Ensuring the safety of your data: A closer look at SOC Audits

SOC audits are independent assessments of a company's controls to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of sensitive data. These audits are based on the Service Organisation Control reporting system developed by the AICPA and include three types of reports:

SOC 1: This report assesses financial reporting controls. SOC 1 audits are often performed for organisations that provide services that have an influence on the financial statements of their clients, such as accounting or payroll processing.

SOC 2: This report assesses security, availability, reprocessing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy measures. SOC 2 checkups are generally performed for businesses that give cloud- based or other IT- related services.

SOC 3: A more?generalized?version of SOC 2, this report provides a summary of the auditor's conclusions without going into as much detail.?

SOC audits are necessary because they reassure clients and stakeholders of a company's controls, help identify control shortcomings, and may be mandated as a condition of doing business. SOC audits involve planning, fieldwork, and reporting, with the auditor assessing the company's controls and producing a report summarizing their findings and providing recommendations for improvement.