The CaaS Checklist: How to get your head around DORA and find some peace of mind
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a new rule from the EU designed to make sure the financial sector’s IT is up to scratch. It’s all about making sure firms can handle, react to, and bounce back from any IT mess-ups or threats. For many, figuring out DORA compliance can feel a bit scary, but a smart approach can turn it into a real advantage.
This article provides a CaaS (Compliance as a Service) checklist to simplify the DORA framework, helping you get some peace of mind by systematically tackling the key requirements. We’ll break down the five pillars of DORA and give you a clear, actionable path to compliance.
The 5 Pillars of DORA
DORA is built on five key pillars that guide financial companies towards a more robust digital future. Getting to grips with these is the first step to being compliant.
Set up a strong framework to find, manage, and deal with IT risks, so you’re ready for anything unexpected.
Get your ducks in a row for handling and reporting IT incidents to both your team and the right authorities.
Regularly test your systems and security, including advanced threat-led penetration tests, to prove they’re resilient.
Look at the risks your third-party IT providers pose, making sure their resilience matches your own.
Get involved in info-sharing groups to stay ahead of new threats and learn from others’ experiences.
Pillar 1: ICT Risk Management
First off, DORA is all about proactive risk management. It’s not just a tech task; it’s a strategic one. Your aim is to weave a solid IT risk management framework into the heart of your operations. This means: finding crucial business functions and the IT systems that back them up; constantly keeping an eye on these systems for weak spots and threats; and putting protective measures and controls in place. A CaaS solution can do the heavy lifting for you, automating vulnerability scans and giving you live dashboards so you always know where you stand. This forward-thinking approach means you’re not always playing catch-up, and you can fix issues before they become a real headache.
Pillar 2: Incident Management & Reporting
When something goes wrong, DORA expects a clear, swift, and well-documented response. This pillar is all about having clear processes for: spotting and logging incidents; classifying them based on how serious they are; and reporting them to the right people within tight deadlines. A CaaS platform can give you a central incident management system, automating the classifying and reporting so you meet those regulatory deadlines without any added stress.
Pillar 3: Resilience Testing
DORA insists on regular and tough testing to check your resilience. This includes everything from simple penetration tests to advanced threat-led exercises (TLPT). The goal is to act out real-world attacks to find any weaknesses in your defences. A CaaS provider can offer a continuous testing service, running automated security checks and red-team exercises to make sure your systems are always resilient against new threats. It’s not a one-off check but a constant process that builds real confidence in your security.
Pillar 4: Managing Third-Party Risk
In our connected world, a hack on a third-party supplier can be just as bad as a direct attack on you. DORA puts a big focus on managing this risk. It means: checking the digital resilience of all your important IT providers; making sure contracts include clauses for reporting incidents and working together; and keeping a list of all your IT third-party providers. A CaaS platform can help with this, giving you a central dashboard to manage third-party risk, helping you keep track of compliance, check vendor resilience, and make sure your whole digital supply chain is secure.
Pillar 5: Information & Intelligence Sharing
DORA encourages financial firms to get involved in information-sharing groups. By sharing what you know about threats with your peers, you can learn from others and better protect your own organisation from new threats. This pillar is all about working together on cybersecurity.
Conclusion: Achieving Peace of Mind
DORA is a call to action for the financial sector to build a more resilient digital system. While the rules are extensive, using a structured CaaS checklist can make the journey simple. By ticking off each of the five pillars—from risk management to intelligence sharing—you can not only become compliant but also build a more secure, resilient, and trustworthy organisation. Peace of mind isn’t just about hitting a deadline; it’s about knowing your digital operations are prepared for anything.
