SOC 2 · CC - Common Criteria (Security)
SOC 2 CC1.5: CC1.5 Accountability for internal control responsibilities (COSO principle 5)
SOC 2 CC1.5 covers CC1.5 Accountability for internal control responsibilities (COSO principle 5). The held text names 5 evidence records for it, the first being Performance objectives that include security or control responsibilities. The common gap an assessor flags is Control duties absent from performance objectives.
People are held answerable for the internal control duties assigned to them. Points of focus: structures and authority are used to communicate duties and apply corrective action; performance measures, incentives and rewards reflect control responsibilities and expected conduct across short and longer terms; those incentives are reviewed for continued relevance; pressures created by targets are weighed when assigning work and measuring performance; and performance of control duties, including conduct and competence, is evaluated with reward or discipline as warranted. The 2022 revision adds, for privacy engagements, a defined sanctions process used when staff breach privacy policies or cause a privacy incident through negligence.
What evidence supports CC1.5?
- AccountabilityPerformance objectives that include security or control responsibilities
- AccountabilityDocumented disciplinary policy and examples of its application to control failures
- AccountabilityPeriodic review of incentive schemes against control objectives
- AccountabilityEvidence of corrective action after control owners missed duties
- AccountabilitySanctions procedure covering privacy policy breaches, with case records where it was applied (privacy engagements)
Where this requirement comes from
This is our own statement of SOC 2 CC1.5, read from the copy we hold (issuer free complete copy) and stated in our words, not the standard verbatim. The framework as we hold it.
Common gaps an assessor flags
- Control duties absent from performance objectives
- Disciplinary policy exists but was never applied to a security breach
- Sales or delivery targets that push staff to bypass controls go unexamined
- Privacy incidents caused by staff negligence closed with no consideration of sanctions
How it maps to ISO 27001:2022
- 5.4 high Holding individuals accountable for control responsibilities is the management responsibility being tested.
- 6.4 high Accountability for control responsibilities includes evaluating performance and disciplining individuals.
A link is a topical overlap with a confidence and a reason. It does not establish that meeting one requirement satisfies the other, and it is not certification.