What is SOC 2 | Guide to SOC 2 Compliance & Certification
Introduction to SOC 2 Compliance
- SOC 2 is a set of standards designed to help manage customer data based on five trust service principles: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
- Developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).
- It is crucial for security-conscious businesses, especially when considering SaaS providers.
SOC 2 Trust Service Principles
1. Security
- Protects system resources against unauthorized access.
- Utilizes access controls, network and web application firewalls (WAFs), two-factor authentication, and intrusion detection.
2. Availability
- Ensures system accessibility as per contract or service level agreement (SLA).
- Involves monitoring network performance and availability, site failover, and security incident handling.
3. Processing Integrity
- Ensures systems deliver the right data at the right time accurately.
- Data processing should be complete, valid, accurate, timely, and authorized.
4. Confidentiality
- Restricts data access and disclosure to authorized persons or organizations.
- Uses encryption, network and application firewalls, and rigorous access controls.
5. Privacy
- Manages the collection, use, retention, disclosure, and disposal of personal information.
- Places controls to protect personally identifiable information (PII) from unauthorized access.
Types of SOC Reports
- Type I: Describes a vendor's systems and their suitability to meet trust principles.
- Type II: Details the operational effectiveness of those systems.
Importance of SOC 2 Compliance
- While not mandatory for SaaS and cloud computing vendors, SOC 2 is vital for data security.
- Regular audits ensure comprehensive compliance with the five trust service principles.
- Imperva extends compliance across services like web application security, DDoS protection, CDN, load balancing, and attack analytics.
Conclusion
- SOC 2 compliance helps in safeguarding data and maintaining customer trust.
- Important for organizations outsourcing operations to third-party vendors to ensure secure data management.
Additional Resources
This concludes the summary of SOC 2 compliance based on Imperva's guide. It highlights the significance of adhering to SOC 2 standards to protect organizational and customer data effectively.