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BackDORA compliance – How financial entities can comply with SOC support
DORA is not just another compliance project but the new operational minimum of the financial sector: banks, insurers and financial service providers have to prove that they can recover and keep operating even in the event of a cyberattack or a technology failure.
DORA is not just another compliance project but the new operational minimum of the financial sector. For banks, insurers and financial service providers it is no longer enough to maintain “good IT security” — they have to prove that they can recover, operate and provide their services even in the event of a cyberattack or a technology failure. In practice this means that digital resilience is no longer a concept that exists on paper, but a daily operational requirement. And DORA compliance requires an operational discipline that many organisations can only sustain with external support.
1. What is DORA, who does it apply to, and why does it matter to financial entities?
DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) is the EU regulation, mandatory since 17 January 2025, that governs the digital operational resilience of the financial sector. Its aim is to create a uniform, mandatory and auditable framework for managing ICT (Information and Communication Technology) risks. This is critical because the financial sector is now built entirely on digital infrastructure, so even a single technology failure or attack can cause system-wide disruption. DORA is meant to reduce this risk.
DORA applies to every financial entity in the EU, including:
- Banks and credit institutions
- Insurers and reinsurers
- Investment firms
- Payment and e-money service providers
- Critical ICT providers (for example cloud providers).
DORA therefore regulates not only financial institutions but the whole ecosystem.
2. What are the consequences of non-compliance?
In Hungary, the DORA compliance of financial institutions is supervised primarily by the Central Bank of Hungary (MNB), but the system works on several levels: national and EU supervisors (EBA, ESMA, EIOPA) ensure compliance together.
Violating DORA has serious financial, operational and reputational consequences. Supervisors have been actively checking compliance since 2025, and the sanctions are not symbolic.
- Fines of up to 2% of annual turnover — in the financial sector this can mean penalties in the billions. The goal is not punishment but enforcing compliance.
- Suspension or modification of services — the supervisor may even prohibit certain operational elements if they do not meet the resilience requirements.
- The risk of critical ICT providers — if a supplier (for example the cloud provider) fails the EU authority’s assessment, it can endanger the operation of the whole financial entity.
- Reputational damage and customer loss — a DORA incident becoming public can cause a significant loss of trust in the financial service provider concerned.
Non-compliance is therefore not only a legal but also a business risk.
3. What tasks does DORA impose on financial entities?
The 5 pillars
DORA divides the compliance requirements into five major areas. Together they form the framework of digital resilience, and each of them requires continuous operation, not a one-off project.
01/05
ICT risk management
The risks of critical systems have to be assessed and continuously evaluated, along documented and auditable processes.
02/05
ICT incident management and reporting
Major incidents have to be classified, reported urgently and documented in a detailed final report.
03/05
Digital operational resilience testing
Regular resilience tests, mandatory TLPT every three years and realistic attack simulations prove the effectiveness of the defences.
04/05
ICT third-party risk management
The financial entity is responsible for the risks of its cloud and other ICT providers too — contractual and supply-chain transparency is required.
05/05
Information sharing (CTI)
Up-to-date threat intelligence and industry-level data sharing strengthen the common resilience of the sector.
4. How can financial entities prepare for DORA?
Preparation consists of four main steps, and each of them is critical to compliance.
Gap analysis — The organisation has to assess where it stands now against the DORA requirements. This step sets the direction and the priorities of the whole project.
Establishing risk management and incident management processes — DORA expects not only documentation but working processes. Assigning roles and responsibilities is key here.
Introducing technology solutions — SIEM, SOAR, EDR, CTI — without these, real-time resilience cannot be maintained. Technology ensures fast response and auditability.
Ensuring continuous operation — DORA compliance is not a project but an operating model. 24/7 monitoring and regular testing are essential.
5. How can a SOC support DORA compliance?
The operation of a SOC (Security Operations Center) maps almost perfectly onto the controls prescribed by DORA. And the SOCaaS model allows financial entities to ensure compliance as continuous operation, not as a one-off project.
How does the SOC support the 5 pillars?
01/05
ICT risk management
- Continuous log analysis — the SOC watches network and application events in real time. This allows risks to be recognised early.
- Real-time alerts — the SOC flags suspicious activity immediately. This reduces the impact of attacks.
- Identifying risk trends — the SOC analysts also examine long-term patterns. This helps strategic risk management.
02/05
Incident management and reporting
- Automated incident prioritisation — the SOC quickly decides which events are critical. This is key to meeting the early reporting obligation.
- Fast response — the SOC shortens the duration of service outages.
- Auditable documentation — every step is logged and traceable. This makes it easier to prepare supervisory reports.
03/05
Digital operational resilience testing
- Collecting attack patterns — the SOC models real threats based on CTI data.
- TLPT support — the SOC provides the logs and evidence needed for the tests.
- Attack simulations — the SOC takes part in the exercises and helps uncover weak points.
04/05
Third-party oversight
- Monitoring cloud and other ICT providers — the SOC watches the activity of suppliers as well. This is especially important because of DORA's strict supplier requirements.
- Supporting contractual compliance — SOC data help prove the performance of suppliers.
- Transparency of the risk chain — the SOC can integrate data from several sources.
05/05
Information sharing
- CTI integration — the SOC uses several threat intelligence sources. This increases the organisation's ability to anticipate.
- Sharing IoCs and threat patterns — the SOC supports industry cooperation.
- Processing threat feeds — the SOC analyses incoming threat information automatically.
6. Summary
DORA is the new operational foundation of the financial sector. Compliance is not optional, and it is not a one-off project — it requires continuous operational resilience. For banks and insurers the biggest challenge is not understanding the rules, but sustaining 24/7, auditable, technology-intensive operation.
A SOC can provide this operation most cost-effectively:
- faster incident handling
- audit-ready documentation
- oversight of supplier risks
- TLPT support
- real-time risk monitoring.
So the question is not whether a SOC is needed, but: an in-house SOC or SOC as a Service?
Frequently Asked Questions
To every financial entity in the EU: banks and credit institutions, insurers and reinsurers, investment firms, payment and e-money service providers, and also to critical ICT third-party providers such as cloud providers. It has been mandatory since 17 January 2025.
ICT risk management, ICT incident management and reporting, digital operational resilience testing (including TLPT every three years), ICT third-party risk management, and information sharing on cyber threats. Each of them requires continuous operation, not a one-off project.
A SOC provides continuous log analysis and real-time alerts for risk management, prioritises and documents incidents for the reporting obligation, supplies the logs and evidence for resilience tests and TLPT, monitors the activity of ICT suppliers, and processes threat intelligence. As a service (SOCaaS), it turns compliance into a continuous operating model.
SOC service from Andrews
Andrews has developed a simple and affordable SOC service that ensures regulatory compliance with DORA. Not least, it significantly strengthens the protection of financial entities against cyber threats.
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