In response to the heightened awareness and desire by organizations to improve their cybersecurity programs the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) redefined SOC reporting. SOC previously stood for Service Organization Controls, however now the acronym stands for System and Organization Controls to expand on the system-level controls of a service organization. With this change, SOC for Cybersecurity has been added to the suite of SOC reports.
Our team of assessors and cybersecurity advisors consists of highly specialized professionals, including Certified Information Systems Security Professionals (CISSPs) and Certified Information Systems Auditors (CISAs).
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Are you new to the SOC reporting process? Security compliance and requirements might seem overwhelming, but not when you have the right partner to guide you through. Our experienced team, combined with our unique “hands on” preparation method, limits guesswork and helps you to quickly prepare for a successful SOC assessment.
Every assessment we perform is completed with your end goals in mind. Our communication protocols provide for frequent contact with you throughout the engagement period in order to facilitate delivery on your expected timeline.
Communication is essential in completing a SOC report and it starts in the planning process. Our planning begins with a kickoff call. The kickoff call is used to make introductions, identify key players, and points of contact. We also begin the process of understanding the services on which we will be providing an opinion. Where a readiness assessment has been requested, we establish the dates for the readiness work (for first-time SOC reporters) and/or fieldwork (for recurring clients). In readiness, we assess the data flow of the services, identify controls, and provide a gap analysis of controls that may need implementation or improvement. The planning and readiness process is critical to creating open communication designed to obtain maximum efficiencies that will be realized in the Type 2 reporting process.
Our testing and assessment plans are shared with you as soon as they are customized for your processes. Customizing and sharing these plans allow us to provide a quality product in the shortest time possible. In addition, we provide templates and main points of the narrative process to help you get started with your description. We provide a draft of the assessment plan for your review and complete another call to go through the plan to assist you in assigning tasks for collecting supporting documentation and preparation for on-site testing. Once the assessment plan is finalized, we complete the details in preparation of and coordination with you for the on-site testing visit. Between the time of the audit plan approval and the on-site visit, your team starts compiling your supporting documentation and uploading it to our secure portal. Remember, we are there to help, so we invite open communication if you have any questions. This preparation is essential to an efficient and effective on-site audit experience.
OPTION 1: On-Site Fieldwork
We send our itinerary prior to our on-site visit and coordinate the on-site expectations. During the fieldwork, we conduct walk-throughs, controls testing, obtain testing documentation, and review other processes as necessary. We conduct an exit interview with you to provide initial testing results, go over next steps, and have a clear plan for completion of the testing portion of the SOC* report. Our goal is to have 95% of all testing documents and your draft of the control description completed at the end of field work. This ensures your report is completed in a timely manner.
OPTION 2: Virtual Assessment
The virtual assessment process combines minimal hardware, collaborative software, and cameras to allow us to perform all or part of our assessment engagement virtually and in real time.
When testing and evidence gathering has been completed, your assessor composes a draft of your SOC report and submits it to our quality control team. Every draft SOC report is subjected to a manager and partner review based on our strict quality control process. Once your report has completed this round of reviews, it is provided to you for review, feedback, and modifications. After your draft is returned to us, a final quality control review is completed.
After the final report is issued, we will provide you with the appropriate seal of completion to be displayed on your website. This seal provides your prospective clients with notification that you have completed the SOC reporting process.
…The Auditwerx team provided us with the necessary guidance, tools and knowledge allowing us to improve the overall process concerning both system’s security and privacy, as well as support to implement better controls that are a hard requirement in our sector…We would highly recommend Auditwerx services to organizations of all sizes and requirement complexities.
Our handy guide, “Adding it Up: What Type of SOC Report Do I Need?” is a great starting point to determine what kind of SOC report best fits your company’s business and compliance needs.
When you’re ready to speak with an experienced team about your reporting needs, Auditwerx will be here for you.
By proceeding, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions in the Auditwerx Privacy Policy.
Are clients or potential customers starting to ask for your latest information security compliance report? If you haven’t heard from them yet, expect those inquiries soon. ISO 27001 and SOC 2®* are two leading frameworks that can elevate your organization’s information security compliance initiatives.
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Auditwerx, a division of Carr, Riggs, and Ingram, LLC, proudly announces its strategic partnership with Drata, the most advanced security and compliance automation platform.
