SOC 2 is a framework for auditing the internal processes and procedures for an organization. It is an increasingly popular standard, especially for technology companies that sell software and services to businesses.
SOC 2 offers two types of reports:
SOC 2 is divided into five services categories - 1) Security, 2) Availability, 3) Integrity, 4) Confidentiality, and 5) Privacy. Organizations can choose one or more services categories to be audited against.
SOC 2 is not prescriptive. Each SOC 2 report is customized to the organization. As such, there is much interpretation and application of the required controls within each service category. Only organizations that are approved by AICPA can issue SOC 2 reports, which adds standardization into the process.
Regardless of the service categories to which your organization attests in their SOC 2 reports, training is a required component. The type of training can be tailored, to some degree, to your organization.
SOC 2 is flexible to allow organizations to set their own goals and objectives. The important thing for SOC 2 is to ensure that the organization has policies and procedures, that are implemented, to meet the organization’s goals and objectives. With privacy regimes such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA, many organizations need to meet objectives specifically to comply with those regimes.
The compliance training aspects of SOC 2, much like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA, require educating employees about policies and procedures and measuring the competency of employees in regards to those policies and procedures.
Here is the specific language from the SOC 2 criterion:
SOC 2 Type 1 reports assess the organizational policies and procedures while SOC 2 Type 2 reports assess the execution of these policies and procedures. Training is required for both types of SOC 2 reports. For SOC 2 Type 1 reports, organizations need policies and procedures in place to train employees. For SOC 2 Type 2 reports, organizations need to show they are following their policies and procedures regarding training.
In order to successfully attest to any of the five service categories of SOC 2, training, should be conducted at onboarding for new employees, when changes are made to compliance policies and procedures, and on a regular cadence, with annual being the longest acceptable interval.
Most organizations do not offer effective SOC 2 training to their workforces. Current approaches to SOC 2 training, and compliance training in general, are outdated, generic, infrequent, and do not practically apply to the day-to-day work of employees. With the growing acceptance of SOC 2 in the market and the risk of privacy violations in GDPR and CCPA. it has never been more important to get compliance training right.
In order to be successful with training, and to limit the risk to organizations, SOC 2 and privacy training needs to be built into the culture of the organization. In our experience, the following elements are essential aspects of effective SOC 2 training.
Day Zero offers SOC 2 training that ensures all of the above. In addition, we provide metrics to continually gauge and improve compliance training. Our customers lean on us to build a culture of privacy across their entire workforce. We are 100% focused on making sure your employees are properly trained and you have the proof you need to comply with HIPAA.
Below are some links to learn more about SOC 2 and SOC 2 training: