Information security is crucial for your dealership because you are responsible for keeping your customers’ data safe, and a data breach could devastate your reputation. That means choosing vendors for digital document management, dealership management systems, and other solutions that have proven security measures in place.
SOC 2 compliance for the software vendors you rely on is critical because not every vendor puts a priority on data security. SOC 2 certified vendors, however, have proven that their ongoing data practices are suitable in the long run. Vendors need to pass detailed audits of their policies, procedures, and internal controls for each of the trusted principles to obtain the certification. The certification process, therefore, provides transparency into a vendor’s data security and management, so that you can have confidence that your customers are protected.
ADV’s SOC 2 certification means you can have peace of mind that we prioritize security and take careful precautions that your data is kept safe. Now your dealership can safely and reliably manage your documents digitally and finally eliminate the mountain of paper in your crowded file room.
What Is SOC 2?
SOC 2 is a set of compliance standards for managing sensitive data in the cloud. The American Institute of CPAs (AICPAs) created these rules to give companies confidence that third-party software vendors are protecting their customers’ data. Software vendors can have outside auditors assess how well they comply with these standards to achieve SOC 2 certification.
More specifically, there are five “trusted service” principles that auditors base their evaluation on: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. Here’s a detailed breakdown of what these principles actually mean.
1. SECURITY
The security principle describes how vendors defend against unauthorized access to their systems and data using firewalls, two-factor authentication, and other advanced security measures. This includes preventing damage to the system that could affect the vendor’s ability to comply with the other principles.
2. AVAILABILITY
The availability principle refers to the overall performance of the vendor’s system, and the procedures they put in place to ensure that the service is accessible. For most software vendors, this includes system monitoring, disaster recovery, data backups, and other measures for meeting their Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
3. PROCESSING INTEGRITY
The processing integrity principle evaluates whether the vendor’s data processes achieve their intended purpose in a complete, accurate, valid, authorized, and timely manner. This ensures that there are no errors, omissions, delays, or manipulations that indicate customer data is being compromised by the system itself.
4. CONFIDENTIALITY
The confidentiality principle is aimed at protecting and securing sensitive information such as intellectual property, personal information, and financial data. Vendors use encryption and access controls to make sure only authorized users can access certain information.
5. PRIVACY
The privacy principle is concerned with how vendors use, retain, disclose, and dispose of personally identifiable information (PII). This includes getting user consent for data collection, having transparent privacy policies, and making personal data available to the individual upon request.
Want to learn how ADV can digitize your operations while maintaining information security? Schedule a demo with one of our scanning consultants.
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