Who are SOC 2 Auditors? [How to Choose Best Firm]

Did you know that there’s no non-compliance fee associated with SOC 2? 

Then why is everyone running to get one?

While SOC 2 compliance is voluntary, and the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants) doesn’t penalize non-compliance, following this framework’s guidelines can significantly improve your security posture.

Getting SOC 2 helps improve brand credibility, win customers, and give you a competitive edge. Moreover, it helps you build a failproof security system when a cyberattack takes place every 39 seconds, and damage by cybercrime for businesses alone is expected to hit $10.5 trillion USD annually by 2025.

Top 5 SOC 2 Auditors in 2024

1. Sprinto
2. Drata
3. Secureframe
4. Vanta
5. LogicGate

Who are SOC 2 Auditors?

SOC 2 auditors are certified public accountants (CPAs) from firms accredited by the AICPA, specifically trained to assess your company’s security controls and determine if they meet the rigorous standards of the SOC 2 framework. 

To maintain independence and objectivity, SOC 2 auditors cannot have any pre-existing relationship with the organization they are auditing.

During an audit, such auditors evaluate your security posture with comprehensive pentests to ensure it aligns with industry standards. Once you complete the certification process, your organization receives a SOC 2 report, which can be shared with stakeholders to demonstrate your commitment to maintaining high data protection standards.

What Does a SOC 2 Auditor do?

A SOC 2 auditor assesses an organization’s security posture to ensure it meets specific criteria by:

• Assessing Control Design and Implementation: The auditor evaluates if your organization has designed and implemented controls aligned with the chosen TSC by examining policies, procedures, and technical safeguards.
• Testing Control Effectiveness: The auditor performs procedures to verify that controls are operating as intended by reviewing evidence, conducting interviews, and potentially observing processes.
• Identifying Gaps and Weaknesses: The auditor pinpoints areas where controls are lacking or ineffective and provides recommendations for improvement to enhance your security posture.
• Preparing SOC 2 Report: The auditor compiles findings and evidence into a comprehensive report detailing their opinion on control effectiveness and any identified exceptions.
• Communicating Findings: The auditor discusses audit results with management, explaining areas of strength and weakness and insights on remediation efforts.

Best SOC 2 Auditors

1. Sprinto

Key Features:

• Platform: Online
• Capabilities: Automated compliance solution that implements SOC with continuous monitoring features
• Remediation Support: Yes
• Compliance: ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR
• Integrations: Slack, GitHub, GitLab, Google, AWS, and more 
• Continuous Monitoring: Yes
• Known For: Auditor’s Dashboard, editable security policy templates, and automated evidence collection
• Price: Available on quote

Sprinto offers an automation-driven SOC 2 compliance program that helps cloud-hosted companies become audit-ready in the shortest timeframe possible while eliminating errors to a large extent. It automates evidence-finding compliance, features continuous monitoring, and has a dashboard tailored to SOC 2 service auditors to make the certification process convenient. 

Pros:

• Setting up security policies that help deliver a seamless auditing experience.
• Facilitates employee onboarding and offboarding.
• Helps in mapping your business and creating an auditable catalog of evidence.
• Becoming compliance-ready within weeks, investing only 10-14 hours of your time.

Limitations:

• Since the tool is customized to each company’s specific needs, it could take some time to function efficiently.

2. Drata

Key Features:

• Platform: Online
• Capabilities: Automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring for SOC 2.
• Remediation Support: Yes
• Compliance: ISO 27001, SOC2, HIPAA, and GDPR
• Known For: Automated asset creation, customizable security controls, data integration with MDM for endpoint evaluation
• Continuous Monitoring: Yes
• Integrations: GitHub, GitLab, Google, AWS, and more 

Data is one of the leading SOC 2 audit firms that automate compliance journeys using seamless integrations and provide support from security and compliance experts. It helps businesses comply with various regulations, including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, and more. 

Moreover, its customizable security controls help you modify the framework for testing, catering to company and industry-specific compliance needs.

Pros:

• Automates evidence collection and cataloging, saving businesses time and effort.
• Seamless integration with various tools and platforms, simplifying compliance management.
• Streamlined the SOC 2 audit process with a user-friendly interface.
• Customized policies help cater to your unique needs.

Limitations:

• Lacks risk assessment features.
• Limited reporting capabilities compared to other SOC 2 audit firms.

3. Secureframe

Key Features:

• Platform: Online
• Capabilities: Streamlined SOC 2 audit preparation with comprehensive support.
• Remediation Support: Yes
• Compliance: ISO 27001, SOC2, HIPAA, and GDPR
• Known For: Automated evidence collection, seamless vendor management, dedicated CSM
• Continuous Monitoring: Yes
• Integrations: Slack, GitHub, GitLab, Google, AWS, and more

Secureframe is a well-managed compliance preparation platform. Once you sign up for a program, they connect all your digital and human resources to the platform and scan for vulnerabilities. After pinpointing vulnerabilities that can block SOC 2 compliance, they provide detailed guidance on mitigating them. 

