Many security regulations include specific requirements for vulnerability management. This ensures that the organization is taking steps to continuously improve its security risk profile and close security gaps when they occur.
The PCI-DSS and SOC 2 frameworks are frequently encountered by organizations pursuing regulatory compliance. Each one includes requirements for vulnerability management, but in different contexts.
Comparing PCI-DSS vs. SOC 2
In order to compare the vulnerability management requirements of each compliance framework, it’s important to distinguish between each framework’s objective and scope. This helps contextualize the requirements each one has.
The main difference between PCI-DSS and SOC 2 is that one is a legally mandated compliance standard while the other is a voluntary certification standard. Any organization that wants to process credit card transactions must adhere to PCI-DSS or face steep fines. SOC 2 certification is entirely optional.
What is PCI-DSS?
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard establishes a standard set of security policies for handling credit card information. It is maintained by an industry council made up of major credit companies like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and others.
The standard provides guidance on how organizations should protect cardholder data throughout the transaction lifecycle. It also establishes expectations on how the organization secures its infrastructure against cyberattacks. Vulnerability management is one of the areas in which PCI-DSS stipulates specific requirements.
What is SOC 2?
SOC 2 is a certification standard maintained by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It evaluates organizations according to five trust services criteria: security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy. Vulnerability management has a role to play in each of these criteria.
There are two types of SOC 2 certification:
- SOC 2 Type I certification shows that an organization met stringent compliance requirements at one point in time.
- SOC 2 Type II certification shows compliance over time, with regular audits showing continued success.
How Vulnerability Management Fits into PCI-DSS and SOC 2 Compliance
Both compliance frameworks include requirements for vulnerability management. Organizations can’t achieve compliance without committing resources to discovering, assessing, and remediating vulnerabilities in a timely manner.
Here are some of the ways both security standards align in terms of vulnerability management:
- Both standards require organizations to maintain a secure IT environment.
- Both standards require organizations to create a documented security policy.
- Both standards require regular assessment and monitoring of security measures.
- Both standards require security teams to adopt formal incident detection and response workflows.
- Both standards require organizations to implement a comprehensive risk management program.
- Both standards require organizations to provide security training to employees.
Let’s take a closer look at the vulnerability management requirements of each compliance framework.
PCI-DSS Vulnerability Management Requirements
PCI-DSS requires organizations to implement a variety of security measures, like data encryption, access control, and continuous monitoring of security threats. You must select your vulnerability scanning tool from a list of approved scanning vendors and use the tool according to a strict set of requirements.
For example, PCI-DSS requires organizations to show four successful vulnerability scans at least once every three months. If the organization doesn’t show at four “clean” or “passing” scans in the last twelve months, it risks losing compliance.
A passing scan report typically contains the following:
- An attestation by an approved vendor.
- No detected configurations that result in automatic failure — like unchanged default login credentials or other obvious mistakes.
- No external vulnerabilities with a CVSS score of 4.0 or higher.
- All internal vulnerabilities have been resolved through penetration testing.
Keep in mind that doesn’t mean your organization should only run four vulnerability scans per year. It means you will have to invest in scanning, patching, and rescanning vulnerabilities on a constant basis, making sure to produce one clean scan every quarter.
That means your organization will likely need to conduct more than the minimum number of scans and may need to commit additional security expertise to remediating vulnerabilities quickly. This ensures you can obtain a clean scan before your security posture changes and your scans no longer pass.
SOC 2 Vulnerability Management Requirements
Many organizations that achieve SOC 2 compliance do so through penetration testing. This meets the requirements of the certification standard even though the term “penetration test” is not actually part of the SOC 2 compliance standard.
To meet SOC 2 vulnerability management standards, your organization needs to evaluate internal security controls, communicate security control deficiencies to stakeholders in a timely manner, and detect configuration changes that could lead to new vulnerabilities when they occur. It must also monitor system components for malicious acts, natural disasters, and other disruptive anomalies.
Penetration testing is one way to do that. Conducting annual penetration tests and supporting them with continuous vulnerability management processes can satisfy SOC 2 requirements. It is not necessarily the only way, and some organizations may have better options. Comprehensive vulnerability scanning and patch management can be important criteria for meeting SOC 2 requirements, as well.
AICPA designed the SOC 2 requirements with flexibility in mind because it knows there is no one-size-fits-all approach to vulnerability management. An established organization with legacy technology, on-premises assets, and hybrid infrastructure requires an entirely different approach than a cloud-native startup.
Achieve Your Compliance Goals with Novawatch
Novawatch provides organizations with a clear roadmap to PCI-DSS and SOC 2 compliance through its deep partnership with approved scanning vendors. Our team of vulnerability management experts will help you identify the most efficient route to meeting strict compliance requirements and provide you with the resources you need to demonstrate your commitment to protecting customer data.
