SSAE 18 is a series of enhancements aimed to increase the usefulness and quality of SOC reports, now superseding SSAE 16. The changes made to the standard this time around will require companies to take more control and ownership of their own internal controls around the identification and classification of risk and appropriate management of third party vendor relationships. These changes, while not overly burdensome, will help close the loop on key areas that industry professionals noted gaps in many service organization’s reports.

Clients use the SSAE 18 standard to pursue a SOC 1 report.