Certified DORA Risk Director (C-DORA RD) Exam Voucher

DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) is a new European framework that focuses on embedding a more robust and resilient approach to delivering digital capabilities in financial markets. 

The framework’s purpose is to help financial services companies ensure they can maintain resilient operations through severe operational disruption caused by cyber security and ICT issues.

The DORA risk management framework builds on previous industry-specific guidelines and introduces a single consistent supervisory approach. It aims to harmonise security and resilience practices across financial services companies operating in the EU and their ICT providers. 

DORA applies to more than 22,000 financial entities and ICT service providers operating within the EU, as well as the ICT infrastructure supporting them from outside the EU. The Act introduces specific and prescriptive requirements for all financial market participants including (but not limited to) banks, investment companies, insurance undertakings and intermediaries, crypto asset providers, data reporting providers and Cloud service providers.

DORA defines requirements around consistent ICT risk management, comprehensive resilience testing capabilities (including threat-led penetration testing) and third-party risk management, ensuring a consistent provision of services across the entire value chain.

The five key topics at the centre of DORA are:    

• ICT risk management;
• Reporting on ICT-related incidents;
• Digital operational resilience testing;
• Management of third-party risk; and
• Information and intelligence sharing. 

The Act is unique in introducing an EU-wide oversight framework on critical ICT third-party providers, as designated by the European supervisory authorities. 

DORA entered into force on 16 January 2023. With a two-year implementation period, financial entities will be expected to be compliant with the Act by early 2025. Audits and inspections could happen before the compliance deadline and may be conducted by the same auditors that judge compliance with other regulatory standards.

There are no prerequisites for this exam.

• Senior managers and directors in financial-sector organisations with accountability for their organisation’s DORA compliance.
• Senior managers and directors in MSPs (managed service providers) and ICT services companies that serve financial-sector organisations operating in the EU and who, therefore, are also accountable for cooperation along their supply chain and for DORA compliance.
• People interested in a career at senior vice president, director or board level in or serving the financial services sector.
• People committed to their continuing professional development with an interest in cyber security best practice.