What is DORA?
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554) establishes a unified framework for ICT risk management across EU financial entities.
It aims to ensure that firms can withstand, respond to, and recover from ICT-related disruptions and threats.
Key Objectives of DORA
- Strengthen ICT risk management across financial institutions
- Standardise incident reporting requirements
- Improve oversight of critical third-party ICT providers
- Ensure operational resilience through testing and continuity planning
Source: Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, Articles 1–3
Who DORA Applies To
DORA applies to a broad range of regulated financial entities, including:
- Credit institutions and banks
- Insurance and reinsurance undertakings
- Investment firms and fund managers
- Payment institutions and e-money firms
- Crypto-asset service providers
Source: Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, Article 2
Core Pillars of DORA
- ICT Risk Management: Formal frameworks governing systems, security and resilience
- Incident Reporting: Classification and reporting of major ICT incidents
- Digital Operational Resilience Testing: Regular testing of systems and controls
- Third-Party Risk Management: Oversight of ICT providers and outsourcing
- Information Sharing: Mechanisms for sharing cyber threat intelligence
Source: Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, Chapters II–V
What Firms Commonly Underestimate
- Depth of documentation required for ICT risk frameworks
- Formalisation of incident classification and reporting processes
- Governance requirements around outsourcing and third-party ICT providers
- Testing requirements for resilience validation