How SOC 2 audits treat your print infrastructure

SOC 2 is the System and Organization Controls 2 reporting framework administered by the AICPA in the United States but widely accepted internationally. The framework evaluates a service organisation's controls relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. Office MFPs fall within SOC 2 scope when the service organisation handles customer data through them, which most do indirectly through scan, print, and copy workflows. The piece below covers how SOC 2 audits actually look at print infrastructure, which trust services criteria apply most directly, and how to prepare an MFP fleet for inclusion in the SOC 2 control environment.

The five trust services criteria

The trust services criteria most relevant to office MFPs

Security is mandatory and applies directly to office MFPs as part of the information technology environment. Confidentiality applies when the MFPs handle confidential customer information, which they typically do. Privacy applies when the MFPs process personal information, also common. Availability matters less for office MFPs since occasional unavailability does not affect customer facing services in most service organisations. Processing integrity rarely applies to MFPs since they do not process transactions in the auditable sense.

Most SOC 2 reports that include MFPs cover the security and confidentiality criteria. The two together produce the strongest position for service organisations whose customers care about how the office handles their data through routine workflows.

The common criteria that apply directly to MFPs

The confidentiality criteria for MFPs

SOC 2 Type 1 versus Type 2

What MFP evidence the auditor typically requests

For Type 1 audits, the auditor reviews the documented controls and the current state of each MFP. The evidence is the configuration screenshots, the inventory record, the policies and procedures, and similar point in time documents. The auditor then walks through one or two devices to confirm the documented state matches reality.

For Type 2 audits, the auditor samples evidence from across the audit period. Typical requests include firmware update tickets from the past year, change management records for any MFP configuration changes, monthly log review summaries, quarterly access reviews, and decommissioning certificates for any retired devices. The evidence demonstrates that the controls operated consistently rather than just being in place at a single point.

Preparing the MFP fleet for SOC 2

Service organisations approaching SOC 2 for the first time typically need three to six months to prepare the MFP fleet. The preparation covers documenting the current state, addressing any control gaps, establishing the quarterly review routine, and accumulating evidence for the planned audit period. Type 2 audits then need an additional six to twelve months of operating evidence before the audit can occur.

Organisations that have already implemented the ISO 27001 controls covered in the preceding piece find SOC 2 readiness substantially easier. The two frameworks share many underlying controls, with the SOC 2 evidence often being a different presentation of the same operational data the ISO 27001 ISMS already produces.

The cost of MFP related SOC 2 work

The MFP specific portion of SOC 2 preparation typically represents 5 to 10 percent of the total SOC 2 work. The relatively small portion reflects the maturity of office MFP security controls as standard practice rather than novel implementation. Service organisations that have applied the broader security cluster covered in this pillar usually find the SOC 2 MFP requirements satisfied through controls they already operate.

The ongoing maintenance for MFP related SOC 2 evidence takes 8 to 12 hours per year of focused attention, mostly in the form of the quarterly review documentation and the annual audit preparation. The investment supports the broader organisational benefit of SOC 2 certification, which has become a standard expectation in many enterprise procurement processes.