# SOC 2 (2017 TSC) A1.2 — Management of Backup, Recovery, and Environmental Controls - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/a1-2-management-of-backup-recovery-and-environmental-controls - Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [SOC 2 Trust Services Criteria (2017, with 2022 points of focus)](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria) › Availability — A1 - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **SOC 2 (2017 TSC)**·Criterion `A1.2`·high·Component: **Availability** ## What this control requires > The entity authorizes, designs, develops or acquires, implements, operates, approves, maintains, and monitors environmental protections, software, data backup processes, and recovery infrastructure to meet its objectives. > > — SOC 2 (2017 TSC), Criterion A1.2 ### In plain English The entity authorizes, designs, develops or acquires, implements, operates, approves, maintains, and monitors environmental protections, software, data backup processes, and recovery infrastructure to meet its objectives. In practice, this means you can prove you risk objectives-level controls on a defined cadence. ## Why it matters Every SOC 2 audit opinion is built control-by-control from the Trust Services Criteria. A missing or failing criterion produces an exception in the report, which buyers, partners and procurement teams read line-by-line during vendor reviews. This control is rated **high**. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation. ## What an auditor looks for A SOC 2 auditor (under AT-C §§ 105/205) tests both design and operating effectiveness over the audit window. For each criterion they expect a written control, a control owner, a population of events, and a sample tested against the population — including remediation tickets for exceptions. Within **Availability**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Criterion A1.2) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles. ## How to implement #### Policy Management **Docs.** Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA. ### Operational checklist - **Risk.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Business.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Management.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Data.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** objectives, controls, management, backup, recovery, environmental controls. ## Evidence to collect - **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document. - **Infra Scan.** Continuous infrastructure-posture telemetry — AWS Config, Azure Policy compliance, GCP Organisation Policy, Wiz / Prisma findings. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Management of Backup, Recovery, and Environmental Controls (Original component: Availability). ## Common pitfalls - Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced. ## How it maps to other frameworks Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit. - [**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CP-10(3)** — Compensating Security Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cp-10-3-compensating-security-controls) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.7.11** — Supporting utilities](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-7-11-supporting-utilities) - [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.312(b)** — Audit Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-312-b-audit-controls) - [**BSI C5:2020 BCM-03** — Planning business continuity](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/bsi-c5-2020/bcm-03-planning-business-continuity) ## Related controls in SOC 2 (2017 TSC) - [**Criterion A1.3** — Testing of System Recovery Procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/a1-3-testing-of-system-recovery-procedures) - [**Criterion PI1.4** — Output Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/pi1-4-output-controls) - [**Criterion PI1.5** — Storage Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/pi1-5-storage-controls) - [**Criterion A1.1** — Monitoring and Managing System Capacity](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/a1-1-monitoring-and-managing-system-capacity) - [**Criterion CC6.7** — Transmission Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc6-7-transmission-controls) - [**Criterion PI1.3** — Processing Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/pi1-3-processing-controls) ## References - [AICPA / ASEC — SOC 2 (2017 TSC)](https://www.aicpa-cima.com/topic/audit-assurance/audit-and-assurance-greater-than-soc-2) - Catalogue identifier: `Criterion A1.2` Topics: governance riskbusiness continuitybackup recoveryenvironmental controlspolicy management ## Related compliance guidance - [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Start with the full SOC 2 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs. - [ISO/IEC 27001:2022 compliance: a practical implementation guide](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022): The certificate most non-US customers ask for instead of SOC 2; the controls overlap enough to run one matrix for both. - [HIPAA compliance for SaaS: a practical implementation guide](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa): If health-tech customers ask for SOC 2, they will also ask about the Security Rule; the two are usually evidenced from the same controls.