Has this happened to you before? Your business is about to land a big client. Everything is going well, but before they sign the deal, they want you to sign off on a Cyber Security Questionnaire. Not only that, but they have also asked you for a SOC Audit, and you don’t even know what it is.
A Systems & Organizations Control (SOC) audit provides information about how a service provider is operating. It’s typically validated by an independent 3rd party and provides insights into security, availability, processing, confidentiality, privacy, basically an overview of how the service provider manages its operations. The SOC report acts as an extra level of assurance for a customer doing business with a service provider, it also gives the service provider a set of guidelines to follow to help them protect their business and their customers.
So why would your client want you to have a SOC Audit done? As mentioned before, it might be a part of their cyber security questionnaire that they require of all of their partners. Third party liability has become a big issue lately with breaches affecting Kaseya and SolarWinds just to mention a few.
A SOC audit is necessary for service providers providing the following type of outsourcing activities: data warehousing, cloud computing, data processing, managed IT and cyber security services. If your clients rely on your company to store or manage applications or data you may be required to provide those clients with an audit relating to data security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.
Even though you may not be in the business of providing cloud services or managing data, if you are storing any data on behalf of your clients in a cloud environment, your clients may want to see the SOC audit of your provider. If you are hosting their data in your own environment, then you will certainly need to have a SOC Audit done.
If the thought of a SOC Audit has you worried, you have no need to fear. Quick Intelligence and our sister company QuickProtect, can help you prepare for a SOC Audit with our SOC Readiness Assessment service. Both Quick Intelligence and QuickProtect can also help you write the policies and procedures necessary to ensure you are meeting the audit requirements. Contact Quick Intelligence for help with your SOC Audit requirements.
