Tag: SAS 70

  • 5 Keys to Understanding a SOC 2 Report

    Although I have written about these relatively new reports frequently, and for some time now, it still remains a topic of great interest to financial institutions.  Fully 20% of all searches on this site over the past 6 months include the terms “SOC” or “SOC 2”, or “SAS 70”.  Some of this increased interest comes…

  • FFIEC Handbook Update – SAS 70 Transition

    The FFIEC has just updated their online IT Examination InfoBase to address the AICPA phase-out of the SAS 70 reporting format.  All references to “SAS 70” have now been replaced, and the SAS 70 sections of the Audit and Information Security Handbooks have been completely removed.  Previously there were a total of 31 references to…

  • 2012 Compliance Trends, Part 2 – Vendor Management

    In my first post in this series I discussed training (employee and customer) as a good candidate for increased regulatory scrutiny in 2012.  Although these posts are in no particular order, I had initially intended to list “Management” as the next trend.  However a comment made to me by a banker at a recent conference…

  • SOC 2 vs. SAS 70 – 5 reasons to embrace the change

    The SOC 2 and SOC 3 audit guides have recently been released by the AICPA, and the SAS 70 phase-out becomes effective tomorrow.  The more I learn about these new reports the more I like them.  First of all, as a service provider to financial institutions we will have to prepare for this engagement (just…

  • Vendor Management and the SAS 70 Replacement

    I’ve written about the replacement for the SAS 70, which officially phases out on June 15th, previously.  But because this one report is being replaced with 3 new reports, financial institutions have an additional challenge that they didn’t have before.  Your vendor management program must now determine the most appropriate report to request based on…

  • SOC Report Selection & Evaluation Aids

    With the SAS 70 phasing out on 6/15, financial institutions have a dual challenge; determining the best report to request, and evaluating the report they are provided.  To assist with this challenge, I’ve created two documents. The first, or Step 1, is a SOC Selection Flowchart, which is available here.  This will assist in determining…