{"id":17016,"date":"2025-06-17T07:38:49","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T05:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teamwire.eu\/en\/blog\/2025\/06\/17\/dora-digital-operational-resilience-act-what-banks-insurers-and-it-service-providers-need-to-know\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T11:00:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T10:00:46","slug":"dora-digital-operational-resilience-act-what-banks-insurers-and-it-service-providers-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teamwire.eu\/en\/blog\/dora-digital-operational-resilience-act-what-banks-insurers-and-it-service-providers-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act): What banks, insurers, and IT service providers need to know now"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

More than just another law<\/span><\/h2>\n

A horror scenario: a targeted cyberattack paralyzes your IT systems<\/strong>. Payment transactions, customer portals, internal communication \u2013 everything comes to a standstill. Meanwhile, supervisory authorities are expecting detailed reports in a few hours. Customers are getting restless. Your reputation is at stake. Your license may be too.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EU has created the DORA Digital Operational Resilience Act<\/strong> precisely for such scenarios. The new law has been mandatory since January 2025<\/strong>. And it imposes stricter requirements for the digital operational stability of banks, insurance companies, financial service providers, and their IT partners.<\/span><\/p>\n

DORA goes much further than previous regulations: For the first time, all players in the digital supply chain are held accountable<\/strong> \u2013 from management to the IT department to external service providers.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what exactly does DORA require? And how can companies implement the new requirements in practice?<\/span><\/p>\n

In this article, you will get a clear overview<\/strong> and learn how Teamwire can help you to meet the new requirements efficiently.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) has been in force since January 2023 and has been mandatory since January 17, 2025<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The aim:<\/span><\/p>\n

Financial companies must set up their systems in a way that ensures they remain functional even in the event of the most severe IT disruptions and attacks<\/strong>. For the first time, DORA makes not only banks and insurers, but also their entire IT service providers, responsible.<\/span><\/p>\n

This places the entire digital supply chain under a uniform European regulatory framework<\/strong> \u2013 a first in the financial sector. The aim is to mitigate systemic risks and enhance confidence in the stability of the European financial system<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The five pillars of DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)<\/span><\/h2>\n

DORA Compliance Pillar 1: ICT risk management<\/span><\/h3>\n

Financial companies must record, asses, and manage their ICT risks holistically<\/strong>. This includes preventive security measures, emergency plans, clear responsibilities, and processes to maintain business operations even in the event of serious incidents.<\/span><\/p>\n

DORA Compliance Pillar 2: Handling ICT incidents<\/span><\/h3>\n

All serious IT incidents must be reported and documented immediately<\/strong>. Companies must establish early warning systems. They also require robust processes to analyze and evaluate incidents and report them to supervisory authorities within tight deadlines.<\/span><\/p>\n

DORA Compliance Pillar 3: Regular digital resilience tests<\/span><\/h3>\n

Regular stress tests<\/strong> check how crisis-proof and resilient systems, processes, and organizations are. In addition to technical stress tests (known as penetration tests), simulations of complex crisis scenarios also play a key role in comprehensively assessing resilience.<\/span><\/p>\n

DORA Compliance Pillar 4: Management of third-party risks<\/span><\/h3>\n

IT service providers who provide critical systems are increasingly coming into focus. Their selection, monitoring, and ongoing evaluation<\/strong> are becoming an integral part of company-wide risk management. This also means that contracts with third-party providers must be concluded in accordance with DORA specifications. Dependencies must be identified and managed following the established rules.<\/span><\/p>\n

DORA Compliance Pillar 5: Sharing information about cyber threats<\/span><\/h3>\n

The structured sharing of relevant vulnerabilities, threats, and incidents<\/strong> among financial actors fosters the collective resilience of the entire sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

By the way, the article <\/span><\/i>“End-to-end encryption: secure or deceptive?”<\/span><\/i><\/a> may also be of interest to you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Who does DORA apply to?<\/span><\/h2>\n

DORA applies across the board to almost all players in the European financial sector<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Banks, insurance companies, investment firms, payment service providers, fund companies, stock exchanges, and crypto service providers.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that’s not all:<\/span><\/p>\n

The DORA Digital Operational Resilience Act is also particularly relevant for IT and communications service providers that act as critical third-party providers for financial institutions. These so-called ICT third-party service providers<\/strong> will also be subject to regulation in the future if they provide systems, networks, or communication platforms that are crucial for the business continuity of their customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Numerous public authorities, municipal financial administrations, and municipal providers of financial services<\/strong> may also be covered by the regulation if they provide corresponding services or use external ICT service providers.<\/span><\/p>\n

For some of these providers, DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) creates an additional compliance challenge beyond the <\/span>NIS 2 requirements<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why secure communication is a central component of DORA<\/span><\/h2>\n

Even the best IT infrastructure is of little use if communication breaks down in an emergency. Especially in crises, secure and stable communication becomes a crucial pillar of digital resilience<\/strong>. Managers, IT departments, supervisory authorities, and external partners must be able to communicate with each other smoothly, quickly, and, above all, securely in the event of incidents.<\/span><\/p>\n

A cyberattack, for example, requires companies to submit reports to supervisory authorities within tight deadlines<\/strong>. At the same time, internal crisis teams must be activated, measures must be coordinated, and affected systems must be secured. No time should be lost, and sensitive information should never be exchanged via insecure communication channels, such as email, insecure messengers, or unprotected cloud systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even in the event of technical failures, such as when networks or IT systems are compromised, emergency teams must remain capable of communicating effectively<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is where Teamwire comes into play: as a specialized business messenger for critical infrastructures and highly regulated industries<\/strong>, Teamwire closes precisely this gap.<\/span><\/p>\n

How Teamwire supports organizations with DORA compliance<\/span><\/h2>\n

Teamwire was developed with a clear focus on providing organizations in highly sensitive and regulated areas such as the financial sector, critical infrastructure, public safety, and healthcare with a (fail) secure and GDPR-compliant communication platform with special emergency functions<\/strong>. Teamwire thus covers numerous requirements resulting from the specifications of the DORA Digital Operational Resilience Act:<\/span><\/p>\n