Looking back, 2024 was the year of technological advancements and innovation, especially in the field of AI. But it also raised concerns about the state of cloud security, which brought up discussions about SOC 2 compliance requirements. According to PwC’s 2024 Global Digital Trust Insights, data breaches costing companies more than USD 1 million increased from 27% to 36%, with cloud-related threats being the top cyber-related threat.
Similarly, IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report revealed that 40% of breaches involve data spread across multiple environments, meaning that most security plans often fail in the cloud. IBM’s findings are further supported by Check Point’s 2024 Cloud Security Report, which found that 61% of companies faced a cloud security incident in 2024, of which 21% resulted in a data breach.
Unfortunately, the same report discovered that only 4% of organizations are able to mitigate these risks swiftly. So, it’s understandable that clients have become increasingly adamant about demanding verified SOC 2 compliance requirements.
SOC 2 reports provide third-party attestation of your security posture and operational integrity. A SOC 2 report serves as an independent validation of your organization’s commitment to security and operational excellence.
This framework outlines how service organizations, particularly cloud providers and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) partnersvendors, should manage customer data to ensure security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy.
What Are SOC 2 Compliance Requirements?
SOC 2 compliance is an auditing framework that demonstrates an organization’s commitment to maintaining robust internal controls for protecting sensitive client data by verifying that its information security policies and procedures align with the Trust Services Criteria (TSC). Established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the TSC evaluate the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy of sensitive customer data.
Security is the only mandatory component of SOC 2 compliance requirements, serving as the foundation for all other trust principles. The remaining criteria are optional but increasingly expected by clients in regulated or high-risk industries.
Below is a simplified, readable breakdown of each requirement:
- Security: Ensures systems are protected against unauthorized access through controls like authentication, access management, system monitoring and encryption.
- Availability: Focuses on maintaining reliable system uptime through redundancy, disaster recovery planning and performance monitoring.
- Processing Integrity: Confirms data is processed accurately and completely using controls such as quality assurance testing, change management and transaction logging.
- Confidentiality: Protects sensitive information from unauthorized access through encryption, access reviews and appropriate data-handling policies.
- Privacy: Governs how personally identifiable information (PII) is collected, stored, used and disposed of, including consent management and data retention practices.
Organizations can tailor their SOC 2 scope to align with the promise they make to clients and the industries they serve. For example, a healthcare SaaS provider processing sensitive patient records may include confidentiality and privacy in their report, while a fintech company that handles transaction data may prioritize processing integrity and availability.
It’s important to remember that the AICPA hasn’t set a specific SOC 2 compliance requirements checklist. Instead, companies can structure their audits according to the TSC. The criteria also provide “points of focus,” which are specific areas to evaluate during the audit. These points of focus can help companies determine which controls they need to implement and test for compliance.
The SOC 2 Framework: Trust Services Criteria Breakdown
As mentioned earlier, the SOC 2 framework is founded on five Trust Services Criteria, which provide essential guidelines for organizations to implement effective security controls and achieve compliance. Let’s explore each criterion individually.
1. Security (Common Criteria — Required)
As the Common Criteria, security is a universal requirement for all SOC 2 compliance reports. It sets the baseline for organizational evaluation, regardless of operational complexity or industry.
Organizations can meet this SOC 2 criterion by implementing appropriate controls that protect against unauthorized access, both internally and externally. It includes multi-factor authentication (MFA), intrusion detection systems, vulnerability scanning protocols and encryption methods. Strong password policies and regular employee training further help maintain security.
Audit Focus: SOC auditors look beyond whether the tools exist, they evaluate how well they work. They examine how you track and escalate failed login attempts, whether unusual activity triggers alerts and how quickly teams respond to anomalies. Vigilance matters as much as the controls themselves.
2. Availability
Availability is an optional SOC 2 Trust Services Criterion that ensures systems are accessible and operational as agreed with customers, providing reliable infrastructure and uptime.
Common controls include service-level agreements (SLAs), redundant backups, and disaster recovery plans, which help organizations maintain continuous service availability and reduce downtime-related revenue losses.
Audit Focus: SOC auditors assess whether infrastructure can withstand stress or outages, whether RTOs match business needs and how effectively the environment recovers during disruptions.
3. Confidentiality
The confidentiality criterion focuses on protecting sensitive information from unauthorized disclosure and use by limiting its access, storage, and usage. It is essential for industries handling intellectual property, health records, and regulated financial data, and includes controls like data classification policies, encryption, secure data disposal, and strong access controls.
