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SOC 2 Compliance Overview
SOC 2 (Service Organization Control 2) is an auditing framework developed by AICPA for service providers storing customer data. It's based on five Trust Service Criteria and demonstrates that your organization has effective controls in place.
The 5 Trust Service Criteria
The system is protected against unauthorized access, use, or modification. This is the only required criteria - all SOC 2 reports must include security.
- Firewalls and network security
- Access controls and authentication (MFA)
- Encryption at rest and in transit
- Intrusion detection systems
- Security awareness training
- Vulnerability management
- Incident response procedures
The system is available for operation and use as committed or agreed. Important for SaaS providers with uptime SLAs.
- Uptime monitoring and SLA tracking
- Disaster recovery and business continuity plans
- Backup and restore procedures
- Capacity planning
- Redundancy and failover systems
- Incident management for outages
System processing is complete, valid, accurate, timely, and authorized. Important for financial services, payment processors.
- Input validation and error handling
- Data quality checks
- Transaction logging and audit trails
- Processing monitoring and alerts
- Change management procedures
- Quality assurance testing
Information designated as confidential is protected as committed or agreed. For organizations handling sensitive business data.
- Data classification policies
- Encryption of confidential data
- Access restrictions based on classification
- Secure data disposal procedures
- NDA and confidentiality agreements
- Data loss prevention (DLP)
Personal information is collected, used, retained, disclosed, and disposed of properly. Aligns with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
- Privacy policy and notice
- Consent management
- Data subject rights (access, deletion, portability)
- Data retention policies
- Third-party data sharing controls
- Privacy impact assessments
SOC 2 Type I vs Type II
Type I
Point-in-time assessment
- Evaluates control design at a specific date
- Answers: "Are controls suitably designed?"
- Faster to complete (2-3 months)
- Good starting point for first audit
- Less valuable to customers
Type II
Period-of-time assessment
- Evaluates control effectiveness over 6-12 months
- Answers: "Do controls operate effectively?"
- More rigorous and time-consuming
- Required by most enterprise customers
- Industry standard expectation
SOC 2 Readiness Timeline
Identify current state, gaps, and required controls. Define scope and TSC selection.
Implement missing controls, document policies, and train staff.
Internal audit to verify controls are in place and operating.
External auditor evaluates control design at a point in time.
Controls must operate effectively during observation period.
External auditor tests control effectiveness over the period.
SOC 2 Readiness Checklist
Policies & Documentation
- Information Security Policy
- Access Control Policy
- Change Management Policy
- Incident Response Plan
- Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Plan
- Vendor Management Policy
- Data Classification Policy
- Acceptable Use Policy
Technical Controls
- MFA for all users (especially admin accounts)
- Encryption at rest and in transit
- Centralized logging and monitoring
- Vulnerability scanning and patching
- Endpoint protection (antivirus/EDR)
- Network segmentation and firewalls
- Backup and recovery procedures (tested)
Operational Controls
- Security awareness training (annual)
- Background checks for employees
- Onboarding/offboarding procedures
- Regular access reviews
- Vendor security assessments
- Risk assessments (annual)
- Penetration testing (annual)
SOC 2 for Startups: 180-Day Checklist
A phased approach to get audit-ready without overwhelming a small team.
Phase 1 Foundation (Days 1–30)
Focus on policies and quick wins that establish your baseline.
- Choose your TSC scope — Security is required; add Availability if you have SLAs, Confidentiality if you handle sensitive data
- Write 5 core policies — Information Security, Access Control, Incident Response, Change Management, Acceptable Use
- Enable MFA everywhere — IdP, cloud consoles, version control, email. No exceptions.
- Set up centralized logging — Cloud audit trails (CloudTrail, GCP Audit Logs), application logs to a SIEM or log aggregator
- Inventory assets — SaaS tools, cloud infrastructure, data stores, repositories
- Select a compliance platform — Vanta, Drata, or Secureframe automates evidence collection and policy management
Phase 2 Controls & Evidence (Days 30–90)
Implement technical and operational controls, start collecting evidence.
- Endpoint protection — Deploy EDR on all company devices, enforce disk encryption (FileVault/BitLocker)
- Vulnerability management — Automated scanning (Snyk, Dependabot), patch SLA: critical within 7 days
- Background checks — Implement for all new hires with access to production systems
- Security awareness training — Complete first round for all employees, track completion
- Access reviews — Quarterly review of all system access, document the process and results
- Change management — Pull request reviews required, deployment approvals, rollback procedures
- Vendor inventory — List all third-party vendors, collect their SOC 2 reports or security documentation
- Encryption — Verify encryption at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.2+) for all data stores
Phase 3 Audit Readiness (Days 90–180)
Gap assessment, remediation, and auditor engagement.
- Internal readiness assessment — Walk through all controls against SOC 2 criteria, document gaps
- Remediate gaps — Close findings from the readiness assessment, update policies as needed
- Penetration test — Engage a third-party pen test firm, remediate findings before the audit
- Disaster recovery test — Execute and document a DR test, verify backup restoration
- Select an auditor — Get quotes from 2-3 CPA firms experienced with startup SOC 2 audits
- Evidence package — Organize all evidence (policies, screenshots, logs, training records) in your compliance platform
- Pre-audit walkthrough — Review evidence with the auditor before the formal Type I engagement
- Kick off Type I audit — Typically 2-3 weeks for a startup with a compliance platform in place
SOC 2 Compliance Tools
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Vanta, Drata, Secureframe | Automated compliance platforms - continuous monitoring |
| Okta, Auth0 | Identity and access management, SSO, MFA |
| AWS CloudTrail, GCP Audit Logs | Cloud audit logging |
| Datadog, Splunk | Centralized logging and monitoring |
| Snyk, Dependabot | Vulnerability scanning |
| 1Password, HashiCorp Vault | Secrets management |
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