10 Things You Need to Know About SOC 2 Penetration Testing

46% of all cyber attacks are targeted on businesses with less than 1000 employees as per Verizon’s data breach investigation reports.

Unlike other assessments, SOC 2 penetration testing is often focused on compliance criteria. The current cybersecurity and expanding technology landscape has made it paramount to secure the customer data. Ensuring compliance primarily helps to adhere with the best data security practices. And there are more.

This blog is the compilation of 10 points which you need to know about the SOC2 penetration testing.

What is SOC 2 Penetration Testing

SOC 2 penetration testing is a cyber attack simulation conducted in the context of SOC 2 compliance. It helps identify gaps in your organization’s IT systems, applications, networks and find potential data security vulnerabilities upon the customer data.

SOC 2 stands for System and Organization Controls 2. It is a widely used standard for data security, particularly for service organizations who store or handle customer data.

TSC guide, also known as Trust Service Criteria is used as reference throughout the test process that focuses on security, processing integrity, confidentiality, availability, and privacy.

SOC 2 penetration testing addresses several purposes. Primarily they are:

Risk identification: The focus is given to the loopholes in your systems and infrastructure which has the potential to unauthorized access and cyber incidents such as data breaches.
Compliance validation: Helps align with SOC 2 requirements towards proactive identification and mitigation of vulnerabilities relating to your organization.
End-to-end system evaluation: Web applications, cloud environments, APIs, and third party systems which process and store customer data are included in the scope of the penetration test making the evaluation comprehensive and hence ensuring that all the potential entry points are assessed.
Better confidence to stakeholders: Regular penetration testing helps foster the stakeholder confidence since it demonstrates that your organizations take data security seriously and compliance at the highest level.

SOC 2 penetration testing can be classified into 2 types, which are:

Aspect	SOC 2 Type 1	SOC 2 Type 2
Definition	Design of your organization’s security controls is evaluated at a specific point in time.	Periodical assessment of the operational effectiveness of security controls on a recurring basis (e.g., 6-12 months).
Focus	Ensures controls are designed as per requirement and are in place.	Verifies functioning of controls over the evaluation period.
Timeline	Single shot assessment.	A continuous assessment conducted over a timeframe.
Purpose	To ensure security controls are in place during testing.	Continuous assurance of operational effectiveness of the controls.
Audit Effort	Shorter, since focus is only on design and documentation.	Extensive, since evidence of controls are required.
Use Case	New organizations who are fresh into compliance or in need for quick validation for clients.	Mature organizations in need for demonstrating long-term security and compliance commitment.
Evidence Required	Policies, procedures, and control design documentation.	Operational logs, monitoring reports, and proof of continuous execution of controls.
Client Trust	Showcases initial readiness to data protection.	Gives higher assurance to clients about ongoing data protection and compliance.
Compliance Maturity	Emphasizes capability of your organization to define effective controls.	Showcases your organization’s capacity to operate and maintain controls over time.

Automated Penetration Testing vs Manual Penetration Testing : Pros, Cons and Key differences

Why is SOC 2 Penetration Testing Important?

As you all know, the threat landscape is evolving with the tremendous growth in technological evolutions and inventions.

Penetration testing helps you to find threats even though it is not mandated in SOC2.

This is since the compliances such as SOC 2 and ISO mandates risk assessment periodically. However penetration testing helps to find threats which have higher impacts to your applications as well as business operations and reputation.

Beyond the compliance to regulatory requirements, it also helps ensure reliability, integrity and resilience upon the application and the service offered by your organization.

Given the emphasis on the availability of the systems, it helps greatly in uncovering and resolving risks which could lead to operational disruptions. This helps to ensure seamless business operations by uncovering the threats.

Achieving SOC 2 compliance in the highly competitive current technology environment provides a greater advantage to your entity over other enterprises. It signals clients and partners about the fact that your firm prioritizes cybersecurity and follows industry best practices without fail, giving a greater advantage.

The commitment to security is also a greater advantage when it comes to fostering trust among existing clients and stakeholders as well as newer ones.

SOC 2 Penetration Testing Requirements

Rather than being a mere standard security exercise, SOC 2 penetration testing is more of a structured process which mandates to align with the TSC (Trust Services Criteria).

Formerly known as Trust Services Principles, it is the control criteria that sets the foundation for assessing and documenting the operational effectiveness of the controls of your organization.

TSC is established by the ASEC (Assurance Services Executive Committee) of the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants).

