By Curinovis Digital Agency / 2025
1. What Is the Core Focus of DORA?
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a regulatory framework introduced by the European Union to ensure that financial institutions can withstand, respond to, and recover from all types of information and communication technology (ICT)-related disruptions and threats. Its main objective is to harmonize digital resilience rules across the EU financial sector, reducing fragmentation and improving the sector’s ability to prevent and respond to cyber threats and operational failures.
2. Who Needs to Comply with DORA?
DORA applies to a wide range of financial entities within the European Union, including but not limited to:
– Banks and credit institutions
– Insurance and reinsurance companies
– Investment firms and asset managers
– Crypto-asset service providers
– Payment and e-money institutions
– Central counterparties and trading venues
– Third-party ICT service providers (including cloud providers)
3. Overlaps Between DORA and NIST Guidelines
DORA shares several principles with the frameworks established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), particularly the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) and NIST SP 800-53. Common areas include:
– Risk-based approaches to cybersecurity
– ICT risk management governance
– Incident detection and response
– Continuous monitoring and reporting
– Vendor and third-party risk management
Both DORA and NIST emphasize the importance of robust ICT governance, resilience through testing, and proactive risk mitigation strategies.
4. Compliance Gaps Among EU Financial Institutions
Despite the regulation being published in 2022 and set to apply by January 2025, many financial institutions across the EU still face significant gaps in compliance. According to recent industry analyses:
– A large number of firms lack centralized ICT risk governance
– Incident reporting frameworks are still in development phases
– Threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) capabilities are either immature or outsourced without compliance assurance
– Third-party ICT risk management lacks transparency and consistency
The transition to DORA compliance requires considerable investment in operational maturity, tooling, and internal coordination across functions.
5. How to Achieve DORA Compliance: Action Steps
To become DORA-compliant, financial institutions should consider the following strategic actions:
1. Perform a comprehensive DORA readiness assessment – evaluate existing ICT risk frameworks against DORA’s requirements.
2. Establish an ICT governance structure – ensure board-level oversight and integrate ICT risk into enterprise risk management.
3. Map critical ICT assets and services – identify key dependencies and establish redundancy protocols.
4. Implement ICT incident detection and response protocols – align with NIST’s CSF and ensure rapid, traceable incident reporting.
5. Conduct regular threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) – using frameworks like TIBER-EU for high-risk institutions.
6. Enhance third-party risk management – ensure contractual provisions align with DORA and monitor service providers continuously.
7. Prepare for mandatory reporting – implement systems to report major ICT-related incidents to supervisory authorities within set timeframes.
8. Train staff regularly – build resilience into the human layer of your cyber defense.
6. How Curinovis Digital Agency Can Help
Curinovis Digital Agency is ready to assist financial institutions in their journey to DORA compliance. We offer:
– DORA compliance readiness assessments
– ICT risk and business continuity evaluations
– Security testing and configuration audits
– Custom-tailored training and DevSecOps integration support
Let us guide your institution toward a secure, resilient future. Contact us at: info@curinovisdigital.com
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