The Essence of Compliance Testing
The objective of compliance testing, a type of non-functional testing, is to ascertain if the software tools comply with the requirements set by internal company policies or by external standards and laws that are enforced by organizations like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) or International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Reputational damage or even legal action may be triggered by violating the rules and regulations that your software or IT infrastructure components must follow. One of the most important steps in safeguarding your business against possible non-compliance threats is establishing a compliance testing program.
Who executes compliance testing?
Although very large companies can maintain in-house personnel to perform this task, most compliance checks are handled by third-party companies experienced in the rules and regulations applicable to your software. The highlights the significance of SOC 2 compliance services.
Benefits of Compliance Testing
Compliance test is not required for software testing life cycle. However, compliance testing has various advantages and enables a company to:
• Ensure that all the phases of the software development life cycle are performed in conformance with relevant standards, regulations, criteria, and norms.
• Verify that all project documents are correct and adequate.
• Check that no regulatory agencies will lodge any complaints about your program.
The compliance check ought to be conducted as soon as possible in the software development lifecycle and repeated within the life cycle of a project so that it can help to a greater extent. A compliance check also can assist in preparation for certification or audit before a software goes live.
5 Steps of Compliance Testing
There are a few essential elements for the successful implementation of compliance testing, regardless of whether it is carried out by an internal team or a contractor.
Determine the Requirements
The first thing about performing an effective compliance test is understanding the rules, guidelines, and standards that are in place for your target program. Most of the time, paperwork necessary to keep track of a project’s adherence to your company’s internal policies are created by the software development team. Sometimes, you’ll be asked to comply with government laws or industry standards. This is also depending on what kind of software you’re working with. For example, your software may have to comply with data protection regulations, such as the GDPR, in order to maintain the security of users.
Write a Checklist
To ensure that all software components will have an extensive and accurate assessment of compliance, the building of several checklists, corresponding to different stages in the life cycle of developing software, will be used as the next step.
Test
Compare each phase of development to the accepted standards and norms to locate any flaws and detect any variations or defects.
Draft a Report.
Present the findings to the developers who will make the necessary corrections, right after the evaluation process.
Repeat the Process
Lastly, perform follow-up re-verification to re-inspect the affected areas and present proof that the remediation worked.
Conclusion
A crucial step in the software development process is compliance testing. Regularly carrying out compliance testing guarantees that every phase of software development satisfies the necessary external and internal standards. SOC 2 Compliance services are among the most crucial compliance tests.
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) created the cybersecurity standards and recommendations known as SOC 2, or System and Organization Controls 2. It outlines the proper way for businesses that deal with private data or offer cloud-based services to handle customer information.
Independent third-party auditors do SOC 2 audits, assessing the organization’s security measures and producing a report based on the Trust Services Criteria (TSC) of the AICPA. Security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy are the five main elements that these criteria center on.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is SOC compliance?
A service organization that has successfully finished a third-party audit proving that it has specific controls in place is said to be in SOC compliance.
What is SOC 1, 2 and 3?
The goals of SOCs 1, 2, and 3 are distinct. SOC 1 concentrates on financial reporting, SOC 2 covers a wider variety of data management procedures, and SOC 3 offers a public-readable synopsis of the SOC 2 attestation report.
What are the 5 criteria of SOC 2?
When conducting an audit for SOC 2, a company will be assessed for five SOC 2 Trust Principles, also known as Trust Services Criteria (TSC): Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy.
Diginatives offers top notch SOC 2 compliance services. If you want similar services please contact us.
