CC6.2 Registering and authorising users before issuing credentials
Before system credentials are issued and access is granted, internal and external users whose access the organisation administers are registered and authorised; their credentials are removed once their access is no longer authorised. Points of focus (2022 revision): every kind of credential, for employees, contractors, vendors, partner staff, systems and software, is issued only after authorisation; credentials are reviewed periodically for continued validity, including inappropriate system or service accounts; and credentials that are no longer valid are disabled, destroyed or otherwise blocked from use.
Source: SOC 2 (2017 Trust Services Criteria), CC6.2. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open SOC 2 (2017 Trust Services Criteria) in the compliance library.
These are criteria, not controls: you design controls that meet them, and which criteria are in scope follows the categories your report covers (Security always; Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity and Privacy only if chosen). A Type 2 report tests that the controls operated across the period, so the evidence asked for is samples across that period, not one copy.
These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.
system holds itEvidence a system already holds
- Access request tickets with owner approval for a sample of new users, service accounts and API credentials · Identity provider / directory
- Termination records reconciled to account disablement dates · Identity provider / directory
- Revocation records for keys, tokens and certificates no longer valid · Identity provider / directory
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
- Periodic credential validity review sign-offs covering human, system and service accounts, with remediation of findings · Identity provider / directory
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
none for this control
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Accounts created without a recorded approval
- Leavers retaining active accounts days or weeks after departure
- Access reviews performed but inappropriate access not removed
- Service account and API key credentials never reviewed or rotated
Do this for your whole sheet
Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.
Build my evidence sheetCC6.1 Logical access security over protected information assets · CC6.3 Role-based access, least privilege and segregation of duties