Navigating DORA Compliance: What Financial Institutions Need to Know

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), effective January 17, 2025, sets a new standard for financial institutions, requiring them to bolster their cybersecurity frameworks and enhance operational resilience. The goal? To ensure critical business processes can withstand disruptions while safeguarding Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems from emerging threats.

Achieving DORA compliance demands more than technical expertise—it requires clear accountability, governance, and the ability to align cybersecurity initiatives with business goals. Here’s how organizations can tackle these challenges effectively and turn compliance into a strategic advantage.

Key Requirements of DORA

1. Establishing Clear Risk Ownership

DORA mandates that financial institutions clearly define and manage cybersecurity risks across all business processes. This includes assigning accountability to risk owners and ensuring they take responsibility for mitigation decisions.

2. Quantifying and Prioritizing ICT Risks

Institutions must assess ICT risks in a way that resonates with business leaders. This involves moving beyond technical risk assessments to present risks in financial terms, enabling informed decision-making.

3. Enhancing Governance Across Business Processes

To maintain resilience, DORA requires a unified approach to governance. This includes monitoring the effectiveness of controls, ensuring regulatory compliance, and fostering cross-functional alignment.

Challenges in Meeting DORA Compliance

Compliance with DORA is no small feat. Organizations often face:

• Fragmented Risk Ownership: Without clear accountability, tracking risks across business units becomes a challenge.

• Difficulty Aligning Risks with Business Objectives: Organizations struggle to bridge the gap between technical cybersecurity measures and measurable business outcomes.

• Limited Insight into Risk Impact: Many institutions lack the tools to quantify and prioritize risks effectively, leading to inefficient resource allocation.

How Derive Supports DORA Compliance

Derive’s Cyber Risk Quantification (CRQ) platform is purpose-built to help financial institutions overcome these challenges and meet DORA’s requirements.

1. Map Business Processes and Assign Accountability

Derive enables organizations to identify and map critical business processes, assigning clear ownership to risk owners. This ensures accountability at every level and creates a culture of responsibility, where decisions are tracked and monitored effectively.

2. Quantify Risks in Financial Terms

Derive transforms traditional risk assessments into actionable insights by quantifying risks in financial terms. This approach enables organizations to understand the potential cost of specific threats and prioritize mitigation strategies that deliver the highest ROI.

3. Align Risks with Business Goals

With Derive, financial institutions can align their risk management efforts with broader business objectives. By linking risks to financial outcomes, Derive empowers decision-makers to invest in strategies that reduce risk while optimizing value.

4. Centralized Governance and Compliance Monitoring

Derive’s platform aggregates risk data across the organization, providing a centralized view of compliance efforts. This streamlines governance, ensuring that controls are effective, risks are mitigated, and DORA requirements are met.

Beyond Compliance: Turning Risk Management into an Advantage

DORA compliance offers more than regulatory alignment—it’s an opportunity to strengthen your organization’s resilience and competitive edge. With Derive, financial institutions can:

• Gain clarity on critical business processes and risks.

• Quantify and prioritize risks to maximize ROI on cybersecurity investments.

• Build a cohesive governance framework to drive accountability and efficiency.

Ready to Simplify DORA Compliance?

Derive bridges the gap between business goals and technical cybersecurity needs. By transforming risk into financial clarity and ensuring accountability across business processes, we help organizations meet DORA compliance and achieve long-term resilience.

Contact us today to learn how Derive can support your compliance journey.

Check out our interactive demo to learn how Derive can help your financial institution navigate DORA and achieve long-term resilience, and then set up time to speak with our experts to see a bespoke demo and answer your questions.