Understanding SOC 2 Compliance: A Complete Guide

In the world of information security, there’s a high premium placed on the concept of trust. It’s what gives users the assurance to store their most sensitive data with you, and it’s how enterprise customers know which vendors to work with. Essentially, trust is both a mark of quality, and a powerful driver of business.

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SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) is a security compliance framework that helps organizations effectively manage customer data by adhering to established security protocols. It’s a standard that puts special emphasis on trust and data protection, helping vendors figure out how to build a secure environment, and giving customers a benchmark to evaluate vendors on their security posture.

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The 5 Trust Service Criteria (TSC) of SOC 2

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SOC 2 is defined by a set of 5 Trust Service Criteria that need to be fulfilled by the vendor in order to achieve an acceptable level of security.

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1. Security

This is the most important aspect of your information security program, covering everything from how your organization does testing and scanning your network for malicious activity, how data is stored, transmitted, modified and deleted, and other security controls designed to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive user data.

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2. Availability

This criterion focuses on the stability and uptime of your systems and services. If your network performance is slow, outages are common, or you don’t have a proper disaster recovery protocol for extreme circumstances, these would reflect poorly on your SOC 2 audit.

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3. Processing Integrity

To meet this objective, the data stored with your organization would need to be processed accurately, in a timely fashion, and without losing any information in the process. This includes aspects like quality assurance, and is critical if, for example, your company is handling financial transactions or medical data. 

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4. Confidentiality

A core component of information security is ensuring that no user is able to access data or system resources without proper authorization. Intellectual property, financial data, and business-sensitive information are all prime targets for attackers, and must be protected with strong access control mechanisms, authentication, and authorization.

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5. Privacy

In a similar vein, personal identifiable information (PII) is just as important to protect from data breaches and exposure. Everything from payment information, names, addresses, and medical data fall into this category, and must be secured using robust access control and cryptographic methods.

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10 Steps to Achieve SOC 2 Compliance

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Step 1: Define the Scope

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SOC 2 allows organizations to choose the specific TSCs that apply to their business. Typically, Security is mandatory, and you can choose the others (Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, Privacy) based on your services and customer requirements. Defining the scope involves:

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•  Determining the systems that need to be covered.
•  Specifying which TSCs are relevant.
•  Identifying what controls you already have in place.

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It helps to inform stakeholders and upper management at your organization, so it will be easier to get support and resources to pursue the certification. The SOC 2 certification process can take several months, especially if you are pursuing a Type II audit.

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Step 2: Prepare Your Organization

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Before engaging in a SOC 2 audit, your organization needs to establish policies, procedures, and controls aligned with SOC 2 requirements. Key preparation steps include:

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• Develop security policies: These should cover areas like incident response, access controls, data encryption, system monitoring, and data retention.
• Implement access controls: Make sure only authorized users have access to sensitive systems and data. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is commonly required.
• Monitoring and logging: Ensure continuous monitoring of systems for unusual activity. Implement logging mechanisms to track access and modifications.
• Risk assessment: Conduct regular risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities and gaps.
• Incident response plan: Have a well-defined incident response process for detecting, responding to, and mitigating security incidents.

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Step 3: Choose Between SOC 2 Type I and Type II

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There are two types of SOC 2 reports:

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• SOC 2 Type I: Assesses the design of your controls at a specific point in time. It’s faster to complete, as it focuses on whether your controls are properly designed.
• SOC 2 Type II: Evaluates the effectiveness of your controls over a period (typically 3-12 months). This is more thorough and provides greater assurance to clients.

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Decide which type of audit suits your needs. If you’re just starting out, a Type I audit is a good first step to take, and then you can pursue a Type II later.

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Step 4: Assess the Risk to Your System

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This is where you really begin understanding the various security risks that could affect your network and systems. This involves answering some key questions about your tech stack: 

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• What are the vulnerabilities you’re facing (or are likely to face)? 
• What is the scope of these risks? 
• What is the business impact of the vulnerabilities?

