What is the Digital Operational Resilience Act?

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a European Union regulation that, since its entry into force on January 17, 2025, unifies the management of technological risks in the financial sector.

Its objective is to harmonize information and communication technology (ICT) risk management standards across the EU to strengthen the stability of the financial system through robust cybersecurity and operational continuity measures.

What are the fundamental pillars of DORA?

ICT risk management and governance

DORA requires financial institutions to establish robust ICT risk management frameworks under the direct supervision of the management body. Managers must keep their knowledge of cyber threats up to date and ensure that appropriate protective measures are implemented.

Signaturit Group meets these requirements through ISO 27001 certification and compliance with the NIS2 Directive, ensuring international security standards. The platform implements continuous vulnerability assessments and advanced encryption systems that protect data integrity throughout the document lifecycle.

DORA’s technical regulatory standards require full traceability of ICT operations. Signaturit provides detailed audit trails that document each transaction, ensuring full compliance with the law.

Incident notification and management

DORA regulations establish strict notification obligations that require significant ICT-related incidents to be reported to the competent authorities within a maximum of 24 hours.

Signaturit Group has developed specific protocols that ensure compliance with these critical time requirements. The platform maintains 99.95% availability and provides 24-hour priority support to resolve outages that may affect the operations of its financial sector customers.

Appropriate mechanisms implemented include hotlines for critical incidents and contractual reporting tools that significantly reduce compliance burdens.

This infrastructure enables financial institutions to meet notification deadlines while maintaining the continuity of their essential digital services.

Third-party supplier risk management

Financial institutions must rigorously evaluate contractual agreements with their ICT suppliers to comply with Article 30 of DORA. This regulation requires complete transparency in security practices and active supervision of subcontractors handling critical functions.

Signaturit Group facilitates this compliance through contracts that include specific provisions on data protection and immediate assistance in incident management.

The specific contractual agreements established by Signaturit incorporate the additional level clauses required by DORA: detailed descriptions of the level of service, robust contingency plans, and clearly defined exit strategies.

This contractual structure ensures that entities maintain full control over their critical suppliers while complying with regulatory requirements for continuous supervision.

Exchange of information on cyber threats

DORA actively promotes collaboration between financial institutions to share intelligence on cyber threats and detected vulnerabilities. This voluntary exchange strengthens the sector’s collective defenses through shared knowledge of attack tactics and effective mitigation strategies.

The Signaturit platform incorporates advanced security data collection and analysis capabilities that feed into these collaborative mechanisms. Through secure exchange protocols, entities can access up-to-date intelligence on emerging vulnerabilities while maintaining the required confidentiality.

This collaborative architecture significantly reduces response times to new threats and improves the preventive preparedness of the European financial ecosystem.

When does the DORA Regulation come into force?

The DORA Regulation came into force on January 17, 2025, marking a definitive milestone for digital operational resilience in Europe. Financial institutions had a two-year implementation period from its official publication in December 2022.

Currently, all organizations in the financial sector must fully comply with its provisions. This timeframe allowed institutions to adapt their ICT systems and establish the necessary controls for comprehensive technological risk management.

Financial institutions affected by DORA

DORA applies to more than 20 types of organizations in the European financial ecosystem, including banks, insurance companies, and investment firms. It also covers emerging sectors such as crypto-asset providers, crowdfunding platforms, credit rating agencies, trading venues, central depositories, and fund managers.

Cybersecurity requirements under DORA

Internal control and governance frameworks

Financial institutions must implement transparent organizational structures that integrate change management and specialized training for employees in digital resilience. These frameworks require a clear definition of responsibilities at all organizational levels, ensuring that each department understands its active role in protecting ICT systems.

Signaturit Group contributes to this objective through solutions that incorporate identity verification, document control, and electronic signatures within an integrated security ecosystem. The platform facilitates the implementation of internal escalation procedures and provides auditable evidence of all processed transactions.

The continuous monitoring controls established by Signaturit enable organizations to demonstrate regulatory compliance to supervisory authorities. This control architecture reduces administrative burden while strengthening organizational responsiveness to emerging risks.

Business continuity policies

Financial institutions must conduct annual business impact analyses (BIA) to assess exposure to severe disruptions in accordance with DORA requirements. These analyses identify essential functions and establish recovery time objectives for each critical ICT system.

Signaturit automates the documentation of these processes through immutable records that demonstrate operational continuity during disruptions. The platform maintains complete redundancy of essential components, ensuring that electronic signature operations remain available even during critical incidents.

Integrated recovery plans allow digital services to be restored within the timeframes established by each entity. This capability is essential to comply with the mandatory annual tests required by DORA to validate the effectiveness of business continuity strategies.

Incident response protocols

Financial organizations need early detection mechanisms that identify ICT disruptions in real time and activate immediate escalation procedures. These systems allow incidents to be classified according to their severity and effective responses to be coordinated with the competent authorities within the 24-hour timeframe established by DORA.

Signaturit Group operates advanced continuous monitoring protocols that automatically detect operational anomalies. The platform includes 24-hour assistance for critical incidents, minimizing the impact on customer operations through immediate response and effective resolution.

The procedures incorporate complete traceability of each event, from initial identification to final resolution. This detailed documentation facilitates subsequent analysis and strengthens preparedness for future threats, complying with the interim reporting requirements that supervisory authorities demand during the management of significant incidents.

What does operational resilience mean in practice?

Digital operational resilience is achieved when organizations maintain essential services during technological disruptions. A bank suffering a cyberattack can continue to process critical payments thanks to redundant systems and automated recovery protocols.

Signaturit’s tools demonstrate this capability through distributed architectures that ensure continuous availability. During security incidents, the solution automatically activates backup centers while documenting each transaction for subsequent audits.

