Product Security Sync - 2

SOC 2 Type II – U.S. SaaS trust standard, most common in procurement. Overview
ISO/IEC 27001 – International information security certification.
ISO/IEC 27701 – Privacy management (extension of ISO 27001).
FedRAMP Moderate – Required for U.S. federal agencies (very costly).
CMMC Level 2 – Required for Department of Defense vendors.
PCI DSS – Payment card security. Usually handled by Stripe/DOKU, but we must complete SAQ A (light version).
CSA STAR Certification – Cloud security certification, optional but globally recognized.

NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) – U.S. gov-favored baseline.
NIST SP 800-53 – Detailed control set for gov/regulated contracts.
CCPA/CPRA (California) – Mandatory if handling CA consumer data.
GDPR (EU) – Needed if expanding internationally.
CJIS Security Policy – For law enforcement data (utilities + police integrations).

Required / High Value (near-term):

SOC 2 Type II – Directly impacts U.S. utility/enterprise sales.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) – Provides a recognized U.S. baseline for risk management. We can align with this in parallel with SOC 2 since much of the work overlaps.
CCPA/CPRA Compliance – Mandatory for California users.
PCI DSS SAQ A – Light self-assessment since Stripe/DOKU handle payments.

Future (medium-term / strategic):

Conditional (only if customer requires):

FedRAMP, CMMC – Only if federal/DOD clients (very costly).
GDPR – Only when EU expansion starts.
CSA STAR – Optional badge for marketing.
NIST SP 800-53 – Only if specifically required by U.S. government/regulated customers.

Overlap Benefit:

Any SaaS or infra vendor we use must meet minimum baseline security:

SOC 2 Type II (preferred) or ISO/IEC 27001.
PCI DSS Level 1 (if processing payments, e.g., Stripe/DOKU).
GDPR & CCPA/CPRA compliance for analytics / customer data (e.g., PostHog, Workday).

[Detailed Document : (pending)]

~~Instead~~

Audit Firm: The SOC 2 audit must be performed by a licensed CPA firm accredited by the AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants).
Vendors (Vanta, Secureframe, Drata, etc.): These are compliance automation platforms, not auditors. They simplify evidence collection, monitoring, and readiness.
Final Deliverable: The SOC 2 report is always issued by an independent AICPA-accredited audit firm (the vendor usually partners with them).

Gap Analysis: Duration depends on current security maturity.
SOC 2 Type II: Requires a 3–12 month observation window (controls must be tested over time), then ~2–4 weeks for the audit report.
Exact timeline only clear after the gap analysis.

Automation: Vendors provide integrations with AWS, GCP, Azure, Jira, GitHub, etc. to continuously monitor controls and collect evidence.
GenAI: Limited use cases today—mainly for: (the vendors may charge extra for this, not clear from the plans)
- Policy drafting (templates & tailoring)
- Mapping controls to frameworks
- Vendor risk review (e.g., reading SOC reports of sub-processors)
Audit still human-led: AI does not replace the accredited auditor’s work.

Platform subscription (Vanta, Drata, Secureframe, etc.): ~$8k–$15k/year (depending on size, integrations, frameworks).
Audit cost (CPA firm): ~$10k–$20k/year (SOC 2 Type I is cheaper; Type II more expensive).
Total first-year spend: ~$18k–$35k (platform + audit).
Renewal: Similar annual spend (since SOC 2 Type II requires ongoing audits + subscription).

SOC 2 Report (Type I or Type II): The only official proof of certification, issued by an AICPA-accredited CPA firm.
Public use: SOC 2 reports contain sensitive details. Best practice is not to share publicly. Instead:
- Provide under NDA via security portal (e.g., Drata Trust Center, Vanta Trust Center).
- Share a SOC 3 report (summary version) if you want a public attestation.
What customers see: Usually a “We are SOC 2 Type II certified” statement on your site + the option to request the report.

Platforms (Vanta, Secureframe, Drata, etc.) act as a compliance OS, integrating with:
- Cloud infra (AWS, GCP, Azure)
- DevOps (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket)
- Ticketing (Jira, Linear) -> Plane in our case
- HR systems (BambooHR, Rippling) -> Keka in our case
They continuously collect & store evidence for the auditor, reducing manual ~~compliance,~~effort.

Most platforms start at ~$8k–$10k/year for early-stage startups.
Each vendor publicly lists customer logos and SOC 2 case studies (examples: Vanta → Notion, Lattice, Quora; Drata → Fivetran, Lemonade; Secureframe → AngelList, Lob).
These case studies are included in the detailed vendor comparison docs we’ve compiled.

What vendors offer -

vendors provide automation, templates, and auditor partnerships.

Vanta – SOC2, ISO27001/27017, PCI DSS, NIST CSF, NIST 800, FedRamp, AWS FTR, OFDSS, NIST AI RMF, NIS 2, CMMC, CJIS, TISAX,GDPR, HIPPA, CCPA/CPRA, ISO27701/27018, USDP (AI : https://www.vanta.com/products/ai))
Sprinto – SOC 2, ISO 27001,GDPR,HIPAA,PCI DSS,CMMC 2.0,NIST frameworks (e.g., controls implementation), ISO 27017, CIS, CSA STAR, FCRA, OFDSS, CCPA (AI : https://secureframe.com/features/ai)
Drata – SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, PCI DSS, ISO 27701, CSA STAR. (AI: https://youtu.be/RgTTp9f9pwE )
Scytale – SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, CCPA, NIST CSF, CMMC. (AI: http://scytale.ai/ai-agent/)
Scrut- 60+ Frameworks including SOC, ISO, NIST

Audit Costs (independent of vendor subscription):

Vendor Subscriptions (automation tools):

Baseline Today: ~$640/~~month~~.month.

Minimal SOC 2 setup: +$416–$521 → $1,056–$1,161/~~month~~.month.
With Cross-Region DR: +$566–$701 → $1,206–$1,341/~~month~~.month.
Optional heavy add-on: AWS Shield Advanced $3k/month (only if contractually required).