SOC 2 Type II Readiness: The Technical Security Controls Checklist

For fast-growing SaaS startups, securing SOC 2 Type II compliance is essential to close enterprise contracts. Unlike a Type I audit (which checks design at a single point in time), Type II audits assess the operational effectiveness of your controls over a period (3-12 months).

Use this technical checklist to prepare your infrastructure:

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1. Access Control Controls (CC6.1-CC6.3)

• [ ] Enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on AWS/GCP console accounts.
• [ ] Implement single sign-on (SSO) for identity management.
• [ ] Configure automatic session termination on internal portals after 15 minutes of inactivity.

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2. Infrastructure Hardening & VAPT (CC6.6-CC6.8)

• [ ] Schedule manual VAPT penetration testing at least once a year.
• [ ] Set up automated vulnerability scanners (like Trivy or Snyk) inside the CI/CD pipelines.
• [ ] Ensure all private storage buckets (S3/GCS) have uniform bucket-level access enabled.

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3. Operations & System Auditing (CC7.1-CC7.3)

• [ ] Centralize application logs (success/failure auth attempts) to AWS CloudWatch or GCP Cloud Logging.
• [ ] Set up alert notifications for anomalous IAM modifications or security group changes.