Canadian Bitcoin Firm, Shakepay, Gains New Security Certificate
- Attestation took several months of working with auditors from A-LIGN
- The audit was based on principles set by AICPA's TSC.

Shakepay, a Montreal-based technology company that enables Canadians to buy and earn bitcoins, has gained the System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 1 security Attestation.
SOC is an audit of a company's controls put in place to ensure the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy of customers' data.
These five qualities make up the Trust Services Criteria (TSC) set by the Auditing Standard Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) for use when firms are being audited.
Therefore, SOC 2 Type 1 is a certification issued by an auditing firm to an organization after the design of the security processes of the organization has been assessed.
To gain the badge, Shakepay said it was audited based on AICPA's Auditing Standard Board's TSC.
The Bitcoin company said it had worked tirelessly “these last few months” with auditors from A-LIGN, a compliance, cybersecurity Cybersecurity Cybersecurity is a blanket term that refers to the protection of computer systems and networks from the theft.More broadly speaking, cybersecurity can also represent countermeasures against damage to hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.It was not long ago that the term cybersecurity not exist as it was first used in 1989. In today’s vernacular cybersecurity, refers to measures taken to protect a computer or computer system or a network against hacking or unauthorized access. Why Cybersecurity MattersCybersecurity is a huge concern for individuals given our reliance on computers, laptops, smart phones, the Internet, etc.These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information, extorting money from users, or interrupting normal business processes. Implementing effective cybersecurity measures is particularly challenging today because there are more devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative. In the modern world, with every person and business connected, everyone benefits from advanced cyber-defense programs. At an individual level, a cybersecurity attack can result in everything from identity theft, to extortion attempts, to the loss of essential data like family photos. Everyone relies on critical infrastructures like power plants, hospitals, and financial service companies. Securing these and other organizations is vital to keeping our society functioning. Significant sources of cybersecurity threats include phishing, ransomware, malware, and social engineering, among others.With the rise of cryptocurrencies over the past decade, cybersecurity has also reached even greater importance a safeguard against abuse. Cybersecurity is a blanket term that refers to the protection of computer systems and networks from the theft.More broadly speaking, cybersecurity can also represent countermeasures against damage to hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.It was not long ago that the term cybersecurity not exist as it was first used in 1989. In today’s vernacular cybersecurity, refers to measures taken to protect a computer or computer system or a network against hacking or unauthorized access. Why Cybersecurity MattersCybersecurity is a huge concern for individuals given our reliance on computers, laptops, smart phones, the Internet, etc.These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information, extorting money from users, or interrupting normal business processes. Implementing effective cybersecurity measures is particularly challenging today because there are more devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative. In the modern world, with every person and business connected, everyone benefits from advanced cyber-defense programs. At an individual level, a cybersecurity attack can result in everything from identity theft, to extortion attempts, to the loss of essential data like family photos. Everyone relies on critical infrastructures like power plants, hospitals, and financial service companies. Securing these and other organizations is vital to keeping our society functioning. Significant sources of cybersecurity threats include phishing, ransomware, malware, and social engineering, among others.With the rise of cryptocurrencies over the past decade, cybersecurity has also reached even greater importance a safeguard against abuse. Read this Term, cyber risk and privacy provider, to gain the attestation.
Shakepay exceeded the stringent requirements in most categories, the firm added.
In a statement, Tony Carella, Shakepay's Head of Security, said the attestation was the first step on a continued path to verify, on behalf of its customers, the security standards to which the company holds itself.
“At Shakepay, our security mission is to be the industry leader in securing our customers' funds, personal information and accounts,” Carella said.
“We want to be the most trustworthy service in the industry. To us, trust goes hand-in-hand with verification,” he added.
What Are the Various SOC Audits?
There are various types of SOC audits, ranging from SOC 1 Type 1 and 2 to SOC 2 Type I and 2 and even SOC 3.
According to David Dunkelberger, a Principal at I.S. Partners, a certified public accountant firm, the SOC 1 Type II report addresses the design and testing of an organization's control system over a period of time, which is most often six months, as opposed to the specific date used in a SOC 1 Type I report.
“This type of report [the SOC 1 Type 11] is far more rigorous and intensive than Type I, as it covers a greater span of time and requires that your auditors [to] perform a more thorough investigation of your system’s design and processes,” Dunkelberger wrote in a blog post on the company’s website.
Additionally, StrongDM, a people-first access platform, noted that while SOC 2 Type 1 assesses the design of security processes at a specific point in time, the SOC 2 Type 2 report assesses how effective those controls are over time by observing operations for six months.
SOC 3 reports on the same information as SOC 2 but in a format intended for a more general audience, StrongDM further explained.
“It is important to note that pursuing SOC 2 is voluntary and not necessarily motivated by compliance or other regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS),” wrote Schuyler Brown in a blogpost. Brown is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of StrongDM.