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Once you identify the risks and threats, prioritize them based on their impact to your organization, and the likelihood that they’ll occur. When it comes time to address these issues, you should start fixing them based on this ranking.

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Threat modeling can be a great way to understand the risks to your organization. Learn how to build a comprehensive threat model of your environment and prepare for threats with AppSecEngineer.

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Step 5: Perform a Gap Analysis

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Before the official audit, it’s important to perform a gap analysis to identify areas where you may not be meeting SOC 2 requirements. A gap analysis helps in:

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• Identifying missing or incomplete controls.
• Reviewing existing policies, procedures, and tools.
• Prioritizing remediation steps to address gaps.

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You can do this internally or hire a consulting firm with SOC 2 expertise to perform the gap analysis. By understanding where your current security program is lacking, you’ll be better prepared when overhauling security protocols, access control, and tooling.

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Step 6: Implement Security Controls and Perform Tests

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Based on the gap analysis and risk assessment, you should go about fixing or overhauling your security policies, processes, and systems. This is crucial step, and is where most organizations run into issues. This can involve:

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• Fixing your code: If your organization hasn’t been doing regular and automated static analysis, your software might be full of vulnerabilities. Start by fixing the most serious vulnerabilities in your code, and enforce secure coding practices in your product team going forward.
• Restricting access control: This is one of the most important steps to ensuring your system blocks unauthorized users from accessing sensitive data and resources. If you’re dealing with a large number of users and services, consider using Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to manage access.
• Improving cryptography: Your current encryption methods may not be sufficient for storing or transmitting data securely. For data at rest, use algorithms like BCrypt or Argon for encryption, and for data in transit, use protocols like TLS, HTTPS, and SFTP.

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Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to improving your organization’s security posture. But more than anything, your team needs the right skills in order to build secure software and process data safely. Skills that can only be acquired through hands-on training.

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AppSecEngineer offers courses that can bring your entire product team up to speed, including:

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• Security skills for compliance
• Secure coding for developers
• Automated testing and reporting for security teams

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...and much more. Get your team hands-on security skills, and achieve compliance in less than 6 months!

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Step 7: Select a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Firm for the Audit

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Only an AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) certified firm can conduct a SOC 2 audit. The firm will:

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• Evaluate your controls against the selected TSCs.
• Perform tests on the operational effectiveness of these controls (Type II audit).
• Identify weaknesses and security gaps in your system.
• Provide a detailed report of your security posture.

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Choose a CPA firm that has experience with SOC 2 audits in your industry.

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Step 8: Undergo the SOC 2 Audit

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During the audit, the CPA firm will:

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• Review your documentation and security policies.
• Conduct interviews with personnel to understand control implementation.
• Test systems, policies, and procedures based on the TSCs.

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For Type II audits, the firm will test your controls over the designated period (e.g., 6 or 12 months), requiring evidence of continuous compliance.

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Step 9: Address Any Issues

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If the audit uncovers issues or exceptions, you’ll need to take corrective action immediately. This could involve:

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• Updating your policies or improving security controls.
• Conducting additional staff training.
• Implementing new tools or processes to mitigate risk.

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Once these are addressed, you’d have to undergo additional audit steps to confirm that all issues have been resolved. if all goes well, you’ll receive your SOC 2 certification.

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Step 10: Maintain Compliance

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SOC 2 compliance is not a one-time event. You need to continuously monitor and improve your security controls. This includes:

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• Performing regular risk assessments.
• Updating policies and procedures to reflect new threats or technologies.
• Planning for annual or biannual audits, depending on client requirements.
• Keeping logs, monitoring systems, and responding to incidents as they occur.

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Now that you’re SOC 2 compliant, inform your customers and partners about it, include it in your marketing initiatives, and build a reputation for trust and quality with your services.

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Want to train your team in preparation for SOC 2 compliance? Check out AppSecEngineer’s suite of hands-on courses, assessments, and enterprise-grade learning management tools!

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