SOC 2 — Requirements - SOC 2 is an auditing process that companies, SaaS providers and service providers go through in order to ensure proper data and privacy protections regarding sensitive data are in place. For an organization to achieve SOC 2 certification, a series of controls must be put in place and then validated, via an auditing process with an external auditing firm.
Auditors ensure compliance standards are met with one or more of the AICPA Trust Services (TSC). In order to achieve SOC 2 certification and receive a SOC 2 report, your team must ensure that all data and privacy protections regarding sensitive data are in place.
SOC 2 — Trust Services Criteria (TSC)
Your team must follow and implement the most up-to-date Trust Services Criteria (TSC) in order to obtain SOC 2 certification.
Trust Services Criteria consists of a set of related controls that an organization must implement across their IT infrastructure. They are as follows:
Security: network/application firewalls — two-factor authentication — intrusion detection
All data and computing systems must be protected against unauthorized access, inappropriate or unauthorized disclosure of information, and damage to systems that could compromise the processing integrity, availability, confidentiality, or privacy of data. Security criteria refer to your organization’s protection of:
- Information during its collection or creation, use, processing, transmission, and storage.
- Systems that use electronic information to process, transmit or transfer, and store information to enable your organization to meet its objectives. Controls over security prevent or detect the breakdown and circumvention of segregation of duties, system failure, incorrect processing, theft or other unauthorized removals of information or system resources, misuse of software, and improper access to or use of, alteration, destruction, or disclosure of information.
Availability: performance monitoring — disaster recovery — security incident handling
All information and computing systems are always ready and available for operation and use to meet the entity’s objectives. Availability refers to the accessibility of information used by your organization’s systems as well as the products or services provided to its customers.
- The availability objective does not, in itself, set a minimum acceptable performance level; however, It does address whether systems include controls to support accessibility for operation, monitoring, and maintenance.
- It also does not address system functionality (the specific functions a system performs) or usability (the ability of users to apply system functions to the performance of specific tasks or problems).
Processing Integrity: quality assurance — processing monitoring
All system processing is complete, accurate, valid, timely, and authorized to ensure that the entity meets its objectives. Processing integrity refers to your organization’s controls and procedures surrounding:
- Verifying the completeness, validity, accuracy, timeliness, and authorization of system processing.
- Determining whether systems achieve the aim or purpose for which they exist and whether they perform their intended functions in an unimpaired manner, free from error, delay, omission, and unauthorized or inadvertent manipulation.
- Because of the number of systems used by an entity, processing integrity is usually only addressed at the system or functional level of an entity.
Confidentiality: network/application firewalls — access controls — encryption
Any information designated as confidential remains secure to meet the entity’s objectives. Confidentiality refers to your organization’s controls and procedures including:
- Your organization’s ability to protect information designated as confidential from its collection/creation, through to its final disposition and removal.
- Confidentiality requirements may be contained in laws or regulations or in contracts and or agreements that contain commitments made to customers or others.
- Confidentiality differs from privacy criteria — privacy applies only to personal information, whereas confidentiality applies to various types of sensitive information.
Privacy: access control — two-factor authentication — encryption
Privacy criteria are used to examine your organization’s procedures and controls surrounding:
- Notification and communication of objectives: Notifications to remind subjects/users about objectives related to privacy.
- Choice and consent: Communication choices available regarding the collection, use, retention, disclosure, and disposal of personal information to data subjects.
- Collection: Collection of personal information to meet its objectives related to privacy.
- Use, retention, and disposal: Limits around the use, retention, and disposal of personal information to meet its objectives related to privacy.
- Access: Data subject access provided to their personal information for review and correction (including updates) to meet its objectives related to privacy.
- Disclosure and notification: How your organization discloses personal information (with the consent of the data subjects) to meet its objectives related to privacy. Ensuring that Notification of breaches and
incidents is provided to affected data subjects, regulators, and others to meet its objectives related to privacy. - Quality: How your organization collects and maintains accurate, up-to-date, complete, and relevant personal information to meet its objectives related to privacy.
- Monitoring and enforcement: How your organization monitors compliance to meet its objectives related to privacy, including procedures to address privacy-related inquiries, complaints, and disputes.
During a SOC 2 audit, an organization may be evaluated within the context of one or more TSC categories.
Remember: it is your responsibility to prepare for a SOC 2 audit — a reliable security program in place will streamline your audit, ensuring success.
Alignment with COSO Framework
COSO provides an organization with a generally accepted framework for internal controls within an organization. SOC 2 integrates the COSO framework including the five components of internal controls:
Note: the following components have been integrated into the latest SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria, providing a foundation for sound internal controls within an organization.
