shown to have robust data protection procedures in place.
If you’re looking to get started on your journey to achieving SOC2 certification, there are a few things you need to know. The first step is to assess your current state and identify areas of improvement. Once you better understand where you need to focus your efforts, you can start implementing the relevant controls.
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About the Author
Waqas is a cybersecurity journalist and writer who has a knack for writing technology and online privacy-focused articles. He strives to help achieve a secure online environment and is skilled in writing topics related to cybersecurity, AI, DevOps, Cloud security, and a lot more. As seen in: Computer.org, Nordic APIs, Infosecinstitute.com, Tripwire.com, and VentureBeat.
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