“It is also common for customers (known as user entities in SOC terminology) to reach out to partners and request results from an auditor's tests.”
Shakepay, a Montreal-based technology company that enables Canadians to buy and earn bitcoins, has gained the System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 1 security Attestation.
SOC is an audit of a company's controls put in place to ensure the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy of customers' data.
These five qualities make up the Trust Services Criteria (TSC) set by the Auditing Standard Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) for use when firms are being audited.
Therefore, SOC 2 Type 1 is a certification issued by an auditing firm to an organization after the design of the security processes of the organization has been assessed.
To gain the badge, Shakepay said it was audited based on AICPA's Auditing Standard Board's TSC.
The Bitcoin company said it had worked tirelessly “these last few months” with auditors from A-LIGN, a compliance, cybersecurity Cybersecurity Cybersecurity is a blanket term that refers to the protection of computer systems and networks from the theft.More broadly speaking, cybersecurity can also represent countermeasures against damage to hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.It was not long ago that the term cybersecurity not exist as it was first used in 1989. In today’s vernacular cybersecurity, refers to measures taken to protect a computer or computer system or a network against hacking or unauthorized access. Why Cybersecurity MattersCybersecurity is a huge concern for individuals given our reliance on computers, laptops, smart phones, the Internet, etc.These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information, extorting money from users, or interrupting normal business processes. Implementing effective cybersecurity measures is particularly challenging today because there are more devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative. In the modern world, with every person and business connected, everyone benefits from advanced cyber-defense programs. At an individual level, a cybersecurity attack can result in everything from identity theft, to extortion attempts, to the loss of essential data like family photos. Everyone relies on critical infrastructures like power plants, hospitals, and financial service companies. Securing these and other organizations is vital to keeping our society functioning. Significant sources of cybersecurity threats include phishing, ransomware, malware, and social engineering, among others.With the rise of cryptocurrencies over the past decade, cybersecurity has also reached even greater importance a safeguard against abuse. Cybersecurity is a blanket term that refers to the protection of computer systems and networks from the theft.More broadly speaking, cybersecurity can also represent countermeasures against damage to hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.It was not long ago that the term cybersecurity not exist as it was first used in 1989. In today’s vernacular cybersecurity, refers to measures taken to protect a computer or computer system or a network against hacking or unauthorized access. Why Cybersecurity MattersCybersecurity is a huge concern for individuals given our reliance on computers, laptops, smart phones, the Internet, etc.These cyberattacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information, extorting money from users, or interrupting normal business processes. Implementing effective cybersecurity measures is particularly challenging today because there are more devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative. In the modern world, with every person and business connected, everyone benefits from advanced cyber-defense programs. At an individual level, a cybersecurity attack can result in everything from identity theft, to extortion attempts, to the loss of essential data like family photos. Everyone relies on critical infrastructures like power plants, hospitals, and financial service companies. Securing these and other organizations is vital to keeping our society functioning. Significant sources of cybersecurity threats include phishing, ransomware, malware, and social engineering, among others.With the rise of cryptocurrencies over the past decade, cybersecurity has also reached even greater importance a safeguard against abuse. Read this Term, cyber risk and privacy provider, to gain the attestation.
Shakepay exceeded the stringent requirements in most categories, the firm added.
In a statement, Tony Carella, Shakepay's Head of Security, said the attestation was the first step on a continued path to verify, on behalf of its customers, the security standards to which the company holds itself.
“At Shakepay, our security mission is to be the industry leader in securing our customers' funds, personal information and accounts,” Carella said.
“We want to be the most trustworthy service in the industry. To us, trust goes hand-in-hand with verification,” he added.
What Are the Various SOC Audits?
There are various types of SOC audits, ranging from SOC 1 Type 1 and 2 to SOC 2 Type I and 2 and even SOC 3.
According to David Dunkelberger, a Principal at I.S. Partners, a certified public accountant firm, the SOC 1 Type II report addresses the design and testing of an organization's control system over a period of time, which is most often six months, as opposed to the specific date used in a SOC 1 Type I report.
“This type of report [the SOC 1 Type 11] is far more rigorous and intensive than Type I, as it covers a greater span of time and requires that your auditors [to] perform a more thorough investigation of your system’s design and processes,” Dunkelberger wrote in a blog post on the company’s website.
Additionally, StrongDM, a people-first access platform, noted that while SOC 2 Type 1 assesses the design of security processes at a specific point in time, the SOC 2 Type 2 report assesses how effective those controls are over time by observing operations for six months.
SOC 3 reports on the same information as SOC 2 but in a format intended for a more general audience, StrongDM further explained.
“It is important to note that pursuing SOC 2 is voluntary and not necessarily motivated by compliance or other regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS),” wrote Schuyler Brown in a blogpost. Brown is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of StrongDM.
“It is also common for customers (known as user entities in SOC terminology) to reach out to partners and request results from an auditor's tests.”