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SOC 2 For Startups
Did you know that your compliance with SOC 2 can become a critical competitive differentiator for driving sales and revenue? As a startup constantly scouting for growth opportunities, your SOC 2 attestation can make you stand out against your competition and help swing deals in your favour. Let’s dive in to explore SOC 2 for Startups with Sprinto’s wide range of features.
What is SOC 2 for Startups?
SOC 2 for startups is popular because it is an auditing framework for cloud based companies and tech companies. It is required to make sure you have everything set up properly to protect important data and keep it private. Also, it serves as the voluntary security standard that most clients and customers trust.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) created the Service Organization Control 2 (SOC 2) to assess, using third-party accredited auditors, whether organizations manage customers’ data safely and effectively within the cloud. It is based on the five Trust Services Criteria (TSC) of Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy.
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Types of SOC 2 reports for startups
There are two types of SOC 2 reports: SOC 2 Type 1 and SOC 2 Type 2, let’s take a look at them below:
SOC 2 TYPE 1
SOC 2 Type 1 report validates that an organization’s security controls are designed appropriately, and the procedures align with the chosen TSCs at a given point in time. It’s akin to a snapshot and stands as testimony that the organization has implemented data security best practices.
Why should you choose Type 1?
- To test the waters and see how your organization stacks up
- As a good starting point before your eventual SOC 2 Type 2
- Since it’s easier and faster to get than Type 2
- If the prospect/customer hasn’t explicitly asked for Type 2
Cost:
$7,500 to $15,000
SOC 2 TYPE 2
A SOC 2 Type 2 report offers proof of the design and operational efficiency of an organization’s security controls. It verifies whether the controls are working as desired over a specific period of time – 3-12 months for the first audit and one year for subsequent audits.
Why should you choose Type 2?
- If a prospect/ customer has specifically asked for it
- To demonstrate your continued commitment to data security
- To offer customers more significant insights into your organization’s security posture
Cost:
$7,500 to $15,000
Regular way
High touch
Ordinary security compliance software only goes so far as to point out tasks. Driving and completing the program demands time, effort, and coordination on your part.
Checklist-oriented
With ordinary infosec software, tasks and tech are poorly matched. Tasks are over-emphasized which means effort is concentrated at that level. This eats into your bandwidth and drains productivity.
Limited support
Because ordinary software providers divvy up task-heavy, broad-brush solutions, the burden of figuring out what’s right for your company will fall on you.
Sprinto way
Low touch
Sprinto goes beyond outlining tasks. Adaptive automation capabilities of the platform do the job of organizing, nudging, and capturing corrective actions against each task – continuously and in an audit-friendly manner.
Priority-oriented
With Sprinto, tasks and tech go hand-in-hand. Tasks are populated in a tiered manner and organized according to compliance priorities.
Expert Support
With Sprinto, compliance and audit experts work with you from Day 1 to make sure you are implementing the right controls and practices for your company.
Get SOC 2 reports in no time with the help of Sprinto
Benefits of integrating with sprinto
Enable control monitoring
Diagnose and remediate entity-level risks proactively by continuously monitoring security controls.
Enhanced risk management
Avoid business disruptions by documenting risks as they arise and implementing mitigation measures.
Drive scalability and growth
Scale your organization’s security posture to handle increased data and compliance requirements.
Ensure compliant processes
Maintain the highest level of compliance by aligning all your processes with framework requirements.
Faster setup and deployment
Don’t let set-ups stand in your way. Integrate your tools and software with Sprinto in a few clicks.
Master access control
Keep track of who has access to data assets by implementing and managing access control policies.
How to Get SOC 2 Certification for Startups with Sprinto?
To become SOC 2 certified, you must understand the framework requirements and interpret them to fit your specific environment. To achieve that, you must do the following:
1
Understand the SOC 2
Trust Service Criteria
Your choice of the five TSCs determines your SOC 2 scope. Formerly known as the Trust Principles, you must consider them a focus area for your compliance program. Of the five TSCs, Security is a compulsory requirement. The other four (Availability confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and privacy) are optional and left to the discretion of each organization.
2
Finalize which TSCs are more suitable for your startup
Empirically, we have seen that nine out of ten cloud-hosted companies choose only Security as their TSC for SOC 2. Of the remaining, a good majority pick Security, Availability, and Confidentiality.
