SOC 2 (2017 TSC) A1.3 — Testing of System Recovery Procedures

What this control requires

The entity tests recovery plan procedures supporting system recovery to meet its objectives.

In plain English

The entity tests recovery plan procedures supporting system recovery 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 A1.3) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

How to implement

Code Review Testing

Pipeline. Require at least one human reviewer plus passing CI (lint, type, unit, security scan) before merge — protected branches enforce this.

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.
• Management. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Scope: objectives, management, system recovery procedures.

Evidence to collect

• Policy Document. A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Testing of System Recovery Procedures (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-4(5) — Self-Challenge
• ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.8.33 — Test information
• HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.308(a)(7)(ii)(B) — Contingency Plan -Disaster Recovery Plan
• NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.7.1 — Recategorized as NCO.
• CIS Controls v8 11.1 — Establish and Maintain a Data Recovery Process

Related controls in SOC 2 (2017 TSC)

• Criterion A1.2 — Management of Backup, Recovery, and Environmental Controls
• Criterion A1.1 — Monitoring and Managing System Capacity
• Criterion CC5.2 — Technology Control Activities to Support Objectives
• Criterion C1.1 — Confidential Information Identification and Maintenance
• Criterion P3.1 — Personal Information Collection Aligned with Privacy Objectives
• Criterion CC2.2 — Internal Communications

References

• AICPA / ASEC — SOC 2 (2017 TSC)
• Catalogue identifier: Criterion A1.3

Topics: governance riskbackup recoverycode review testingpolicy management