Control Environment
- Exercise integrity and ethical values
- Make a commitment to competence
- Use the board of directors and audit committee
- Facilitate management’s philosophy and operating style
- Create organizational structure
- Issue assignment of authority and responsibility
- Utilize human resources policies and procedures
Risk Assessment
- Create company-wide objectives
- Incorporate process-level objectives
- Perform risk identification and analysis
- Manage change
Control Activities
- Follow policies and procedures
- Improve security (application and network)
- Conduct application change management
- Plan business continuity/backups
- Perform outsourcing
Information and Communication
- Measure the quality of information
- Measure the effectiveness of communication
Monitoring
- Perform ongoing monitoring
- Conduct separate evaluations
- Report deficiencies
SOC 2 — Controls List
SOC 2 criteria and controls cover a wide number of security best practices across IT infrastructure and your organization including risk management, physical and logical access controls, and system access. Your team should establish a security program and consider working with a team like Dash in order to perform a readiness assessment and prepare for a SOC 2 audit.
The following categories of criteria are used to assess compliance with the SOC 2 Report Framework:
(CC1) Control Environment: addresses how an organization sets security roles, manages oversight and deals with security issues relating to employees, hiring, and overall management.
(CC2) Communication and Information: addresses how a team communicates IT and security requirements, responsibilities, and overall objectives across an organization.
(CC3) Risk Assessment: addresses how an organization manages risk analysis and identifies, addresses, and accepts risk across the organization.
(CC4) Monitoring Activities: addresses how an organization develops, monitors, and ensures that internal security controls are active and functioning.
(CC5) Control Activities: addresses how an organization establishes security controls, connects controls to policies and procedures and assigns duties.
(CC6) Logical and Physical Access Controls: address how an organization manages the physical security of its devices, as well as software and logical access restrictions to data.
(CC7) System Operations: Addresses how an organization handles system vulnerabilities, detects system operational issues, and responds to security incidents.
(CC8) Change Management: addresses how an organization handles development, testings, and the deployment of new systems and applications.
(A) Additional Criteria For Availability: defines additional standards for how an organization manages backups and overall system availability.
(C) Additional Criteria For Confidentiality: addresses how confidential information is identified and protected from destruction.
(PI) Additional Criteria For Processing Integrity: addresses how data is accurately processed and achieved.
(P) Additional Criteria For Privacy: addresses how personal information is collected, retained, and secured by an organization.
Want the full set of SOC 2 controls and requirements to be fully prepared? Download theour SOC 2 Control List Excel
SOC 2 Controls — Preparation & Implementation
All of this information has most likely left your head spinning. Upon first glance, implementing SOC 2 controls can seem like a daunting task; however, it doesn’t have to be this way. A SOC 2 readiness assessment can strengthen your team, better preparing you for what to expect during an audit to achieve SOC 2 certification.
Let us help you prepare: learn how Dash ComplyOps can help your team prepare and achieve SOC 2 certification in the cloud.
Online Threat Alerts Security Tips
Pay the safest way
Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or if the offer was misrepresented. Federal law limits your liability to $50 if someone makes unauthorized charges to your account, and most credit card issuers will remove them completely if you report the problem promptly.
Guard your personal information
In any transaction you conduct, make sure to check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if the seller, charity, company, or organization is credible. Be especially wary if the entity is unfamiliar to you. Always call the number found on a website’s contact information to make sure the number legitimately belongs to the entity you are dealing with.
Be careful of the information you share
Never give out your codes, passwords or personal information, unless you are sure of who you're dealing with
Know who you’re dealing with
Crooks pretending to be from companies you do business with may call or send an email, claiming they need to verify your personal information. Don’t provide your credit card or bank account number unless you are actually paying for something and know who you are sending payment to. Your social security number should not be necessary unless you are applying for credit. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be from a company with whom you have an account asks for information that the business already has.
Check your accounts
Regularly check your account transactions and report any suspicious or unauthorised transactions.
Don’t believe promises of easy money
If someone claims that you can earn money with little or no work, get a loan or credit card even if you have bad credit, or make money on an investment with little or no risk, it’s probably a scam. Oftentimes, offers that seem too good to be true, actually are too good to be true.
Do not open email from people you don’t know
If you are unsure whether an email you received is legitimate, try contacting the sender directly via other means. Do not click on any links in an email unless you are sure it is safe.
Think before you click
If an email or text message looks suspicious, don’t open any attachments or click on the links.
