SOC2 Compliance

About SOC 2

The SOC 2 compliance was formulated to successfully discuss an organization’s controls and if they are relevant to the operations that they are undertaking. It can be rather challenging to achieve SOC 2 compliance for IT and other departments given the constant vigilance and continuous improvement processes to be undertaken. Several protocols have to be met to accomplish SOC 2 compliance.

Even then, maintaining the SOC 2 compliance is more of a challenge than obtaining it. When the compliance system is implemented, you must ensure that the audit cycle is part of the organization’s functions. Which means it has to be automated with the addition of effective tools.

Furthermore, it is one of the most crucial frameworks that have to be employed by cloud computing and information technology companies today.

What is?

The AICPA or American Institute of CPAs introduced the SOC 2 compliance to ensure process integrity, continuous availability and security of the systems. Comprehensive information security policies and technical directions are contained in the SOC 2.

Usage

Technology-based service organizations that come with the need to store data, have to be SOC 2 compliant. Every SaaS company using the cloud for customer information storage must adhere to the decree. This is one of the most common requirements of any IT company.

Requirements

Develop SOC 2 security policies and procedures that are documented and diligently followed by everyone within the company. Auditors may want to look at them each time, to assess if processing integrity, confidentiality, availability, and privacy, are all maintained.

Monitoring

Processes and practices should be established to monitor unauthorized or suspicious activity. User access and system configurations should be thoroughly checked so that breaches do not occur. Malicious phishing activities or inappropriate access should be closely monitored. A baseline activity should be defined in the cloud environment to identify and rectify any abnormal movements.

Alerts

Set up alerts especially when there is unauthorized access to customer data. Corrective actions have to be taken in time with the help of these warnings. Alarms must be raised for anything that is out of the ordinary.

Some scenarios where you can set up alerts are:

• Modification of data and configurations
• Breach of account privileges or login
• Unauthorized file transfers

Threat indicators have to be set up and risk profiles, identified so that alerts are regulated periodically to preserve data integrity.

Speak to consultants at XCEL Corp to prioritize your visibility and establish appropriate audit trails that are SOC 2 compliant.