COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORKS | PCI DSS vs SOC 2
PCI DSS vs SOC 2: Key Differences for Financial and Tech Companies
Navigating data compliance is like trying to pick from just two completely different security language options. One little mistake on the security side of the house could either halt a major enterprise transaction or result in heavy regulatory fines. Getting to grips with PCI DSS vs SOC 2 regulatory systems enables a business to create a compliance strategy that scales rather than becoming overwhelmed by the mountain of administrative audits. Even though both systems certify that your company follows the rules when it comes to internal security, their intended business use is different from each other. The regulatory aspects related to these two, i.e. PCI DSS vs SOC 2, are completely different in the area they cover, how they are enforced, and the technological openness they provide.
In this comprehensive guide, we highlight the differences so that your engineering team can plan and allocate its resources efficiently.
Table of Contents
- What Is PCI DSS? An Overview for Financial and Tech Firms
- What Is SOC 2? An Overview for SaaS and Tech Organizations
- PCI DSS vs SOC 2: Direct Comparison Matrix
- Core Operational Differences: Scope, Flexibility, and Testing
- Do You Need PCI DSS, SOC 2, or Both?
- Practical Implementation Steps for Dual Compliance
- Key Takeaways
- Achieve Continuous Compliance with Univate Solutions
What Is PCI DSS? An Overview for Financial and Tech Firms
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a rigid, technical setup developed mainly by big credit card issuers such as Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. Evaluating the PCI DSS vs SOC 2 differences in their starting points reveals that PCI DSS is dedicated exclusively to Cardholder Data (CHD) and Sensitive Authentication Data (SAD) protection.
Main Traits of PCI DSS
Licensed Mandate: The requirement to comply with PCI DSS is enforced contractually for all entities that are involved in storing, processing, or transmitting cardholder information.
Prescriptive Technical Standards: The standard brings guidelines for the technical aspects, including mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) and specifying password length.
Introduction of new ideas in PCI DSS v3.2 to v4.0: One of the updates that comes with the v4.0 version of PCI DSS is the requirement for e-commerce merchants to perform a more in-depth analysis of risk exposure and implement script monitoring at a higher frequency than the previous levels.
Imposition & Penalties: If an entity does not conform to PCI DSS rules, it is at risk of being penalized by the acquiring banks through hefty monthly fees, being subjected to higher merchant service fees, or losing its rights of being able to accept card payments altogether.
What Is SOC 2? An Overview for SaaS and Tech Organizations
System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) is a versatile auditing system created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The differences between PCI DSS vs SOC 2 approaches are evident: SOC 2 determines how well a cloud company handles customer data as per certain Trust Services Criteria.
Key features of SOC 2
Trust Services Criteria (TSC): based on Security (the mandatory Common Criteria), availability, confidentiality, Processing Integrity, and Privacy.
Type I versus. Type II Attestation: Type I focuses on control design for a particular point in time, whereas Type II measures control operation for a period (e.g. 3 to 12 months).
Attestation, not Certification: A report of examination and an attestation is given out from an independent CPA firm, rather than a pass or fail certificate.
Buying Customers-Driven Scope: B2B SaaS customers regularly require SOC 2 Type II reports during vendor risk assessments before they sign an enterprise contract.
PCI DSS vs SOC 2: Direct Comparison Matrix
Leadership teams may more efficiently allocate security funds by comparing the structural components of PCI DSS and SOC 2.
Framework Comparison Breakdown
| Feature / Metric | PCI DSS (v4.0) | SOC 2 (Type I / Type II) |
|---|---|---|
| Governing Body | Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) | American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) |
| Primary Focus | Credit card data and payment processing systems | Overall cloud system security, availability, and data privacy |
| Target Data | Cardholder Data (CHD) & Sensitive Authentication Data (SAD) | All customer data stored or processed by a SaaS/cloud platform |
| Flexibility Level | Highly prescriptive with explicit technical rules | Highly flexible; controls align with internal risk profiles |
| Validation Method | Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) or Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) audit | Audit conducted by an independent licensed CPA firm |
| Enforcement | Mandatory contract terms from payment networks | Market-driven demand from enterprise B2B buyers |
Core Operational Differences: Scope, Flexibility, and Testing
Becoming acquainted with the operational subtleties of PCI DSS vs SOC 2 setups will eliminate audit surprises.
Main Differences in Design
Coverage areas: PCI DSS relates only to your Cardholder Data Environment (CDE), while SOC 2 encompasses your whole cloud infrastructure, staff, and business processes.
