Beginner’s Guide to Getting a Soc 2 Certification

Cybersecurity is a very big deal these days as partners and even customers are becoming more conscious of this important necessity. Failure to keep up with this security need can cause your company to experience a decline in sales and a loss of customers.

One of the ways to meet up with the cybersecurity demands, you need to be SOC 2 compliant.

If you’re wondering what that means, you don’t need to worry. The information contained will ensure your company’s SOC 2 compliance and the journey begins with getting a SOC 2 certification. We’ll provide you with a beginner’s guide on how to get one and reveal all the important details you need to know. 

SOC 2 Explained

SOC (Service Organization Controls) 2 is a compliance standard for information security. The AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) maintains this standard. The purpose is to assess and demonstrate an organization’s cybersecurity. 

To be SOC 2 compliant, your company must develop a cybersecurity program. You’ll then perform an audit with a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) that is affiliated with the AICPA. The audit will be conducted according to the SOC 2 benchmark. Then the report will be documented. 

The report can then be sent to potential reviews who are asking security questions about the company. This will help allay their fears and trust your organization. Furthermore, this security compliance allows you to trade with other large enterprises. This is because a good number of them will not trade or partner with you without it. 

Getting a SOC 2 Certification

To get this certification or more accurately attestation because the CPA’s report is not an actual certificate, but an attestation of the company’s cybersecurity compliance, you need to make certain decisions. You need to determine the type of SOC 2 you want. Will it be Type 1 or Type 2? Furthermore, you need to choose one of the Trust Services Criteria to focus on in the audit. Let’s break these down for easier understanding. 

Type 1 or Type 2

So, what makes these SOC 2 types different? First of all, the Type 1’s audit focuses on a particular time point when it was designed. On the other hand, Type 2 assesses how well the cybersecurity worked during a particular period (usually 6 to 12 months). 

Another difference is the respective nature’s audit. Type 1 deals with the evaluation of the program’s design. Type 2 deals with the evaluation of the program’s execution. 

Finally, the required evidence distinguishes both types. Sampled evidence must be collected when performing a Type 2 audit. Inversely, you don’t need such for a Type 1 audit. 

Which one should you go for? As you might have seen, the Type 2 offers more value. However, you can first do the Type 1 if this is the initial trial to becoming cybersecurity compliant. The time required to complete this type is shorter. 

Also, you don’t have to spend so much money on it. Once you achieve SOC Type 1, it will set up your company to build the practices and skills for subsequent compliance. Therefore, when you choose to do the Type 2 audit, the process will be smooth and the results very impactful. 

You can also use the Type 1 audit as proof of your company’s security-consciousness. This can cause vendors and customers to trust you since you’re already on the path. The report will suffice pending when you execute the Type 2 attestation. 

Trust Services Criteria

The next thing you need to decide is which one of the five Trust Services Criteria to focus on. The criteria are security, confidentiality, availability, privacy, and processing integrity. Let’s briefly look at all 5 of them.

Security

This is the criterion that all audits must carry out. It has the most necessary controls which makes it the largest criterion. Furthermore, it has guidelines covering company management, culture, communication, risk assessments, cybersecurity strategy, and control monitoring. 

Confidentiality

This deals with the controls utilized to protect and ensure that business data remains confidential. You can read this article for a detailed explanation of the importance of business data confidentiality. This criterion demands vendors to be able to detect confidential data and protect it. Confidentiality example controls include data destruction and encryption.

Availability 

The focus here is the vendor’s service uptime. Controls of this criterion include uptime maximization and availability restoration in case of an outage. Backup plans, data recovery, and business continuity are also crucial controls. 

Privacy

The privacy criterion covers the need and process of keeping personal information private. As such, it demands that every vendor has a privacy policy involving the legal collection of personal data. The collected data is then stored securely to prevent unauthorized access. 

Processing Integrity 

This focuses on how the collected data is processed by the vendor. The controls for this criterion evaluate the consistent data processing performance and the appropriate handling of exceptions. The documentation required to fulfill this criterion can be laborious and challenging to create. The reason for this is that it needs SOC 2- 2-specific content. 

Which Should You Focus On?

Now you might be wondering which of these Trust Services Criteria to focus on. Well, as we mentioned earlier, security is important and then confidentiality is something you must not ignore. If the services your company offers are mission-critical, then you an availability. 

Companies that deal with a huge amount of client data processing, need to focus on processing integrity. For privacy, we usually recommend you follow the guidelines of CCPA and GDPR. The guidelines of these programs are better than the ones found in the privacy criterion. 

Conclusion 

After doing all the above, you need to get ready for the audit. You’ll have to determine the audit scope, discover, and fill the openings in your organization’s cybersecurity, create change security content, and change internal procedures. You can then choose an auditor who will carry out the audit. To ensure you choose the right auditor, ensure they are experienced, timely, and can provide you with a pre-planning readiness assessment.

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