Business impact analyses reveal that resilient organizations recover operations in minutes, not hours. This capability is critical when supervisory authorities assess regulatory compliance and preparedness for emerging threats to the European financial ecosystem.

ICT supplier management according to DORA

Critical third-party risk assessment

Financial institutions need to verify that their critical ICT suppliers comply with ISO 27001 certifications and maintain incident response capabilities in accordance with DORA standards. This process includes mandatory annual audits that assess the operational robustness of each external supplier.

Signaturit Group demonstrates its compliance through up-to-date security certifications and comprehensive documentation of its resilience protocols. The company provides detailed reports on its data protection measures, continuity plans, and recovery capabilities that entities can submit directly to the competent authorities.

Contracts with Signaturit incorporate specific termination and data portability clauses that protect financial institutions from potential disruptions. This contractual structure allows customers to comply with continuous supervision requirements while maintaining full operational flexibility.

Direct supervision of essential providers

DORA establishes that the lead supervisors of the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) exercise direct supervision over ICT providers considered critical at the European level. This framework allows for mandatory annual assessments, specific inspections, and the imposition of administrative penalties that can reach 1% of the provider’s average daily global turnover.

Signaturit Group facilitates this process through transparent information exchange with the competent authorities and comprehensive documentation of its operating protocols. The platform maintains detailed records that allow supervisors to verify regulatory compliance in real time, ensuring that financial institutions maintain continuous access to essential services under effective regulatory supervision.

How Signaturit Group facilitates DORA compliance

Security certifications and standards

Signaturit Group has ISO 27001 certifications that demonstrate the implementation of a robust information security management system, ensuring the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of critical data. Our accreditations include the National Security Scheme (ENS), reinforcing our commitment to data protection and operational resilience as required by Spanish authorities.

The company operates under the eIDAS Regulation as a Qualified Trust Service Provider, establishing a solid framework for secure digital transactions. Signaturit undergoes rigorous audits and complies with ETSI technical standards, ensuring full compliance with the ICT risk management requirements established by DORA.

The protocols implemented allow for the rapid detection and resolution of technological disruptions, complying with 24-hour incident reporting obligations. This certified infrastructure positions Signaturit as a reliable strategic partner for financial institutions seeking effective digital operational resilience.

Certified archiving and data retention

Signaturit Group implements a qualified preservation system that ensures the extended legal validity of digital documents through advanced certified archiving technologies. Integrated mechanisms include tamper-resistant storage and cryptographic sealing that protects document integrity for decades.

Automated retention policies facilitate compliance with DORA mandates for audits and record keeping. This architecture allows financial institutions to maintain complete traceability of transactions while complying with the retention periods required by European supervisory authorities.

The platform centralizes identity verification, document control, electronic signatures, and retention in a single solution. This integration reduces operational complexity and strengthens responsiveness to regulatory requirements, positioning organizations to exceed the data retention demands that DORA establishes for the financial ecosystem.

Complete traceability of digital processes

Each digital transaction generates an immutable audit trail that documents the signer’s identity, certified timestamp, and geographic location of the process. Biometric data from the device is automatically captured when technology allows, creating a unique fingerprint for each operation.

Multi-factor authentication records all access attempts, while end-to-end encryption protects the integrity of these records during transmission and storage. Detailed logs allow any process to be reconstructed from start to finish, meeting the network security requirements established by DORA.

During operational incidents, these records facilitate the rapid identification of vulnerabilities and the implementation of corrective measures. The ability to track every action taken ensures full transparency with supervisory authorities, demonstrating ongoing compliance with European digital resilience standards.

Signaturit Group solutions for operational resilience

Legally valid electronic signatures

Signaturit Group’s electronic signatures strictly comply with the eIDAS Regulation and the specific requirements of DORA, ensuring full legal validity in digital financial transactions. Each signature incorporates electronic seals and audit trails that guarantee authenticity, integrity, and non-repudiation according to the most demanding standards.

The platform generates probative documents that include detailed information on signer identity, geolocation, and certified time stamps. This documentation is essential to demonstrate to the competent authorities that the signing processes maintain the legal certainty required by European regulations.

Signaturit operates as a Qualified Trust Service Provider, subject to regular audits that verify ongoing compliance with DORA. This certification allows financial institutions to fully trust the validity of their digital transactions, reducing operational risks and facilitating regulatory compliance with future supervisory requirements.

Robust identification and biometric verification

Signaturit Group integrates advanced liveness detection systems that analyze facial features and micro-expressions in real time to prevent fraud using deepfakes and static photographs. The platform monitors physiological parameters such as heart rate variations and eye movements, creating biometric authentication that reinforces the authenticity of the signer.

These artificial intelligence technologies align directly with the access control mandates established by DORA, preventing unauthorized access to critical systems. Biometric verification actively contributes to ICT risk management by ensuring that only authorized users access sensitive data.

The algorithms implemented process biometric information under strict data protection policies, simultaneously complying with DORA regulations and the eIDAS framework. This technological architecture positions financial institutions to demonstrate effective operational resilience to European supervisory authorities.

Benefits of partnering with Signaturit Group

Collaboration with Signaturit Group guarantees 99.95% availability of systems, ensuring uninterrupted operational continuity for financial institutions. Our technical support operates 24 hours a day, providing immediate response to any incident that could compromise the digital resilience required by DORA.

Complete data sovereignty allows organizations to maintain total control over their critical information, complying with the reversibility requirements established by European regulations. Advanced encryption protocols and periodic vulnerability assessments strengthen the defensive position against emerging cyber threats.

As investment companies and other entities in the financial sector require specialized tools, our DTM 360º platform centralizes all digital document management processes. This integration significantly reduces operating costs while improving efficiency in regulatory compliance with the relevant European authorities.