Your portfolio company is pursuing or has just achieved SOC 2 Type II compliance certification. However, achieving SOC2 certification does not end your cybersecurity journey. Here’s why that report, while valuable, doesn’t mean what many executives think it means. 

SOC 2 compliance is a valuable and widely recognized assurance framework. It provides external stakeholders with confidence that an organization has documented operational controls related to security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity, and privacy. A SOC 2 Type II report even goes further, attesting that these controls were operating effectively over a defined review period. 

However, executives and boards should understand that while SOC 2 plays an important role in the trust and assurance ecosystem, it was never designed to serve as a complete cybersecurity program. A mature, resilient program requires continuous, risk-based practices that extend beyond what SOC 2 audits measure. 

What SOC 2 Really Provides 

Obtaining a SOC 2 certification is a significant achievement. It rightly signals that a company has taken meaningful steps toward structured governance and accountability. A SOC 2 provides: 

Independent attestation and trust building: SOC 2 is an examination performed by an external CPA firm that provides customers, partners, and investors with independent validation of security controls and organizational discipline. 

Design and Operations: SOC 2 certification has two levels. Type 1 assesses whether security controls are properly designed at a specific point in time. The more detailed Type II report evaluates whether security controls are operating effectively over a period of time, usually 6-12 months. 

The Boundaries of SOC 2 Assurance 

Acknowledging the strengths of SOC 2 also helps to recognize its boundaries and limitations. These boundaries do not diminish the value of SOC 2 but highlight why additional measures are needed: 

Defined scope: Management determines which systems, processes, and Trust Services Criteria (the standardized control categories used in SOC 2 audits) are included. A SOC 2 report may not reflect the entirety of an organization’s technology or risk landscape. This means material risks in out-of-scope systems may remain invisible to investors and boards. 

Sample-based validation: Auditors test representative samples to confirm controls operated during the review period. This provides assurance of operation, but does not equate to continuous, real-time visibility across every instance. 

Effectiveness by definition: In SOC 2, “operating effectiveness” means the control functioned as documented. It does not measure whether that control is optimized against current threats or whether it measurably reduces business risk. 

Time-bound assurance: Reports cover a specific period. They provide assurance that controls worked during that time, but not that those controls remain sufficient against today’s fast-changing threat environment.  

Why SOC 2 alone Is Not a Cybersecurity Program 

SOC 2 is an important milestone. But an effective cybersecurity program requires additional elements: 

Continuous monitoring: Real-time detection, response, and resilience capabilities go beyond periodic testing. Industry research consistently shows that organizations with proactive monitoring identify breaches within days or weeks rather than months, compared to those relying solely on periodic audits. 

Risk-based design: A risk-based approach customizes controls to the organization’s specific threat environment, not just to audit criteria. 

Outcome orientation: An outcome-focused security program implements controls that measure results, such as decreased incident rates, quicker recovery times, and enhanced employee security behaviors. 

Adaptability: An adaptable program updates controls to reflect evolving standards and threat actor techniques, instead of just maintaining the controls that were in scope for the last audit. 

Enterprise integration: Enterprise strategy integration aligns cybersecurity with continuity planning, compliance, and enterprise value protection. 

“SOC 2 is assurance. Cybersecurity is resilience. Organizations need both.” 

Building upon the SOC 2 Foundation 

SOC 2 provides critical assurance to stakeholders, supports customer relationships, procurement processes, and investor confidence, and is best viewed as a strong foundation for a more comprehensive and adaptive cybersecurity program. 

A robust approach layers SOC 2 with risk-focused frameworks such as NIST Cybersecurity Framework, ISO 27001, or CIS Controls, while implementing practical capabilities. The approach should: 

• Layer threat intelligence capabilities to understand industry-specific attack patterns and emerging risks relevant to your business model. 

• Implement continuous security monitoring that provides real-time visibility into network activity, user behavior, and system vulnerabilities. 

• Establish incident response playbooks with tested recovery times and clear escalation paths. Conduct tabletop exercises at least annually. 

• Align security metrics to business KPIs such as system uptime, customer data breach prevention, and mean time to recovery. 

Together, these elements provide both the assurance of audited controls and the proactive resilience needed to protect enterprise value. 

Recommendations for Executives and Boards 

Recognize the role of SOC 2: SOC 2’s value is the independent, third-party assurance of important controls. 

Ask broader questions: Beyond “Do we have SOC 2?”, ask “How do we measure our resilience against current threats?” 

Monitor real-time metrics: Track detection and response times, patching cadence, and incident outcomes alongside audit attestations. 

Support a maturity roadmap: Encourage teams to build on SOC 2 achievements with a multi-year cybersecurity strategy that is risk-based and outcome-oriented. 

Communicate value: Frame SOC 2 as part of a broader program that protects revenue, ensures operational continuity, and enhances enterprise value. 

Conclusion 

SOC 2 compliance plays an essential role in the governance and assurance landscape. Audit professionals provide meaningful third-party validation that controls are in place and operating effectively. However, SOC 2 was never intended to be a full measure of resilience. 

Executives should treat SOC 2 as a foundation – a trusted signal of discipline and accountability – and then build on that foundation with continuous, adaptive practices that reduce cyber risk and strengthen enterprise resilience. 

SOC 2 proves you have controls. A cybersecurity program proves you can protect enterprise value when those controls are tested. For PE leaders evaluating or managing portfolio companies, understanding this distinction isn’t just about compliance—it’s about protecting returns.