What Is SOC 2 Compliance?

SOC 2 compliance is an important step for businesses to take in order to ensure their customers’ data is being handled in a responsible and secure manner. By achieving SOC 2 compliance, businesses can certify they’ve put the necessary safeguards and processes in place to protect customer data

But what is SOC 2 compliance? In short, it’s a voluntary compliance standard developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It’s based on five trust services principles — security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.¹ Let’s take a closer look at SOC 2 compliance.

Why SOC 2 Compliance Matters

Data security is more important than ever, and businesses that want to ensure their customers’ data is handled in a responsible and secure manner should aim for SOC 2 compliance. SOC 2 compliance is an important step in demonstrating that a business takes data security seriously and can help ensure that customers’ data is protected.

SOC 2 compliance helps businesses put in place the necessary safeguards to protect their customers’ data. The SOC 2 standard covers the five key areas of security, confidentiality, privacy, availability, and processing integrity. By achieving SOC 2 compliance, businesses can show their customers that they take data security seriously.

SOC 2 certification is based on a set of guidelines that provide a framework for measuring customer data security, privacy, and confidentiality. To achieve SOC 2 compliance, businesses undergo an evaluation by an independent auditor. Data security is essential for businesses, and SOC 2 compliance can help companies build customer trust

Five Trust Service Principles of SOC 2 Compliance

As previously mentioned, the five trust service principles of SOC 2 compliance are security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. Each of these principles is important in ensuring that customer data is handled responsibly.

Security is key in preventing unauthorized access to data, while availability ensures that data is accessible as stipulated by the agreed terms of use. Processing integrity guarantees that system processing is complete, accurate, timely, valid, and authorized.

Then there’s confidentiality, which protects information from unauthorized access. Encryption and firewalls can be a part of ensuring confidentiality. Finally, privacy safeguards customers’ personal data from being collected or used without consent

SOC 2 Audits

An SOC 2 audit is a detailed review of how a business handles and protects its customers’ data. The audit is conducted by an independent third party, and the results are used to determine if the business meets the requirements for SOC 2 compliance.

The main goals of an SOC 2 audit are to assess the security, availability, and confidentiality of the data that businesses process and store. The audit also looks at how well the business protects against unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction of data