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The Basics of SOC Reports: A Practical Guide to Security and Compliance

[
10 Dec 2025
]
By
Orit Benzaquen

This article, part 1 of Penti’s “Knowledge Base Series,” provides a brief overview of SOC reports, including what is a SOC report, who creates them, and how they benefit organizations. Already familiar with SOC Reports? You can hop into our article about determining what kind of SOC report your organization needs "SOC 1 vs SOC 2").

What are SOC Reports?

To start with the basics, SOC (pronounced “sock”) stands for System and Organization Controls, also known as service organization controls report or service organization control. In business, a SOC document is used to provide assurance about an organizations internal controls, SOC compliance report, and SOC report security. Organizations do not generate SOC reports themselves; they are created after a third-party auditor conducts a financial audit and evaluates the operating effectiveness of controls.

Auditors examine SOC controls, including soc 1 service organization and soc 2 security, organization controls, and security controls that protect customer data and organization data protection controls. The SOC report summarizes the results of attestation, testing, and assessment over a period of time or at a point in time, depending on the types of SOC reports requested. SOC reports meaning and definition are clarified in this section to help organizations understand the purpose of these reports.

If an organization wants to achieve SOC compliance, they must first meet “trust services criteria.” These criteria, established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts, include the following:

  • Security
  • Availability
  • Processing Integrity
  • Confidentiality
  • Privacy

Penti helps organizations meet trust services criteria by assessing and strengthening their “cybersecurity posture” with AI-enabled automated scans, manual penetration testing, and preparation for various compliance frameworks. (“Cybersecurity posture” refers to the overall strength of an organizations controls, protocols, and defense against cyberattacks.) Organizations receive guidance on best practices, SOC report controls, and organization's controls for service financial data to ensure internal controls and financial reporting are accurate and secure. This also helps users understand the organization's controls and provides additional assurance to management and customers. (See how Disco, acquired by Culture Amp, achieved continuous compliance with Penti.)

Why are SOC Reports Valuable?

Understanding what is SOC report used for is essential: SOC reporting helps demonstrate SOC integrity, effectiveness of controls, and organization data protection controls to customers, management, and stakeholders. It also mitigates risk by ensuring internal controls, financial audit processes, and SOC compliance are followed.

If your organization has encountered more companies requiring compliance certification, here’s why: data breaches, including identity theft, ransomware, and hacker attacks, hit an all-time high in 2023 for U.S. organizations. The statistics are staggering: “98% of organizations have a relationship with a vendor that experienced a data breach within the last two years.” A SOC report provides a document that shows how an organizations controls protect relevant financial statements, customer data, and organizations controls. So, it is not a matter of “if” your company will get targeted, but “when.” And it’s possible that it already happened.

Organizations that value responsibility and accountability should be proactive about protecting themselves and their customers. But how does an organization go about doing this? One option is to undergo a third-party audit (described above), which would generate a SOC report. The yield of such an assessment could help organizations identify and address any systemic inconsistencies and vulnerabilities, potentially avoiding data breaches and significant financial losses. This process also allows a specific auditor to evaluate effectiveness of controls and compliance.

A more immediate option, which you can try right now, is Penti’s free website header scan which can help test for SOC controls, enhancing SOC compliance and organization data protection controls. This scan checks the seven most common website header vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit to inject malicious code, disable your website, and steal your customers’ data.

According to the aforementioned report, “The number of ransomware attacks was two and a half times higher in September 2023 compared to September 2022,” and this upward trend will continue in 2024. The best course of action is to be proactive rather than reactive to lessen the risk of jeopardizing your business, customers, and reputation.

FAQ About SOC Reports

What is a SOC report?

A SOC report is a system and organization controls report used to assess organization controls, SOC compliance, and SOC report security.

What is SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3?

SOC 1 report focuses on financial reporting, SOC 2 report evaluates security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy, while SOC 3 is a public-friendly summary.

What does SOC stand for in audit?

SOC stands for System and Organization Controls, also referred to as service organization control or service organization controls report.

Who needs a SOC report?

Organizations handling customer data, financial data, or providing services where trust, security controls, and SOC compliance are required may need a SOC report.

What's the difference between a SOC 1 and SOC 2 report?

SOC 1 reports evaluate internal controls over financial reporting, while SOC 2 reports focus on security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.

What are SOC controls?

SOC controls are internal controls used to ensure data security, financial reporting accuracy, compliance, and adherence to trust services criteria. SOC controls are also evaluated during user assessment and testing.

How long is a SOC report valid?

SOC reports may cover a point in time or a period of time, depending on the types of SOC reports and the auditor’s assessment.

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