Risk Mitigation Strategy: PCI DSS lays down specific technical requirements: quarterly vulnerability scanning and automating the log monitoring processes. SOC 2 on the other hand, it offers a chance for you to illustrate how your current practices meet the Trust Services Principles requirements.
Frequency Audits: the PCI DSS certification happens on an annual basis, and there are some quarterly tasks to do. SOC 2 Type II but needs ongoing monitoring of controls throughout a prolonged period.
Data Collection: in contrast with PCI DSS vs SOC 2 assessment, it is demonstrated that PCI DSS has rigidly defined configuration screenshots, which is opposite to SOC 2 that heavily depends on the history of changes in documents and tickets.
Do You Need PCI DSS, SOC 2, or Both?
If your main product offering is a service or a product that relies on a revenue model, you can identify where your business position lies within the PCI DSS vs SOC 2 spectrum.
Scenarios for Your Decision-Making
If you run your own payment gateway, take credit cards directly, or store payment data for customers, then you are not only required to implement and adhere to PCI DSS compliance, but also, you will have to produce a report for SOC 2 to demonstrate that your customers' data is protected. Besides that, both standards will need to be satisfied.
B2B SaaS Products: in case you provide a payment processor like Stripe or Adyen through integration without handling customer card numbers, SOC 2 Type II plus a simple PCI DSS SAQ-A form will be enough to get your customers to trust you.
E-Com Brands: the checkout page of a retail site will trigger the need for PCI DSS compliance because credit card numbers are stored or processed at that point. A SOC 2 type will most likely not be required unless there is a market platform element to the company.
Hosting & Data centres: it is not surprising that enterprises will expect cloud providers and data centres to have the full set of controls covering aspects like physical security, logical access, etc., i.e. PCI DSS compliance besides a SOC 2 report.
Practical Implementation Steps for Dual Compliance
Companies working through the PCI DSS vs SOC 2 systems will see a decrease in redundant manual work.
The Implementation Checklist
Create a Physical Isolation of Your Cardholder Data (CDE): PCI scope reduction can be achieved by using tokenization & network segmentation to reduce audit costs.
Find the best Common Security Controls: find the areas of overlap, like multi-factor authentication, centralized logging, and access reviews, that can satisfy the requirements of both standards together.
Getting the right system of Evidence Collection: continuous compliance platforms can be used to automatically collect cloud infrastructure configuration snapshots.
Make an Integrated Set of Information Security Policies: having a centralized security documentation that is at the same time sufficient for both PCI DSS administrative requirements and the SOC 2 Common Criteria standards.
Key Takeaways
Target Data Distinctions
A comparison of PCI DSS vs SOC 2 reveals that PCI DSS is centered around the protection of credit card information, whereas SOC 2 deals with the security of the cloud in general and data privacy.
Prescriptive vs. Flexible
PCI DSS is a very rigid set of rules that require the implementation of very specific technical measures, whereas SOC 2 is a more adaptable compliance setup that allows individual companies, after an evaluation of their risk profiles, to devise their own control systems.
Enforcement Drivers
Payment card industry (PCI) standards are enforced by various network operators who require companies to be PCI compliant in exchange for card services. SOC is not a regulation. A company can choose to provide a SOC report to satisfy an internal audit need or to demonstrate compliance to a regulatory body or an external company requesting such a report. SOC 2 reports are typically requested by the end users as proof of cloud service providers' security controls implementation and their continuous monitoring.
Scope Optimization
The strategy of segmenting your payment processing environment can help you to reduce the volume of data that needs to be processed and secured for PCIe compliance purposes without limiting your ability to expand or reengineer your SOC compliance program boundary.
Dual Alignment
Identifying shared requirements for access control and logging allows engineering organizations to eliminate unnecessary or duplicated work when preparing for combined audits.
Achieve Continuous Compliance with Univate Solutions
Dealing with multiple cybersecurity requirements and regulations should help your company grow faster and not hinder your team from delivering the product. This is exactly what Univate Solutions does: helping tech entrepreneurs, software companies and financial innovations get through different compliance requirements without the fear of failing a compliance audit. Having a clear understanding of the differences between PCI DSS vs SOC 2, they guide their clients to develop a secure cloud infrastructure. Univate brings an entire compliance solution from the definition of the compliance scope to audit-ready compliance documentation.
Besides providing the necessary tools and expertise to achieve compliance standards like PCI DSS v4.0 or SOC 2 Type II, or developing a compliance plan of action, they also give a full package service that combines security compliance with your organization's technology and business specifics. Univate Solutions can help your company to avoid the long periods of audit preparation and the delays caused by that and so speed up your business expansion at the same time.
TALK TO A COMPLIANCE CONSULTANT
