SOC 2 Compliance Checklist: The Developer's Practical Guide
SOC 2 is the compliance framework that enterprise customers ask about first. But for developers, the standard is written in auditor language that is hard to map to actual technical controls. This guide translates SOC 2 Trust Service Criteria into a practical checklist of things you need to implement, monitor, and document.
What Is SOC 2?
SOC 2 (Service Organization Control 2) is a compliance framework developed by the AICPA that evaluates how organizations protect customer data. It is not a certification — it is an audit report that attests to the design and operating effectiveness of your security controls over a period of time.
SOC 2 Type I
Evaluates the design of controls at a single point in time. Answers: “Are the right controls in place?”
- Faster to achieve (4–8 weeks)
- Good starting point
- Snapshot assessment
SOC 2 Type II
Evaluates the operating effectiveness of controls over 3–12 months. Answers: “Do the controls actually work?”
- Required by most enterprises
- Continuous evidence needed
- Stronger trust signal
The Five Trust Service Criteria
Security (CC)
Protection against unauthorized access. This is the only required TSC — all SOC 2 reports must include it. Covers access control, encryption, monitoring, and incident response.
Availability (A)
System uptime and disaster recovery. Covers SLAs, backup procedures, capacity planning, and business continuity.
Processing Integrity (PI)
Data processing is complete, valid, accurate, and authorized. Covers input validation, error handling, and output reconciliation.
Confidentiality (C)
Protection of confidential information. Covers data classification, encryption, access restrictions, and secure disposal.
Privacy (P)
Handling of personal information per privacy notices. Covers collection, use, retention, disclosure, and disposal of PII.
The Developer's SOC 2 Checklist
Security Controls
Availability Controls
Confidentiality & Privacy Controls
Automating SOC 2 Evidence Collection
The hardest part of SOC 2 is not implementing controls — it is proving they work continuously. Type II audits require evidence that controls operated effectively over the entire observation period. Manual evidence collection (screenshots, spreadsheets) does not scale. Modern teams automate evidence collection using:
CSPM for Cloud Controls
Continuous cloud scanning produces audit-ready evidence of encryption settings, IAM policies, network rules, and logging configuration across AWS, GCP, and Azure.
eBPF for Runtime Evidence
Runtime monitoring provides continuous evidence of binary execution control, file integrity, network monitoring, privilege management, and secrets protection.
CI/CD Pipeline Logs
SAST, SCA, and container scan results from every build provide evidence of vulnerability management and secure development practices.
Identity Provider Logs
SSO and MFA enforcement logs from your identity provider (Okta, Azure AD) provide evidence of access control and authentication policies.
Automate SOC 2 Compliance with TigerGate
TigerGate maps your security controls to SOC 2 Trust Service Criteria automatically. eBPF runtime monitoring and CSPM provide continuous compliance evidence — no more screenshots.