55 Degrees is proud to announce the successful renewal of our SOC 2 compliance, reaffirming our commitment to maintaining the highest standards in data security and customer trust. This milestone underscores our dedication to safeguarding customer data by adhering to rigorous security protocols and continuously enhancing our security and compliance program. As a renewed achievement—not our first SOC 2 audit—this accomplishment reflects our ongoing efforts to meet and exceed industry standards, ensuring our customers’ data is handled with the utmost care and integrity.
What is SOC 2, and why is it important?
SOC 2, or Service Organization Controls 2, is a framework that is governed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). With a SOC 2 audit, an independent service auditor will review an organization’s policies, procedures, and evidence to determine if their controls are designed and operating effectively. A SOC 2 report communicates a company’s commitment to data security and the protection of customer information.
Improving your security posture
SOC 2 compliance exemplifies an organization’s commitment to customer trust and is a major milestone toward improving its overall security posture. With increasing cybersecurity threats and data breaches, it is paramount that organizations prioritize information security and the protection of their systems and data. By undergoing a SOC 2 audit, our controls and processes were validated by a third party who attests to the functioning of the controls relevant to our application.
Why did we pursue SOC 2 now?
SOC 2 compliance is integral in proving to customers, stakeholders, and interested parties that our organization values their trust and has effectively implemented security controls. At our company’s stage, we realized that it was an ideal time to pursue this as it is important to protect data and mitigate potential security risks early and on an ongoing basis.
55 Degrees’s journey to SOC 2 compliance
Compliance Partners
The task would have seemed insurmountable without the right compliance partners to guide us on our journey. Some key partners were involved in our SOC 2 compliance journey.
Vanta
We partnered with Vanta, the leader in the Trust Management space, to help us automate the collection of our audit evidence. Vanta provides us with the strongest security foundation to protect our customer data.
Advantage Partners
Our audit firm, Advantage Partners, was extremely helpful in creating a seamless audit experience. With their guidance and support, we were able to achieve SOC 2 compliance in a swift, efficient manner.
Process
While SOC 2 can be a big undertaking, our compliance partners streamlined the process. We leveraged Vanta to integrate our key systems and guide us in implementing policies and procedures to quickly become audit-ready. Vanta gave us the direction we needed to pursue our compliance journey.
Advantage Partners then confirmed our audit readiness, and we kicked off our Type II audit. Advantage evaluated the controls we have in place for the audit and opined on their state. Advantage Partners drafted and issued our report shortly after our audit window ended.
Timeline
One key takeaway is that improving our security posture and achieving compliance is monumental. This can be made easier with the right compliance partners, but it will take dedicated focus and time from your organization. The readiness period can take the most time, but we were able to prioritize compliance to get the audit ready in weeks rather than months.
We also found it important to review the audit timeline with Advantage Partners, set an ideal audit date, and then work backward to be ready in time. However, now that controls are implemented and security is a priority for our team, subsequent SOC 2 audits will be even more seamless.
Lessons we learned
Start the process early.
It is easier to implement policies earlier than later, and doing so as early as possible helps you build a more secure organization.
Building secure procedures and infrastructure is key to a successful security program.
Focus on improving security posture, not checking boxes.
Compliance is not one size fits all. Ensure you are spending time understanding the frameworks you’re working towards so you can know how to best comply for your organization.
Your entire organization will be involved in improving security and adhering to procedures. Help them to understand how they impact your ability to stay compliant!
Security is a continuous project that should be prioritized in an organization. Don’t snooze your alerts - aim to stay at 100% readiness in Vanta all the time!
The right partners and tools are key.
Finding a compliance management tool like Vanta to guide you through the process makes it much easier to know what to do and do it quickly. Not only does it make it easier to get started, but it makes it (nearly) painless to maintain your audit readiness!
Leveling up our licenses in tools like Snyk Enterprise has really alleviated the pain of managing certain aspects of our compliance and providing the necessary proof.
Finally, partnering with an audit firm dedicated to your success makes the process much less scary! Make sure you find a firm that you feel comfortable with, and that is comfortable in your compliance management system.
You can read more about our trust stance at https://55degrees.se/trust. If you would like to request access to our SOC 2 report or see information about the controls currently in place and other publicly available documents, you can visit our Vanta Trust Center at https://trust.55degrees.se. If you have any other questions, please contact us!
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