Asset Panda SOC 2 Compliance: What Is It & How Does It Protect Your Data?

For the majority of businesses, conducting operations over the internet is the most modern and efficient solution. However, managing cloud-based applications presents novel security concerns. Data breaches can affect even the largest and most high-profile companies, leading to negative news coverage, expensive legal resolutions, and loss of customer trust.

How do organizations know which third-party solutions they can trust with their data?

This precise challenge sparked the invention of Systems and Organization Controls 2. Called SOC 2 for short, it is a security framework that outlines the methods Software as a Service (SaaS) companies should use to protect their clients’ data, as well as a system for auditing how successfully they are reaching this goal. By choosing SOC 2-compliant solutions, which have been independently audited and certified, businesses can be confident in their third-party vendors.

Asset Panda maintains SOC 2 compliance, demonstrating that it has implemented strong security controls for protecting customer data. SOC 2 compliance helps customers evaluate Asset Panda as a secure, enterprise-ready asset management platform.

Key Takeaways

• Systems and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) is a cybersecurity framework and auditing program that outlines and oversees best practices for protecting data.
• SOC 2 Type 1 compliance is determined during a short-term audit. SOC 2 Type 2 compliance is determined during a continuous audit lasting six months.
• Asset Panda is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, which means it has been independently audited according to the SOC 2 guidelines over a six-month period.
• SOC 2 is a voluntary framework, which means SaaS companies that achieve compliance have passed an independent third-party audit.

What Does It Mean to Be SOC 2 Compliant?

SOC 2 compliance was created by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) in 2010, at the beginning of the cloud computing age. Since then, it has become the de facto standard for ensuring whether a cloud-based solution can be trusted with private data.

When a vendor has a SOC 2 compliance certificate, that means it has voluntarily allowed SOC 2 to conduct an independent audit. During the auditing process, SOC 2 grades technology companies according to five established Trust Services Criteria:

• Security. This audit determines how a solution defends customer data, whether through firewalls, intrusion protection, and/or user authentication measures.
• Availability. This audit checks whether the solution provides uninterrupted service with minimal downtime, making it reliable to both service providers and clients.
• Processing Integrity. This is an audit for investigating whether there are any errors or bugs in system processes; in short, that the solution does what it promises to do.
• Confidentiality. This audit ensures that data is only accessible to those with the proper credentials and permissions.
• Privacy. Finally, this audit checks how data is stored and used. If the solution shares customer data with any third parties, it examines how and why.

Once a software solution undergoes these voluntary audits, SOC 2 delivers an audit report evaluating how the software performs and whether there are any changes that need to be implemented before the solution is compliant. Here are the four types of reports:

• Unqualified. The software solution passed the audit.
• Qualified. The software solution passed the audit, with some recommended changes.
• Adverse. The software solution failed the audit.
• Disclaimer of Opinion. The auditor was unable to gather enough evidence to determine whether the software solution passed or failed.

How Asset Panda Meets SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance

There are two types of SOC 2 compliance: Type 1 and Type 2. To achieve Type 1 compliance, SOC 2 will conduct a short-term audit of the cloud vendor and guarantee compliance at a single point in time. To achieve Type 2 compliance, a vendor must undergo a long-term audit over six months. Type 1 is easier to achieve than Type 2 because it is a shorter process. A Type 1 audit is akin to a snapshot, while you can think of Type 2 as more like a movie.

Asset Panda is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant, meaning it has undergone—and passed—SOC 2’s voluntary six-month audit. Throughout that period, SOC 2 found that Asset Panda’s software met or exceeded security standards according to the five Trust Services Criteria. Here are some of the key ways Asset Panda reduces risk for users and clients:

Data Security

All customer data that passes through Asset Panda, whether in transit or at rest, remains continuously encrypted. It becomes decrypted only when a user with the correct permissions requests to view it. Asset Panda determines whether a user is credentialed with the help of AWS Key Management Service, which helps to define policies according to the industry’s best practices.

Application Security

In order for Asset Panda to maintain SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, the company didn’t simply undergo one six-month audit years ago and forget about it. In reality, third-party security experts periodically monitor Asset Panda to ensure it continues to meet best practices. Through audits, code reviews, and penetration tests, these periodic evaluations ensure that Asset Panda remains secure over the long term.

Infrastructure Security

The same way that organizations trust Asset Panda to do what it does best so they don’t have to, Asset Panda entrusts Amazon Web Services with its hosting services, complete with a full suite of security tools, including KMS, GuardDuty, Inspector, Macie, IAM Access Analyzer, Systems Manager, Patch Manager, and Firewall Manager. Together, they provide more robust security than an in-house DIY solution.

Download our free white paper:
Why Cloud-Based Asset Management is Key for Safety & Efficiency

SOC 2-Compliant Asset Management

Your organization relies on its assets to conduct mission-critical tasks every day. That means the software you use to categorize and manage those assets needs to be just as reliable as the assets themselves. The best way to feel confident in the software you’ve chosen is to opt for a solution that can guarantee its security with SOC 2 compliance.

Asset Panda’s SOC 2 compliance is one of its biggest advantages. It means that customers looking for a secure software solution don’t need to take Asset Panda’s word for it: they can rest assured that a highly respected security framework has evaluated Asset Panda independently. What’s more, they can be assured that repeated, voluntary audits continue to maintain Asset Panda’s SOC 2 compliance over the long term.

When you’re looking for a SaaS company that will protect your data according to industry best practices, make sure to request SOC 2 documentation from that company before you hit the buy button. Review Asset Panda's SOC 2 certification and connect with a solution specialist to see our secure asset management software in action.