Gain a competitive advantage and earn trust in the marketplace
Any company that stores their client’s information depends on trust. Current and prospective clients need to trust that their data is kept private and confidential, that their data is stored on a network that is secure, that the network is monitored for threats, and that their data is encrypted. Clients also need to be assured that if the worst happens – a data breach – that there is a robust recovery and reporting process in place.
Achieving the Service Organizational Control 2 (SOC2) certification from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants demonstrates to clients and users that your organization is serious about cybersecurity and protecting your network and your client’s data.
An SOC2 audit assess an organization’s handling of their client’s data based on 5 trust principles – security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy controls
For the Security component, the audit will consider your organization’s access controls, network and web application firewalls, two-factor authentication process and ability to detect network intrusions.
The Availability criteria considers data accessibility for both organizations and their clients with an eye on security. It looks at monitoring performance, incident reporting, and backups and redundancies.
The Processing Integrity element examines a system’s ability to provide the correct data to the appropriate parties at the requested time.
Confidentiality is obviously a key component. This includes ensuring that all data is only accessed by authorized personnel and that it is properly encrypted during transmission. This can apply to both internal and external data.
The last principle audited in a SOC2 is Privacy. This considers an organization’s gathering, use, possession and disposal of personal information. It looks at the organization’s privacy policy and whether or not it conforms to the AICPA’s generally accepted privacy principles (GAPP).
Completing SOC2 is a fairly involved process that does take a considerable amount of time, capital, and resources. But, if considered under the auspices of a cost-benefit analysis, the benefit far outweighs the cost of losing customer confidence or the cost of a data breach – an average of $4.5 million for Canadian companies.
Contact us to learn how Interface Technologies can make your business SOC2 compliant. Stay tuned for more posts on SOC2 compliance and how we can help keep your business secure.