We suggest you go with the three TSCs outlined earlier and leave Privacy and Processing Integrity out unless they’ve been specifically asked for. Our recommendation is to do it only when really necessary.
3
Internal Risk Assessment
SOC 2 risk assessment can be a time-consuming and exhaustive process. It requires you to:
- Identify the many business risks associated with your startup’s growth, location, or infosec best practices,
- Assign a likelihood of occurrence and impact to each risk and
- Implement controls to mitigate them.
But risk assessments, in reality, aren’t as simple and, therefore, don’t always get the attention they deserve in the run-up to getting audit-ready. Unwieldy spreadsheets, double-guessing risk parameters, and constant back-and-forth reviews can make the entire process rather tiresome.
Sprinto’s newly introduced Integrated Risk Assessment feature has been designed to ensure your approach to risk assessment is holistic and sure-footed.
4
Gap Analysis & Remediation
Once the controls are implemented, you must check for control gaps and remediate them. Doing this helps get an overview of the operationalized policies, procedures, and controls and how they stack up against SOC 2 requirements. In case of control gaps – where your measures don’t meet SOC 2 requirements, you must form a remediation plan (policies, procedures, and processes) to plug the gaps.
5
Mapping & Coverage of internal controls
Mapping of controls calls for opening up your spreadsheets again! You must now map your implemented security controls to the SOC 2 requirements for your chosen TSCs. Did you know that each TSC has multiple criteria, and you must address all of them? For instance, Security TSC has 33 individual criteria. If any criterion is out of scope, you can keep it out of the audit purview with a suitable justification.
6
Continuous Monitoring
SOC 2 isn’t a ‘checkbox only’ compliance. It would help if you established continuous practice to always be SOC 2-ready. Having a robust continuous monitoring set-up also helps you with evidence collection. And it alerts you when something isn’t done or is done incorrectly.
7
SOC 2 Audit
While you maintain your audit readiness using continuous monitoring, you must authorize an independent certified auditor to complete your audit and generate a SOC 2 report at this stage.
You can expect a long-drawn back and forth with the auditor to share evidence, answer queries, and discover lapses in your control coverage/non-conformities. (Find out more about SOC 2 audit)
Benefits of being SOC 2 Certified as a startup
The benefits of being SOC 2 certified as a startup is endless. SOC 2 compliance for startups will make your clients conversations way easier and build trust on the way you handle security of data. This will make the ongoing customer management process easier as well.
Establishes credibility with clients
Did you know vendor security keeps established companies and large enterprises up at night? 83% of organizations have fallen victim to a third-party security incident within the last three years (Deloitte, yikes!). With security concerns skyrocketing, companies take extra precautions when vetting software solutions and vendors. To address these issues and establish trust, the successful completion of SOC 2 compliance for startups is a great approach.
Provides competitive
advantage
Security breaches lurk in every digital corner. Hence, it’s crucial for companies, big and small, to take a stand against cyber threats. That’s why choosing to undergo a SOC 2 audit is more than just a bold move—it’s a powerful statement about your company’s unwavering commitment to a rock-solid security posture.
Note:
Consultants typically charge 5 figures. However, Sprinto offers compliance at a fraction of the cost.
SOC 2 is much easier to achieve in the early Startup Stage
We get it. In the early stages of a startup, there’s a whirlwind of tasks and priorities vying for your attention. Security and regulation may seem like a distant concern.
Lowers your risk profile
Recent studies reveal that organizations face significant financial repercussions, with an average cost of $3.62 million, when grappling with data breaches (IBM). Alarmingly, 44% of enterprises have reported experiencing breaches caused by vendors. (Read more about SOC compliance cost)
Note:
Sprinto helps with 90% automation! You can achieve SOC 2 readiness in days.
How is Sprinto helping startups become SOC 2 compliant?
Sprinto is tailored to suit the specific needs of startups. From 100+ integrations to 15+ frameworks, Sprinto’s platform makes it easier for startups to manage and demonstrate their information security compliance and certifications.
Take the case of Fyle, a Delaware-based expense management software firm. With Sprinto’s help, it became SOC 2 audit-ready in three weeks after struggling with an external consultant for months. You can also read about how HackerRank chose Sprinto to complete its SOC 2 compliance program without trading off its teams’ priorities.
Talk to our experts to learn how you can streamline SOC 2 compliance and achieve SOC 2 certification quickly and painlessly.
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