Navigating SOC Compliance in AWS: Best Practices for Secure Cloud Operations

By Wolk Technology • • 1 min read

Many Australian organisations rely on cloud-based services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) to store and manage sensitive business data. If you’re considering moving your business operations to the cloud, it’s essential to understand and follow top security and audit frameworks.

One widely recognised standard is System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2), an internationally acknowledged framework initially developed in the United States. Learn about the best practices for SOC compliance and how the AWS experts at WOLK can help you navigate them.

The Main Objectives of SOC Compliance

SOC 2 covers five principles called Trust Services Criteria (TSC), which outline its main benefits, including:

  • *Security. *Keeping sensitive data safe from unauthorised access at rest, when accessed, transferred, or deleted.

  • *Availability. *Ensuring your organisation’s data resources are always accessible by maximising uptime and implementing data backup and disaster recovery measures.

  • *Processing integrity. *Implementing measures to verify sensitive business data is complete, accurate, valid, and processed correctly.

  • *Confidentiality. *Verifying that confidential business information, such as intellectual property or financial information, is protected through access controls and user privilege systems.

  • *Privacy. *Protecting personal information, as defined in the Privacy Act 1988, from breaches, unauthorized access, or damage, such as healthcare information

Organisations using AWS benefit from Amazon’s Shared Responsibility Model, which ensures that AWS infrastructure and core software meet SOC compliance standards. However, businesses must also ensure that their data, applications, and resources hosted on AWS servers comply with SOC requirements.