SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2)
- Origin: Developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
- Purpose: Evaluates a company’s systems and controls related to data security, specifically for service organizations (especially SaaS and cloud service providers)
- Focus Areas: Based on Trust Services Criteria (TSC):
- Types:
- Audit Report: Conducted by independent CPAs or CPA firms, results in a detailed attestation report
- Geography: Primarily used in North America
ISO/IEC 27001
- Origin: Developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
- Purpose: Specifies requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS)
- Scope: Broader than SOC 2, applicable to any organization, in any industry
- Focus Areas:
- Certification: Issued by accredited certification bodies after formal audit
- Geography: Internationally recognized and accepted
Practically
- SOC 2 is often required by US clients to ensure vendors handle data securely.
- ISO 27001 is more often demanded by international clients and shows mature, risk-based information security management.
You can think of it this way:
- SOC 2 is a trust report.
- ISO 27001 is a management system certification.
