A SOC 2 report is designed to give assurances about the effectiveness of controls at a service organization. In most cases, it relates to the security, availability, or processing integrity of the system used to take action on the information of clients or related to the privacy or privacy of this information.
Businesses that have cloud service providers use SOC2 reports to assess and deal with the threats related to third-party technology services. Independent third-party auditors issue these reports.
A SOC2 report uses to receive and share with stakeholders through service organizations to show that there are ordinary; IT controls to secure the services provided.
The SOC 2S is different from some other information security standards and frameworks as there is no comprehensive list of needs of the organization.
In addition, AICPA provides a general standard that a service organization can select to show that they have control to reduce the risks.
It can initiate difficulty for some beginner clients as it is not the correct answer for how to show the applicable standard. Instead, a good auditor’s job offers an experience that meets the appropriate criteria.
In other cases, existing controls need improvement to tackle the quality better. We aim to meet our client’s selected standards but produce minimal impact and additional overhead when remedying controls.
What is SOC 2 audit report?
A SOC 2 audit report provides you with information and assurance about the services of an organization like security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy controls. The SOC2 is a way to show your clients a basic level of information security control in your environment, whether online or physical.
It is based on their compliance with the AICPA’s TSC under SSAE 18.
It consists of
- An opinion letter.
- Management of administrator
- A detailed explanation of the system or service.
- Details of the category of selected trust services
- Control test and test results.
- Additional information, such as technical information or new system policies and projects, explanation about business continuity planning, or description of context issues.
Why do you need a SOC 2 Report?
Generally, service organizations that act or store private data of their clients’ needs SOC2 reports. Many SaaS companies, data centres, and managed service providers have SOC 2 reports. SOC2 has widely accepted the US standard for information security.
For this reason, some non-traditional service providers have SOC 2s reports. Organizations that are strict on law firms, consultancies, and cryptocurrency services need SOC 2 reports more frequently.
The SOC 2 report assures user companies that:
- All organizations in the US have the required security controls to protect users’ data from known and emerging risks.
- Organizations have set warnings to detect non -contradictions and violations throughout the environmental system.
- In case of data violation or system failure, organizations can quickly fix the damage and restore the data to normal to avoid any risk.
What are the types of SOC 2 reports?
There are three types of SOC reports. These are SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3.
Soc 1: SOC1 compliance focuses on controls that directly affect the user’s internal control over financial reporting (ICFR).
Soc 2: SOC2 offers reporting options above the financial purposes. It includes control of trust services principles (TSP): security, availability, processing integrity, privacy and privacy.
Soc 3: Finally, SOC3 has a similar shape and the policy of SOC2. Furthermore, the SOC3 report has been reduced and has an unlimited distribution. This report took as a common-use report.
Scope of the SOC 2 Type II report:
A report by the SOC2 Type II focuses on the principles of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Trust Service. It explores a service provider’s internal control and security, availability, processing integrity, privacy, and data confidential system.
In addition, SOC2 Type II takes an interest in the complete details of your infrastructure service system during a specific period. The main focus of SOC 2 Type II contains;
Infrastructure:
Physical and hardware components (networks, facilities and equipment) support your IT environment and help you provide services.
Software:
It includes the operating software and programs (utility, applications, and systems) that use data and system processing facilities.
People:
Administration, security, governance, and operations to provide consumer services include personnel (managers, developers, consumers and operators).
Data:
You use or follow information (files, databases, transaction streams, and tables) inside the service organization.
Procedure:
Manual or automatic procedures bind the process and keep the service supply together.
Final Thoughts:
A SOC 2 report provides assurances about the effectiveness of controls at a service organization. The SOC2 is a way to show your clients a basic level of information security control in your environment.