Robust controls include data encryption, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), role-based access policies and access control lists (ACLs). However, you need to go beyond checking boxes and demonstrating execution.
Audit Focus: SOC auditors look at how frequently access rights are reviewed and whether sensitive data is protected according to privacy standards such as GDPR. This criterion helps reduce the risk of breaches similar to high-profile incidents where personal information was exposed due to insufficient safeguards.
4. Processing Integrity
Where security keeps bad actors out, processing integrity keeps your systems performing accurately. This criterion is critical for platforms that handle financial transactions or any workflow where data accuracy impacts real-world outcomes.
Key controls include quality assurance testing, change management procedures, transaction logging, error logging and input validation. These controls make sure that data is processed exactly as intended, minus any manipulation or losses.
Audit Focus: SOC auditors evaluate how organizations detect and manage anomalies. They check whether errors are identified before they affect downstream systems and whether processes are tested for logic breaks or edge cases.
5. Privacy
The privacy criteria is perhaps the most people-centered component of the SOC 2 framework. It governs how organizations collect, use, retain, disclose and dispose of personally identifiable information (PII).
It requires organizations to align practices with their privacy notice and generally accepted privacy principles.
Privacy controls in this domain include policies governing user rights (such as the right to access and delete personal data), data retention schedules, secure disposal of PII and consent management platforms.
It ensures compliance with relevant data protection regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.
Audit Focus: SOC auditors examine whether your practices align with stated privacy notices and regulations. They look at consent tracking, proper disposal of expired data and the level of control users have over their information.
SOC 2 Reports and Compliance: Report Types
SOC 2 reports come in two types: Type I, which assesses whether controls are suitably designed at a specific point in time, and Type II, which evaluates the operational effectiveness of those controls over a period of months. Each report provides an independent auditor’s verification of how your systems protect client data, serving different compliance needs.
SOC 2 Type I
A SOC 2 Type I report answers the question: Are your controls designed correctly at this moment? It’s a snapshot of whether your policies and systems are appropriately configured to meet the security TSC as of a specific date.
The report is ideal for early-stage companies or those new to the SOC 2 process. It can be the starting point in conversations with potential clients, especially in industries where compliance is table stakes.
However, it’s important to recognize its limitations. A Type I report tells stakeholders that your controls exist, but it doesn’t demonstrate how well those controls actually perform over time.
SOC 2 Type II
The SOC 2 Type II report details the operational effectiveness of your controls over a defined period, typically 6 to 12 months, verifying not only their design but also their sustained performance during that time.
To pass a Type II audit, you need to show evidence. That includes logs of access controls, results of regular vulnerability scans, document incident responses and SLA compliance. Type 2 reports are what larger clients, especially in regulated industries, are likely to request.
Key Components of a SOC 2 Report
Each section of the SOC 2 report works together to provide clients and stakeholders with a transparent and verified view of your internal controls. Here are the key components of a SOC 2 report.
SOC Auditor’s Opinion Letter
The SOC auditor’s opinion letter is the executive summary or the independent CPA firm’s formal opinion on the effectiveness of your SOC 2 controls. It sets the tone for the report by clearly stating whether your organization has met the TSC and to what degree.
A “clean” opinion affirms that controls are operating as designed. Any qualifications or exceptions can highlight areas of risk that clients will examine closely.
Management Assertion
The management assertion is a signed statement confirming that you have implemented controls and are functioning as described. It reflects accountability and signals a culture of responsibility from the top down.
System Description
The system description is the technical part of the report that outlines your environment, including the infrastructure, data flows, software systems and relevant personnel. It also describes your security policies, risk management protocols and access governance models. Simply put, this section specifies what you protect and who has access to what.
Test Results
In this section, you show how the CPA tested each control, what methodology was used and what the outcomes were. For example, it might include findings from penetration tests, user access reviews or system change logs. Consistent and repeatable test results indicate operational resilience and procedural intention. This section also includes any noted exceptions found, any explanation from the organization and how the organization will remediate those exceptions.
SOC 2 Compliance Workflow
SOC 2 compliance involves a structured process that forward-thinking organizations operationalize through defined steps, including defining scope, implementing controls based on the Trust Services Criteria, continuously collecting evidence, undergoing independent audits, and performing remediation to demonstrate sustained adherence.
