Attestation
Also known as: Certification, Validation, Assurance statement
Attestation is a formal confirmation provided by an independent third party or internal authority stating that a specific subject, such as a security control, meets predefined standards. It involves reviewing evidence to verify the accuracy of claims made by an organization about its compliance posture. The resulting statement serves as official proof for regulators, clients, or stakeholders.
In practice
A practitioner encounters this when completing a SOC 2 report or signing a PCI DSS Attestation of Compliance (AoC). It represents the final sign-off where an auditor certifies that the tested controls are operating effectively based on evidence gathered during the assessment.