Information and data security have become hot topics in recent years as tech is now incorporated into just about everything. Even in industries that don’t rely on advanced technology, the need for data discovery and analysis is high, meaning every business owner owes it to themselves to make sure their data security is in line with industry standards. If you need the best data discovery tool, visit this website.
Although different industries have different standards when it comes to data security and data discovery, SOC 2 is a common standard that was developed by the American Institute of CPAs. Its goal is to establish five criteria upon which to base data security feature effectiveness measurements.
The Criteria of SOC 2
The criteria for SOC 2 compliance include privacy, security, availability, processing integrity, and confidentiality. These five items serve as the core criteria, but each industry has some degree of flexibility in how reports are generated. Essentially, the five criteria of SOC 2 only serve as a guideline against which to measure data management protocols.
Industries can also decide to use either type I reports or type II reports. Type I reports describe systems and their level of design in meeting trust principles. Type II reports examine whether data security principles are maintaining operational effectiveness.
How to Obtain SOC 2 Certification
To be listed as SOC 2 compliant, companies that work with data must undergo a data security audit by outside agencies. These are agencies that specialize in measuring against the criteria of SOC 2, and they break down the five criteria into smaller subsets of guidelines.
For example, to clear the requirements for availability, a company must make data available according to the terms of a service level agreement (SLA). Items like site failover and security incident management play roles in meeting the requirements of the availability criteria.
Likewise, privacy criteria require that a company’s collection practices and data archival systems engage extra protections for personally identifiable information (PII). This additional scrutiny is usually a requirement for companies that work in industries like healthcare or legal, but it can apply to just about any business that works with PII on some level.
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