Verify urgent requests or unsolicited emails, messages or phone calls before you respond
If you receive a message or a phone call asking for immediate action and don't know the sender, it could be a phishing message.
Be careful with links and new website addresses
Malicious website addresses may appear almost identical to legitimate sites. Scammers often use a slight variation in spelling or logo to lure you. Malicious links can also come from friends whose email has unknowingly been compromised, so be careful.
Secure your personal information
Before providing any personal information, such as your date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, and passwords, be sure the website is secure.
Stay informed on the latest cyber threats
Keep yourself up to date on current scams by visiting this website daily.
Use Strong Passwords
Strong passwords are critical to online security.
Keep your software up to date and maintain preventative software programs
Keep all of your software applications up to date on your computers and mobile devices. Install software that provides antivirus, firewall, and email filter services.
Update the operating systems on your electronic devices
Make sure your operating systems (OSs) and applications are up to date on all of your electronic devices. Older and unpatched versions of OSs and software are the target of many hacks. Read the CISA security tip on Understanding Patches and Software Updates for more information.
What if You Got Scammed?
Stop Contact With The Scammer
Hang up the phone. Do not reply to emails, messages, or letters that the scammer sends. Do not make any more payments to the scammer. Beware of additional scammers who may contact you claiming they can help you get your lost money back.
Secure Your Finances
- Report potentially compromised bank account, credit or debit card information to your financial institution(s) immediately. They may be able to cancel or reverse fraudulent transactions.
- Notify the three major credit bureaus. They can add a fraud alert to warn potential credit grantors that you may be a victim of identity theft. You may also want to consider placing a free security freeze on your credit report. Doing so prevents lenders and others from accessing your credit report entirely, which will prevent them from extending credit:
- Equifax
- Experian
- TransUnion
Check Your Computer
If your computer was accessed or otherwise affected by a scam, check to make sure that your anti-virus is up-to-date and running and that your system is free of malware and keylogging software. You may also need to seek the help of a computer repair company. Consider utilizing the Better Business Bureau’s website to find a reputable company.
Change Your Account Passwords
Update your bank, credit card, social media, and email account passwords to try to limit further unauthorized access. Make sure to choose strong passwords when changing account passwords.
Report The Scam
Reporting helps protect others. While agencies can’t always track down perpetrators of crimes against scammers, they can utilize the information gathered to record patterns of abuse which may lead to action being taken against a company or industry.
Report your issue to the following agencies based on the nature of the scam:
- Local Law Enforcement: Consumers are encouraged to report scams to their local police department or sheriff’s office, especially if you lost money or property or had your identity compromised.
- Federal Trade Commission: Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or use the Online Complaint Assistant to report various types of fraud, including counterfeit checks, lottery or sweepstakes scams, and more.
- Identitytheft.gov: If someone is using your personal information, like your Social Security, credit card, or bank account number, to open new accounts, make purchases, or get a tax refund, report it at www.identitytheft.gov. This federal government site will also help you create your Identity Theft Report and a personal recovery plan based on your situation. Questions can be directed to 877-ID THEFT.
How To Recognize a Phishing Scam
Scammers use email or text messages to try to steal your passwords, account numbers, or Social Security numbers. If they get that information, they could get access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Or they could sell your information to other scammers. Scammers launch thousands of phishing attacks like these every day — and they’re often successful.
Scammers often update their tactics to keep up with the latest news or trends, but here are some common tactics used in phishing emails or text messages:
Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. You might get an unexpected email or text message that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company. Or maybe it’s from an online payment website or app. The message could be from a scammer, who might
- say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts — they haven’t
- claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information — there isn’t
- say you need to confirm some personal or financial information — you don’t
- include an invoice you don’t recognize — it’s fake
- want you to click on a link to make a payment — but the link has malware
- say you’re eligible to register for a government refund — it’s a scam
- offer a coupon for free stuff — it’s not real
About Online Threat Alerts (OTA)
Online Threat Alerts or OTA is an anti-cybercrime community that started in 2012. OTA alerts the public to cyber crimes and other web threats.
By alerting the public, we have prevented a lot of online users from getting scammed or becoming victims of cybercrimes.
With the ever-increasing number of people going online, it important to have a community like OTA that continuously alerts or protects those same people from cyber-criminals, scammers and hackers, who are every day finding new ways of carrying out their malicious activities.
Online users can help by reporting suspicious or malicious messages or websites to OTA. And, if they want to determine if a message or website is a threat or scam, they can use OTA's search engine to search for the website or parts of the message for information.
Help maintain Online Threat Alerts (OTA).