It mainly focuses on the five pillars which are security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of the information in all its states including storage and processing.

While there is no fixed frequency, SOC 2 mandates assessment to be conducted regularly to demonstrate compliance to standard and ongoing security efforts. However, the majority of the organizations conduct tests once in a year or in cases of a system update, change in infrastructure, or when a new cyber threat emerges.

It also mandates penetration testing to be conducted by qualified-certified professionals only who may be an employee or an external agency.

The findings should be detailed well and must include the details related to the vulnerabilities and their severity, effective remediation recommendations, and evidence to comply with the SOC 2 criteria.

These reports are considered one of the most important artifacts during the SOC 2 audits.

Key Differences Between SOC 2 Penetration Testing and Regular Pen Testing

Despite both aiming to identify vulnerabilities, SOC 2 and regular penetration testing serves distinct purposes. SOC 2 penetration testing is primarily focused on helping the organization be in compliance with the SOC 2 framework.

Its scope is limited to systems and processes relating to compliance often since it is only concerned with validating the control effectiveness.

On the other hand, regular penetration testing is more exploratory and targets a wider range of vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, insecure APIs, and outdated software.

Additionally, the SOC 2 penetration testing is usually conducted annually or as part of an audit cycle. Whereas regular penetration testing is conducted often on an ad-hoc basis or periodically, whichever is the requirement based on the business needs.

Following are the major key differences between SOC 2 and regular penetration testing compiled into a table for your easier view.

Aspect	SOC 2 Penetration Testing	Regular Penetration Testing
Purpose	Compliance with SOC 2 and Trust Services Criteria.	Strengthen overall security by proactive vulnerability detection.
Scope	Systems and processes under SOC 2 mandates.	Networks, applications, or entire systems relating to business.
Focus Areas	Encryption and access control.	General weaknesses including insecure APIs and misconfigurations.
Methodology	Aligns with compliance frameworks (e.g., NIST, OWASP).	Exploratory approaches which simulate real-world attacks.
Deliverables	Report which is compliance-focused for SOC 2 audits.	Technical report that contains vulnerability findings, business risks, and remediation suggestions.
Frequency	Annually or during SOC 2 audit cycles usually.	Ad-hoc or along with routine checking.

Who Should Conduct SOC 2 Penetration Testing?

As with every other job, the effectiveness of SOC 2 penetration is indeed heavily related to the expertise of the professional tester who conducts the same.

A penetration tester is the one who conducts a pentest and not all are qualified to conduct this specialized task. This is since it needs a deeper understanding of a blend of cyber security practices along with the SOC 2 compliance requirements.

Choosing the right team of experts helps your organization to ensure accuracy in results, gain actionable insights, and to have a least head achy audit process.

As per expert opinions, it is advisable to look for testers with following certifications:

OSCP (Offensive Security Certified Professional)
CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker)
GPEN (GIAC Penetration Tester)

To meet and maintain the objectives of SOC 2 audit requirements, it is better to assign an independent third-party organization to perform the assessment. This is primarily since internal teams being familiar with the organization and the technical infrastructure, has a higher chance of lacking impartiality and to miss critical vulnerabilities.

An independent tester or agency will be able to provide you with unbiased results, ensure precise adherence to compliance mandates, and add credibility to the SOC 2 audit process.

How Often Should SOC 2 Penetration Testing Be Conducted?

Conducting SOC 2 penetration testing periodically is indeed critical for organizations who aim to maintain compliance and ensure robustness of the organizational security postures.

While there is no universally mandated timeline, performing tests at proper intervals are essential when it comes to addressing threats and ensuring the effectiveness of the control over time.

As a best practice, conduct at least once per year. It helps better to be up to date in threat resilience by protecting your assets even from the most recent vulnerabilities.

Apart from periodic assessments, SOC 2 penetration testing should be conducted when significant changes are introduced to the systems, networks, or applications.

Also, conducting the same immediately following any security incidents such as an attempt or the breach itself is good to have. This helps greatly to evaluate the effectiveness of the remediation efforts taken by your team and thereby ensure no residual vulnerabilities are left unattended.

The Role of SOC 2 Penetration Testing in Compliance Audits

SOC 2 penetration testing primarily has a pivotal role when it comes to compliance audits. Other than that, there are few key aspects where it plays a pivotal role in shaping your organization’s different aspects. They are as follows.

