{"id":77649,"date":"2022-10-06T07:54:36","date_gmt":"2022-10-06T07:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eccouncil.org\/cybersecurity-exchange\/?p=77649"},"modified":"2026-02-26T08:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:07:47","slug":"soc-2-certification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eccouncil.org\/cybersecurity-exchange\/security-operation-center\/soc-2-certification\/","title":{"rendered":"How SOC 2 Certification Can Help You Become a Skilled SOC Analyst\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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As global internet users continue to increase, cyberthreats are becoming more sophisticated and frequent. For example, in 2021, the average number of cyberattacks and data breaches increased by 15.1 percent from the previous year (ThoughtLab, 2022). Other surveys revealed that cybercrime cost U.S. businesses more than $6.9 billion in 2021 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2021), and only 43 percent of businesses feel financially prepared to face a cyberattack in 2022 (Brin, D. 2022).<\/p>

Cyberthreats are expected to become even more of a threat in the coming years, making it necessary for organizations to have strong cybersecurity controls in place. This is where SOCs come in. In this article, let’s look at what SOCs are, SOC 2 certification, and how you can become an SOC analyst.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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What Is SOC? <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A security operations center (SOC)<\/a> is a team of security professionals responsible for monitoring, detecting, and responding to security incidents (Check Point, 2022). SOC teams consist of analysts, engineers, and other security specialists and are required to have a strong understanding of cyberthreats and how to defend against them. Your organization can choose an in-house SOC team with a cybersecurity certification<\/a>, outsource its SOC services to a managed security service provider (MSSP), or use a combination of both.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Five Trust Principles\u202f <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), for a security operations center to be effective in protecting an organization from cyberthreats, it must adhere to the five trust principles, which are:<\/p>\n

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  1. Security:<\/strong> The system is protected against unauthorized access, use, or modification.<\/li>\n
  2. Availability:<\/strong> The system is available for operation and use as committed or agreed.<\/li>\n
  3. Processing integrity:<\/strong> System processing is complete, accurate, timely, and authorized.<\/li>\n
  4. Privacy:<\/strong> Personal information is collected, used, retained, disclosed, and disposed of per the commitments in the entity’s privacy notice and with applicable laws and regulations.<\/li>\n
  5. Confidentiality:<\/strong>\u202f Information designated as confidential is protected from unauthorized disclosure. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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    What Does an SOC Tier 2 Analyst Do?\u202f <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    The SOC 2 certification is becoming increasingly important as more companies collect and store customer data. SOC tier 2 analysts are responsible for thoroughly analyzing and investigating the nature of the attack, where the threat came from, and which areas were affected. They can then develop a plan to prevent future attacks.<\/p>

    SOC tier 2 analysts investigate the root cause of the incident and work on long-term solutions to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. They develop solutions to prevent attacks and work on projects to foster a more secure environment. They also play an essential role in incident response, working to contain and resolve cybersecurity incidents.<\/p>

    To become an SOC tier 2 analyst, one must earn a security operations certificate. This cybersecurity certification provides the skills and knowledge necessary to perform SOC analyst duties. The coursework covers topics such as network security and intrusion detection.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    The Difference Between SOC Tier 1 and Tier 2 Analysts <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSOCs consist of teams of analysts responsible for different security aspects. These analysts perform various roles, depending on the incident, and can be divided into four tiers:\n