Most organizations have at least heard of SOC reports. Published and administered by the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA), the SOC umbrella of attestations helps organizations demonstrate adherence to best practices around data privacy, cybersecurity, risk assessment and financial reporting. 

Since SOC requirements come directly from the AICPA, the organization releases documents pertaining to guidance for audits and compliance. One of the primary documents for SOC compliance is Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements no. 18 (SSAE 18). 

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The Service Organization Control (SOC) standard is a well-known, but often misunderstood, approach to cybersecurity. It’s not mandatory, it has several methods, and some attestations involve different types of reports and assessments. 

Sometimes, the most difficult challenge is understanding the breakdown between reports. While SOC 2 is the most well-known and deployed assessment on the market, many organizations opt to get a SOC 3 report. 

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What is a SOC 2 Report?

Introduced in 2011, Service Organization Control (SOC) reports are becoming more and more popular in data security and compliance discussions with every passing year, especially SOC 2. But what is a SOC report? Which one do you need? Why is a SOC 2 report so important?

There are three types of SOC reports, which are “designed for the growing number of technology and cloud computing entities that are becoming very common in the world of service organizations,” according to ssae16.org. If a SOC 1 report handles the financial transactions a company makes, SOC 2 reports on the security behind those financial transactions, making it more relevant than ever in the growing wake of credit card fraud and data breaches.

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