The phrase “SOC 2 Compliance” refers to a system of controls that are related to privacy, confidentiality, security, availability, processing integrity, and other assets related to data protection and security. The reports and audits conducted under this compliance requirement help assure your customers and business partners that you are treating data with integrity, confidentiality, and privacy and that these attributes are a priority for your business.
Data that is not properly protected can expose partners and customers to a series of serious security issues including malware and ransomware cyberattacks and theft of data or data breaches, and the losses and reputational damage that accompany them. SOC 2 compliance can help businesses feel comfortable that their third-party partners are doing everything they can to protect customer data. Having a licensed CPA conduct a SOC 2 audit ensures that your partner’s policies, procedures, and controls have been examined and any risks have been identified and properly mitigated.
SOC 2 Compliance Can Help Boost Your Competitive Strategy
In the last year alone, over 422 million people were directly affected by a data breach. It is expected that 30% or more of businesses will be hit with a data breach in the coming years, as threats – and hackers – develop new and better ways to gain access to data. Because consumers must share their data with so many companies, they rely on these companies to keep their data safe. When you have a SOC 2 compliance audit conducted, you can provide proof to your customers that you take data security seriously, increasing their level of trust and loyalty and improving your reputation. SOC 2 ensures not only you but also your third-party vendors have:
Protection Against Unauthorized Access
A SOC 2 audit can ensure you have the right controls in place to keep your customer’s information protected against data breaches caused by unauthorized access, both internally and externally.
Detection Across Systems
SOC 2 also ensures that there is significant protection against data breaches that extend across your entire infrastructure and the business ecosystem in which your organization functions. This protection extends to third party vendors and business partners in your supply chain.
Fast Restoration and Repair
Besides ensuring that situations that increase or promote risk are eliminated or minimized, a SOC 2 audit will show that you have protocols in place that will allow you to quickly repair any damage caused by a breach and have the ability to restore functionality efficiently.
In a nutshell, these audits assure customers that you have strategies in place to confirm responsibility for monitoring of processes, control of encryption, detection of intrusion, authentication of user access and appropriate disaster recovery and response capabilities. In addition, SOC 2 compliance gives you additional protection against data breaches as it can uncover weaknesses and vulnerabilities that you can then address, increase the efficiency of your internal processes, an provide competitive differentiation over those companies that choose to forego these audits.
Perry proTECH is Your Partner in Security
Undergoing a SOC 2 compliance audit helps you to assure your clients that you take data responsibility seriously. Whether you are courting investors or looking to differentiate yourself from others in your industry, choosing to undergo a SOC 2 audit can be a significant help.
At Perry proTECH, we have security experts that are adept at helping customers find the most advanced security solutions for evolving threats. In doing so, we have a comprehensive suite of state-of-the-art monitoring and surveillance tools and technologies. Not only can we assess your infrastructure for vulnerabilities and weaknesses and design a targeted plan to mitigate them, but we also apply these same advanced technologies in our own day to day business. If you are thinking of undergoing a SOC 2 audit, our team of IT professionals can assist you in preparing for successful compliance.
Getting a SOC 2 audit can elevate your competitive status. Contact a Perry proTECH consultant and let our team of IT experts help you get prepared.