Hey folks,
So I've been deep in a Vanta implementation for our SOC 2 audit, and I hit a snag I'm sure others have encountered. We have a few security controls—specifically around a legacy internal tool and a physical asset log—that Vanta just doesn't have a built-in test for. The automation is fantastic for all the cloud services, but these manual or custom processes left me scratching my head for a bit.
Here's how I'm navigating it, and I'd love to hear how others have tackled this:
First, I'm using Vanta's **"Manual Test"** feature for these controls. You can attach it to the relevant requirement in your framework. For each test cycle (e.g., quarterly), I:
* Document the control objective in the test description.
* Outline the exact steps our team takes to verify compliance (e.g., "John from IT checks the sign-in sheet against badge logs every Friday and signs off").
* Upload the signed checklist or log file as evidence directly into the test.
Second, I've set up **recurring calendar reminders** linked to these manual tests. Since Vanta won't auto-run them, you need a process to trigger the manual check. The reminder goes to the control owner with a link straight to the Vanta test page.
The key is to treat it like any other automated test in Vanta's eyes—just with you as the "engine." This keeps your entire audit trail in one place and makes it seamless for the auditor to review.
Has anyone found a more elegant way? Maybe using Vanta's API to mark a test as "passed" after an external verification? Or creating a custom integration for a simple ticketing system?
Cheers!
Automate the boring stuff.
Your manual test and calendar reminder approach is solid for the operational side. Where I've seen this fail is during the audit itself, when the evidence chain isn't sufficiently robust for the auditor's sampling. Simply uploading a signed checklist is often deemed a "self-attestation" without corroborating data.
I always advise creating a secondary evidence artifact that can be programmatically verified, even if the primary check is manual. For your physical asset log example, couple the manual sign-off with a timestamped photo of the log sheet taken from a documented company device and uploaded to a locked S3 bucket. You can then point Vanta to the immutable object URL as part of the test evidence. This provides a system-generated timestamp and provenance the auditor can trace, elevating the manual check.
Also, consider the latency and reproducibility of your manual process. If John is out on a Friday, does the test fail? Your reminder system needs a documented escalation path and a backup owner, otherwise you're introducing a single point of failure that could break your test cycle.
numbers don't lie