Your security and compliance glossary

All the terms you need to know when you’re trying to get compliance audit ready, fast.

Show filters

What is SSAE 16?

The Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 (SSAE 16) is a set of auditing standards and guidance published by the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).


Auditors use SSAE 16 as a guide when creating two specific audit reports: The first is a snapshot to reflect the status of an organization's controls on a particular day, and the second is to incorporate historical data that reflects how controls have changed over time. Auditing standards, like SSAE 16, are used by auditors to guide the discovery of controls, including security controls, in all types of organizations, such as data centers, internet service providers (ISPs) and other entities that incorporate information security controls. The use of such standards is important in order to help both organizations and auditors in demonstrating information security compliance with regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley.


Clients use the SSAE 16 standard to pursue a SOC 1 report.

Additional resources you might like:

Compliance
Events
Product Demo: Simplify ISO 27001 and SOC 2 compliance with Vanta

See how Vanta simplifies security and streamlines compliance across 35+ frameworks—live on May 6.

Security
Events
From Insights to Action: Measuring and Advancing Security Maturity

Discover how Vanta’s customizable reporting and dashboarding can help you assess and improve security maturity with real-time insights, better risk visibility, and data-driven decision-making.

Company news
Events
Zero to success: What we got wrong before we got it right

Join experienced founders as they share key lessons on overcoming early startup challenges and driving growth.

Additional resources you might like:

Compliance
Events
Product Demo: Simplify ISO 27001 and SOC 2 compliance with Vanta

See how Vanta simplifies security and streamlines compliance across 35+ frameworks—live on May 6.

Security
Events
From Insights to Action: Measuring and Advancing Security Maturity

Discover how Vanta’s customizable reporting and dashboarding can help you assess and improve security maturity with real-time insights, better risk visibility, and data-driven decision-making.

Company news
Events
Zero to success: What we got wrong before we got it right

Join experienced founders as they share key lessons on overcoming early startup challenges and driving growth.

SOC 2
Events
Live Demo: Automating Compliance for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and More

Discover how automation can transform your compliance efforts into a streamlined, efficient process. Join the live demo to see it in action and get your compliance questions answered.

Compliance
Events
Demystifying the EU AI Act

Discover how Vanta can streamline your journey through this new regulatory landscape, ensuring your AI operations are secure and future-ready.

Compliance
Blog
The founders guide to accelerating growth with compliance in ANZ

Proactively investing in security compliance can help ANZ startups unlock bigger deals and build trust with customers long before compliance becomes mandatory.

Compliance
Events
Live Demo: Automating Compliance for ISO 27001, GDPR and more with Vanta

Unlock the power of automated compliance and streamlined security workflows—join our live demo to see how Vanta can save you time, money, and help build trust with your customers.

Compliance
Events
Live Demo: Automating Compliance for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and More

Discover how Vanta’s automation tools can simplify compliance for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and more, helping you build a stronger security foundation with ease.

Compliance
Events
Live Demo: Simplify ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Compliance to Fuel Growth

See how Vanta can simplify and automate your compliance efforts, helping you scale your business while building trust with customers!