SOC 2 Audit Checklist for Teams Using AI Coding Tools

SOC 2 Type II audits examine whether your security controls are effective over time. If your engineering team uses AI coding assistants, auditors will want to know how you prevent data leakage through these tools.

What Auditors Will Ask

Trust Service Criteria: Confidentiality (C1)

C1.1 — Confidential information is identified and protected.

Auditors will ask:

• Do you have a policy governing AI tool usage?
• How do you prevent confidential data (API keys, credentials, customer data) from being sent to AI providers?
• What technical controls are in place?

What you need:

• Written AI usage policy
• Automated scanning/blocking of outbound AI requests
• Detection logs showing the system is working

Trust Service Criteria: Privacy (P1-P8)

If you handle personal data (and you almost certainly do), auditors will check:

P3 — Collection: Are you limiting what personal data is shared with AI providers?

P4 — Use, retention, and disposal: What happens to data sent to AI providers?

P6 — Quality: Are you taking steps to ensure data accuracy and prevent unauthorized processing?

What you need:

• Evidence that PII is scanned for and blocked before reaching AI providers
• Logs of detection events
• AI provider DPAs showing data handling practices

Trust Service Criteria: Security (CC6, CC7)

CC6.1 — Logical and physical access controls.

AI tools represent a new access vector for sensitive data. Auditors will check:

• How do you control which AI tools developers use?
• How do you prevent data exfiltration through AI prompts?

CC7.2 — Monitoring of system components.

• Are you monitoring for potential data leaks through AI tools?
• Do you have alerts for unusual patterns?

Your Audit Evidence Package

Here's what to prepare:

1. AI Usage Policy

A clear policy that covers:

• Approved AI tools and providers
• Prohibited data types (production credentials, customer PII, internal URLs)
• Required safeguards (scanning proxy, browser extension)
• Incident response for detected leaks

2. Technical Controls Evidence

Screenshots and configuration showing:

• AxSentinel (or equivalent) deployed across the engineering team
• Scanning modes configured (block, redact, or prompt)
• Coverage across all AI touchpoints (IDE, browser, CLI)

3. Detection Logs

Export from your compliance dashboard showing:

• Detection events over the audit period
• Breakdown by type (SECRET vs PII)
• Breakdown by source (proxy, browser extension, CLI scan)
• Response actions taken (blocked, redacted)

4. Provider Due Diligence

Documentation for each AI provider:

• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Data retention policy
• Sub-processor list
• Security certifications

How AxSentinel Helps

AxSentinel provides three things auditors love:

1. Automated prevention — PII and secrets are blocked before they reach AI providers, not just detected after the fact
2. Compliance dashboard — real-time view of detection events with filtering by type, source, user, and time period
3. Exportable reports — download detection data for audit evidence packages

The dashboard shows exactly what SOC 2 auditors need: evidence that your controls are working continuously, not just at a point in time.

Sample Audit Evidence

From the AxSentinel dashboard, you can show:

• Total detections over the audit period (e.g., "847 secrets and 1,203 PII items blocked")
• Zero false negatives in known-pattern testing
• Coverage across all developers (per-user breakdown)
• Continuous operation (no gaps in monitoring)

Set up your compliance dashboard →