Both SOC 2 and NIST 800-53 serve critical roles in regulatory compliance, focusing on protecting data in cloud environments and ensuring information security. These frameworks complement each other, and adhering to both sets of controls provides comprehensive data protection.
SOC 2 Framework
SOC is an acronym that stands for Service Organization Controls and is an audit of a company's controls that are in place to help ensure the Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality and Privacy of their customers' data.
SOC 2 was created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and is widely used in the technology industry for organizations storing and processing customer data in the cloud. It's customizable to specific business practices and aligns with modern cloud environment requirements.
Trust Service Criteria (TSC)
The five control areas are:
- Security — Protection against unauthorized access (examples: multifactor authentication, intrusion detection systems)
- Availability — System accessibility per Service Level Agreement (examples: failover clusters)
- Processing Integrity — System achievement of its intended purpose through complete, accurate, timely, and authorized processing
- Confidentiality — Information restricted to specified persons or organizations (examples: encryption, network security tools)
- Privacy — Personal information collected, used, retained, disclosed, and destroyed per privacy commitments
Audit Types
- Type 1 — Assesses system design suitability at a single point in time
- Type 2 — Tests operational effectiveness over an extended period; typically follows a Type 1 audit annually
Requirements
Organizations must develop and follow written policies and procedures, actively monitor all systems and information, and establish automatic alerting systems for data access anomalies.
NIST 800-53 Publication
NIST 800-53, published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, provides comprehensive security controls for federal information systems. It encompasses the Risk Management Framework with 8 control families and over 900 requirements. Organizations can adopt controls relevant to their specific needs and data security levels (Low, Medium, or High). These controls can be tested during SOC 2 audits.
FISMA Compliance
Organizations demonstrating NIST 800-53 compliance should pursue Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) compliance. FISMA requires federal agencies to develop, document, and implement information security and protection programs.
FISMA Goals
- Implementing risk management programs
- Protecting information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction
- Ensuring integrity, confidentiality, and availability of sensitive information
FISMA Requirements
- Maintain information systems inventory
- Categorize information and systems according to risk level
- Maintain system security plans
- Implement security controls
- Conduct risk assessments
- Complete certification and accreditation
- Conduct continuous monitoring
Best Practices
Encrypt all data, maintain current FISMA standards, classify information at creation, and document compliance efforts.
Key Differences
The fundamental distinction: SOC 2 is part of the System and Organizational Controls (SOC) framework, while NIST 800-53 is a publication. A mapping of SOC 2 to NIST 800-53 controls is available on the AICPA website.