Glossary term
SOC 2 Type 2
Also: Service Organization Control 2, SOC 2 Type II
Audit report by a US public accountant under AICPA SSAE 18 standard, confirming the operating effectiveness of a service organisation's controls over a period (typically 6-12 months). Refers to Trust Service Criteria.
SOC 2 distinguishes Type 1 (design at a point in time) from Type 2 (operating effectiveness over a period). Trust Service Criteria: Security (mandatory), Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, Privacy.
De facto validity 12 months, then follow-up audit. Report not public but available under NDA. Standard in the US cloud market, often additionally combined with C5 Type 2 in the EU banking market.
In practice
In vendor selection: SOC 2 Type 2 is the minimum baseline for SaaS providers. Without the report, a vendor typically fails the DORA Art. 28 eligibility assessment.
Related terms
ISO 27001
International standard for information security management systems. Current version ISO/IEC 27001:2022. Certifiable through accredited bodies. Core framework for ISMS implementation, risk treatment, continuous improvement.
BSI C5
Cloud audit catalogue of the German BSI that defines minimum security baseline and transparency duties. Evidenced via an ISAE 3000 C5 attestation. De facto standard for cloud procurement in the German market.
SASE
Gartner architecture category combining network (SD-WAN) and security functions (SWG, CASB, ZTNA, FWaaS, RBI) on a single cloud platform. SSE is the variant without SD-WAN.
SBOM
Machine-readable inventory of all components in a software incl. versions, licences and dependencies. Formats: SPDX, CycloneDX, SWID. Mandatory in regulated areas; in the US driven by Executive Order 14028.
Schrems II
CJEU ruling of 16 July 2020 that invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield and only allowed Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) under additional safeguards. Consequence: third-country data transfers need a Transfer Impact Assessment (TIA) plus additional protective measures.
SIEM (Security Information and Event Management)
A platform that centralises security logs, enables long-term retention, runs correlation rules and supports investigation. SIEM is the evidence layer under EDR, XDR and SOC operations and the single largest line item in most security budgets.
Sovereign cloud
A cloud deployment model that guarantees operational, legal and technical control of data and workloads within a specific jurisdiction (typically the EU). Sovereign cloud answers the concern that hyperscaler deployments remain exposed to foreign jurisdiction, primarily the US CLOUD Act.
SSE
Subset of SASE without SD-WAN. Bundles SWG, CASB, ZTNA and (increasingly) DLP/RBI in a cloud platform. Stand-alone Gartner Magic Quadrant exists.