1. Scope Definition
First, identify which Trust Services Criteria are most relevant based on your industry and client SOC needs. Security is a must, but which other criteria will you add to your report? Also, define which systems, applications and data environments will be covered by the audit.
2. Control Implementation
Next, put the controls in place as specified for each criterion above. These may include incident response protocols, role-based permissions, endpoint encryption, automation access reviews, etc. Your controls should map directly to the selected criteria.
3. Evidence Collection
Auditors won’t just take your word for it. You must maintain audit logs, security policies, vendor risk assessments and incident reports. Ideally, your evidence collection should be continuous and automated.
4. External Audit
A licensed CPA firm performs the audit, which includes sampling, interviewing and testing to verify control (Type I) or performance over time (Type II).
5. Remediation
If the audit identifies gaps, remediation is your opportunity to demonstrate that you have fixed the problem. For example, you may patch known vulnerabilities or strengthen encryption protocols. This phase is an investment in the sustainability of your organization’s overall security posture.
How to Achieve Ongoing SOC 2 Compliance
SOC 2 compliance doesn’t end with the issuance of a report. To maintain compliance, organizations must:
- Refresh and update policies annually to reflect changes in operations, technology or regulation
- Conduct regular risk assessments to prepare for evolving threats and exposure
- Retest control to ensure continued effectiveness
- Maintain immutable audit trails and access records as a foundation for evidence-based governance
Organizations that treat SOC 2 as a living security framework integrated into their governance and operations are the ones that will build sustainable trust in a business landscape where the stakes for security and transparency increase every day.
Best Practices for SOC 2 Compliance Requirements
The following best practices can help leading teams meet SOC 2 requirements and turn them into strategic advantages.
Automate Monitoring and Evidence Collection
Manual compliance workflows don’t scale. Modern SaaS companies and IT teams can use platforms like Onspring to automate continuous monitoring and flag anomalies in real-time. With automation, your team moves from reactive to proactive.
Engage Third-Party Auditors You Can Trust
Partner with AICPA-certified firms to provide independent assessments. Independent auditors validate your compliance posture, provide outside-in scrutiny and bring insights from other high-performing organizations in your industry.
A strong auditing partner can also help you interpret the Trust Services Criteria in the context of your evolving architecture, whether onboarding new vendors or launching in new markets.
Invest in Meaningful Security Awareness Training
Employee education is an important aspect of SOC 2 compliance. You can start with phishing simulations and add role-based security training relevant to engineering, support, HR and executive teams. Also, host interactive workshops where teams walk through real security incidents and explore how protocols should kick in.
Make sure training is continuous and not just annual. When employees are well-trained, security can become a part of your culture and not just a compliance task.
Simplify SOC 2 Compliance with Onspring
When approached strategically, SOC 2 compliance requirements catalyze your operational excellence while keeping clients satisfied. To manage increasingly complex compliance demands, you need a solution that adapts quickly and automates your compliance processes. Onspring’s no-code GRC platform empowers your team to automate assessments, centralize reporting and maintain full visibility across your compliance landscape. Request a demo to simplify your SOC 2 compliance with Onspring.
FAQs
Have questions about SOC 2 compliance? Explore our FAQs below for answers. Don’t see what you need? Contact us — we’re here to help.
What is a SOC 2 readiness assessment and how does it help?
A SOC 2 readiness assessment is a diagnostic pre-audit that identifies gaps between your current security controls and the AICPA’s Trust Services Criteria. By surfacing these vulnerabilities early, it provides a clear roadmap for remediation, ensuring a smoother audit and reducing the risk of exceptions in the report.
How long does SOC 2 compliance take for a first-time team?
For most first-time teams, the end-to-end process typically takes 3 to 6 months for a Type 1 report and 6 to 12 months for a Type 2 report, which requires a longer observation period. This timeline varies based on your security maturity, the scope of your environment and whether you use manual spreadsheets or GRC tool.
How can compliance automation platforms speed up SOC 2?
Platforms like Onspring accelerate the process by creating a single source of truth where all control documentation, policies, and test results are unified in one digital repository. This significantly reducing the time spent on manual email chases and ensuring all audit evidence is organized and instantly accessible for review.
What tools and softwares can help with meeting SOC 2 compliance requirements?
GRC platforms simplify compliance by centralizing your control library, policies and risk assessments into a single source of truth that eliminates fragmented silos. By using automated workflows to manage task assignments, remediation tracking and executive reporting, the software ensures your entire team remains aligned and audit ready.
