Voice-Enabled Devices and Data Privacy: Lessons Learned from Amazon

by Sarah Harvey / December 16, 2022

“Alexa, what’s the weather like in Nashville today?” Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, the Google Assistant – the list of voice assistants and voice-enabled devices seems to just keep growing. “Hey Google, could you set an alarm for 8:00 AM tomorrow?” Their basic goal is to make our lives easier, right? Through voice assistants’ language processing abilities, they can complete all types of tasks – stream music, set an alarm, take…

SOC 2 Academy: Registering Internal and External Users

by Joseph Kirkpatrick / December 16, 2022

Common Criteria 6.2 When a service organization undergoes a SOC 2 audit, auditors will validate that they comply with the common criteria listed in the 2017 SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria. Common criteria 6.2 says, “Prior to issuing system credentials and granting system access, the entity registers and authorizes new internal and external users whose access is administered by the entity. For those users whose access is administered by the…

SOC 2 Academy: How to Perform a Thorough Inventory

by Joseph Kirkpatrick / May 31, 2023

Common Criteria 6.1 When a service organization undergoes a SOC 2 audit, auditors will verify whether they comply with the common criteria listed in the 2017 SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria. Common criteria 6.1 says, “The entity implements logical access security software, infrastructure, and architectures over protected information assets to protect them from security events to meet the entity’s objectives.” While we have discussed many points of focus that organizations…

SOC 2 Academy: Additional Points of Focus for Logical Access

by Joseph Kirkpatrick / May 31, 2023

Common Criteria 6.1 While not requirements, points of focus are meant to serve as references to assist organizations when they are designing, implementing, operating, and evaluating controls over security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy. When it comes to implementing logical access controls, there are some additional points of focus that will help organizations ensure that their information security systems remain secure. Let’s take a look at how these additional…

Remote Auditing vs. Onsite Assessments: What Do I Want?

by Sarah Harvey / June 14, 2023

There’s a lot to consider when choosing an audit partner. What does their audit process look like? What kind of services do they offer? How will they help you reach your audit objectives? How much do they charge? Will they perform a remote audit or an onsite assessment? While these are all valid concerns, organizations also have to consider their own intentions behind pursing compliance: is it required to partner…