Validating the effectiveness of implemented security controls

As with other penetration testing endeavors SOC 2 evaluates the robustness of your organization’s security measures precisely. This helps you in two ways; one to understand your current posture and the next to analyse the gap towards fixing them better.

Evidence for compliance auditors

During SOC 2 audit, you are required to showcase proof that your systems meet the criteria mentioned. It should include the vulnerabilities detected along with risk associated, remedial measures as suggestions, and the necessary proofs as required.

Showcasing proactive approach to cybersecurity

Being proactive to ensure your business and its assets are secure from threats helps you prove goodwill your organization puts forth.

Reducing the gap between practice and policy

SOC 2 compliance asks organizations to align policies with the practical implementations. Effective penetration testing helps bridge the gap between practice and policies by evaluating the real world threats and to ensure controls mentioned in the reports are operationally effective.

Upholding client trust

Last but not least, the outcomes of SOC 2 penetration testing is not only satisfying compliance auditors. It helps greatly to reassure clients and stakeholders that your organization prioritizes data protection thereby strengthening the trust.

Best Practices for SOC 2 Penetration Testing

The effectiveness of SOC 2 penetration testing is heavily determined by how it is conducted. Following are a few of the best practices to make the audit process more efficient and improve the robustness of your organizational security posture.

Conduct periodic penetration testing

Conducting penetration tests on a regular basis helps new vulnerabilities be detected and addressed properly. It is also beneficial to ensure the effectiveness of security measures precisely.

Ensure comprehensive scoping

Well defined and complete scoping of the penetration test is very much crucial when it comes to defining its effectiveness. It should align well with the processes and systems when it comes to SOC 2.

Define clear objectives

Even though identification of vulnerabilities is the primary objective of penetration testing, it is not its only goal. SOC 2 penetration testing is also into evaluating effectiveness of your incidence response processes and security controls.

Engage third party testers

External agencies are the best when it comes to hunting down vulnerabilities in your applications and assets. This is since your internal team will be more familiar with your infrastructure and applications. Thereby there will be a greater chance that they might miss obvious vulnerabilities.

Ensure comprehensive documentation

Clear and comprehensive reports are as important as performing effective penetration testing. It helps simplify the audit process greatly and strengthens your organization’s compliance posture into a better state.

Challenges in SOC 2 Penetration Testing and How to Overcome Them

SOC 2 penetration testing greatly involves solving complex networks of compliance requirements, technical vulnerabilities, and operational limitations. Your organization must be able to anticipate these challenges and address them. This helps to ensure the penetration testing process is effective and better aligned with the SOC 2 guidelines.

Following are the expert analysis of the key challenges associated with the same.

Setting accurate scope

As it is crucial to set a more accurate scope of the penetration test, it is a critical yet challenging task. Being broader more than it is required dilutes the individual focus on vulnerabilities while making your organization spend unnecessary resources.

Balancing security and compliance objectives

SOC 2 penetration testing gives higher priority to being compliant. This brings a greater chance of overlooking threats which are not explicitly covered as per TSC (Trust Services Criteria).

Being adjusted to emerging vulnerabilities

Technology is growing so are the threats. The exponential emergence of new attack vectors and vulnerabilities had been making it harder for traditional security methodologies obsolete after a certain extent.

Acute talent shortage across the globe

SOC 2 penetration testing demands more of an integration of both expertise as well as understanding of the framework. It is a specialised skill which is not universally available among the penetration testers.

Budgetary and resource constraints

SOC 2 penetration testing often demands more breadth and in depth testing. Limited budget and resources often hinders the ability of organizations to meet the mandated level of threat resilience as per their guidelines.

Choosing the Right Penetration Testing Partner

As previously mentioned, it is ideal to choose an external penetration testing vendor to help your organization achieve SOC 2 compliance. This is since they will be more able to find vulnerabilities in your application and systems similar to how a threat actor would do.

The right penetration testing partner will not be just the one who identifies vulnerabilities. They will be more aligned with setting better strategies in safeguarding your sensitive information while ensuring readiness to the entire audit process.

How UprootSecurity Stands Out As Your Ideal SOC 2 Compliance Partner?

What your SOC 2 audit requirements demand and what our team meets are exactly the same – unmatched expertise from top 100 hackers across the world. Our dedicated compliance-driven testing approach helps ensure your security controls are in alliance with the industry benchmarks.

The one-shot and comprehensive report contains all the necessary information starting from actionable insights, remediation suggestions, and compliance mapping details.