As a leading SOC 2 audit company, Secureframe focuses on streamlining the compliance process with a customer success manager who takes you through the process.

Pros:

• The audit interface simplifies access to information for AICPA-approved SOC 2 service providers. 
• Easy access to information helps avoid back-and-forth with auditors.
• Saves time and effort.
• Reports facilitate easy analysis and remediation.

Limitations:

• It may involve a potential learning curve.

What Makes Astra the Best VAPT Solution?

• We’re the only company that combines automated & manual pentest to create a one-of-a-kind pentest platform.
• The Astra Vulnerability Scanner runs 9300+ tests to uncover every single vulnerability
• Vetted scans ensure zero false positives.
• Our intelligent vulnerability scanner emulates hacker behavior & evolves with every pentest.
• Astra’s scanner helps you shift left by integrating with your CI/CD.
• Our platform helps you uncover, manage & fix vulnerabilities in one place.
• Trusted by the brands you trust like Agora, Spicejet, Muthoot, Dream11, etc.

Let’s Talk Get Started

4. Vanta

Key Features:

• Platform: Online
• Capabilities: Offers a holistic suite for SOC 2 compliance automation and management.
• Remediation Support: Yes
• Compliance: ISO 27001, SOC2, HIPAA, and GDPR
• Known For: Centralized dashboard, automated RFP management, employee information management, and mapped security controls.
• Continuous Monitoring: Yes
• Integrations: Slack, GitHub, GitLab, Google, AWS, and more

Vanta offers various compliance risk assessment products for SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO27001, GDPR, and PCI DSS and is known for providing a seamless auditing experience. It automates most of its tasks to help you prepare for a SOC 2 audit and recommends vetted auditors to help you achieve compliance sooner. 

With its hourly automated checks, integration with several cloud services, and unique employee security onboarding and offboarding features, Vanta is a top choice among SOC 2 audit firms.

Pros:

• Tailored security controls based on AICPA guidance.
• Continuous testing for security and compliance verification.
• Faster audit report generation.
• Simplified compliance management.

Limitations:

• Limited information on SOC 2 reporting capabilities.
• Involves potential learning curve.

5. LogicGate

Key Features:

• Platform: Online
• Capabilities: Cloud-based risk management platform focusing on regulatory compliance, including SOC 2.
• Remediation Support: Yes
• Compliance: ISO 27001, SOC2, HIPAA, and GDPR
• Known For: Inventory of regulatory controls, risk assessment, and corrective action plans.
• Continuous Monitoring: Yes
• Integrations: Slack, Jira, GitHub, GitLab, Google, AWS, and more

LogicGate offers a risk management platform specifically designed for cloud-hosted companies. In addition to various risk management programs, it hosts a regulatory compliance program covering SOC 2 auditor reports. 

Their Risk Cloud product is a one-stop solution that integrates security findings, regulatory requirements, assessments, and exams into one tool for seamless tracking.

Pros:

• Helps businesses fix security gaps and remain compliant.
• Keeps you updated on your security posture and makes compliance with industry-specific changes easy.
• Explains and mitigates potential security consequences.

Limitations:

• It may not cover all the relevant controls for SOC 2.

How Can Astra Help You Achieve SOC 2 Compliance?

Astra Security‘s Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) services can help you track vulnerabilities that prevent you from achieving SOC 2 compliance and provide detailed remediation steps to tackle them.

We combine automated vulnerability scanning with pentesting to identify over 9,300 vulnerabilities across web apps, mobile apps, cloud infrastructures, APIs, and networks. 

This ensures that all your systems are aligned with SOC 2 controls for secure configuration, allowing you to address CVEs relevant to the SOC 2 framework.

Our security experts manually vet the scan results once vulnerability scanning is complete to ensure zero false positives. Then, for our manual pentest, they mimic real-world attacker tactics. We place emphasis on finding business logic vulnerabilities, which are critical for achieving compliance with SOC 2’s Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, and Confidentiality (SAAIC) principles.

We adhere to industry standards like OWASP and SANS25, and our VAPT reports can be customized to provide dedicated SOC 2 auditor reporting and highlight vulnerabilities that map directly to relevant SOC 2 controls. 

Why Astra is the best in
SOC 2 Pentesting?

• We’re the only company that combines automated & manual pentest to create a one-of-a-kind PTaaS platform with SOC 2 vulnerability tags.
• Vetted scans ensure zero false positives to avoid delays
• Our intelligent vulnerability scanner emulates hacker behavior with 9300+ tests to help achieve continuous compliance
• Astra’s scanner helps you simplify remediation by integrating with your CI/CD
• Our platform helps you uncover, manage & fix vulnerabilities in one place
• We offer 2 rescans to help you verify ptaches and generate a clean report
• Trusted by the brands you trust like Agora, Spicejet, Muthoot, Dream11, etc.

Let’s Talk Get Started

Who Does SOC 2 Audits? 

1. Independent Auditors

Since SOC 2 focuses on trust and transparency, the audits must be performed by a completely independent third party. This independence ensures an objective assessment of your controls, free from any internal bias.

2. Certified Public Accountants

These independent SOC 22 auditors auditors are typically licensed Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) or belong to an auditing firm accredited by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). They possess the expertise and qualifications necessary to evaluate your internal controls against the SOC 2 Trust Service Criteria.

3. Streamlining Using Tools

Platforms designed to streamline the steps needed before SOC 2 can be used in the pre-audit stage to conduct VAPT specifically designed to assess controls relevant to SOC 2 guidelines. A qualified and independent CPA or CPA firm will then conduct the final assessment and issue the SOC 2 report.

5 Reasons Why You Need SOC 2 Compliance

1. Builds Trust with Customers

While voluntary, SOC 2 certification greatly emphasizes a business’s commitment to safeguarding customer data through an objective audit and increasing brand credibility. Your company’s transparency reduces customers’ perceived risk, establishing you as a trustworthy partner in their minds. 

2. Competitive Edge

Achieving SOC 2 compliance can improve your positioning with vendors and customers, simplify approval procedures, and lead to new business prospects in a competitive market. Many organizations now require a SOC 2 certification from their vendors and partners, so achieving it can open doors to new business opportunities.

3. Building a Culture of Security

Achieving SOC 2 certification fosters a culture of security within your organization. Preparing for an audit requires a company to critically examine its security controls and identify areas for improvement by conducting vulnerability assessment and penetration testing. 

These proactive security procedures help you understand your company’s security posture. You can use the insights to identify gaps and build a more secure organization. 

4. Compliance Foundation for Other Regulations

SOC 2 compliance aligns with many other data security regulations, such as GDPR and HIPAA.  The rigorous security controls implemented for SOC 2 often serve as a strong foundation for meeting the requirements of these other regulations, saving significant time and resources in achieving other compliance certifications.

5. Expanding to New Geographies

The specific Trust Service Criteria (TSCs) addressed in a SOC 2 report can be tailored to address the requirements of different geographic regions. For example, a company looking to expand into the European market may want to focus on controls that align with GDPR.  

Similarly, a healthcare company expanding in the USA would benefit from a SOC 2 report demonstrating compliance with HIPAA requirements. By complying with relevant regional regulations, a company can simplify its entry into new markets and establish itself as a trusted partner to local businesses and customers.

What to Consider When Choosing a SOC 2 Auditing Platform

1. Evidence Management

Managing evidence for a SOC 2 audit can be daunting. Look for a platform that automates evidence collection across your entire digital landscape, from cloud providers like AWS to collaboration tools like Microsoft 365.

This ensures auditors have easy access to all the necessary information while reducing their workload by eliminating manual collection processes.

2. Risk Management

A good SOC 2 auditing platform goes beyond simply collecting evidence and integrating risk management features to improve your security posture proactively. This might include pre-formulated security policies that align with SOC 2 controls, automated assessments to identify and address vulnerabilities, and security awareness training for your employees.

By focusing on prevention, you can minimize the risk of non-compliance issues arising during the audit.

3. Acceptance by SOC 2 Compliance Auditors

While a compliance auditing platform makes the process much easier, and some platforms may even recommend auditors, it’s important to remember that a separate, independent CPA firm conducts the final audit. 

Therefore, focus on platforms with a proven track record of successful audits across various auditors. Popularity among auditors often indicates a platform’s alignment with best practices and AICPA guidelines, giving you greater confidence in its ability to prepare you for a successful audit.

4. Continuous Monitoring Support

Real-time monitoring is critical for maintaining SOC 2 compliance. Choose a platform with integrations to your cloud environments and other essential tools, which should enable continuous monitoring of your security controls and configurations.

Ideally, the platform should trigger alerts for deviations from compliance standards, allowing you to take immediate corrective action and minimize risk.

5. Compliances Supported

Many SOC 2 controls overlap with security regulations like ISO 27001, HIPAA, and GDPR. Opt for a platform that supports multiple compliance frameworks, which can significantly reduce your workload and simplify the process when pursuing additional certifications.

A multi-compliance platform ensures your security practices align with a broader range of industry standards. 

6. Support for Custom Compliance Frameworks

While pre-built compliance frameworks are valuable, some organizations may have additional security requirements unique to their industry or business model. The ideal platform should offer flexibility to incorporate custom security controls and frameworks alongside existing standardized frameworks.

This ensures a comprehensive compliance approach that addresses your specific needs while adhering to broader SOC 2 standards.

Astra Pentest is built by the team of experts that helped secure Microsoft, Adobe, Facebook, and Buffer

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Final Thoughts

SOC 2 compliance demonstrates your commitment to adopting the best data security practices, fostering trust and confidence with clients and stakeholders.

Some of the benefits of a SOC 2 certification include building trust with customers, gaining a competitive edge, and establishing a culture of security in your company. While many SOC 2 auditing platforms are available, our top three choices are Sprinto, Drata, and Secureframe.

By strengthening your security posture using VAPT, leveraging the right supporting tools and resources like Astra, and fostering a culture of security awareness within your organization, you can achieve compliance and build a strong foundation for long-term success.

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