DORA
EU regulation for digital operational resilience in financial sector
NERC CIP
Mandatory standards for BES cybersecurity and reliability.
Quick Verdict
DORA mandates ICT resilience for EU finance, requiring risk frameworks and TLPT, while NERC CIP enforces BES cyber protection for North American utilities via perimeters and audits. Organizations adopt them for mandatory compliance, systemic risk mitigation, and operational reliability.
DORA
Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, Digital Operational Resilience Act
Key Features
- Mandates comprehensive ICT risk management frameworks for financial entities
- Requires 4-hour initial reporting for major ICT incidents
- Enforces triennial threat-led penetration testing (TLPT)
- Oversees critical third-party ICT providers (CTPPs)
- Harmonizes resilience across 20 EU financial entity types
NERC CIP
NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection Standards
Key Features
- Risk-based BES Cyber System impact categorization
- Electronic and physical security perimeters
- 35-day patch evaluation and monitoring cadence
- Mandatory incident response and annual audits
- Supply chain cybersecurity risk management
Detailed Analysis
A comprehensive look at the specific requirements, scope, and impact of each standard.
DORA Details
What It Is
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), formally Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, is a transformative EU regulation. It bolsters digital operational resilience for the financial sector against ICT disruptions like cyberattacks and third-party failures. Applicable to 20 financial entity types and critical ICT providers, DORA uses a risk-based, proportional approach with pillars including risk management, testing, and oversight.
Key Components
Core elements encompass ICT risk frameworks for identifying/mitigating risks, incident reporting (4-hour initial notifications for major events), resilience testing (annual basics, triennial TLPT), and third-party oversight for CTPPs via due diligence and ESAs supervision. Built on harmonized standards, it enforces compliance through reporting and fines up to 2% of turnover, without traditional certification.
Why Organizations Use It
DORA is legally mandatory for ~22,000 EU entities to avert penalties amid rising threats (74% ransomware hit). It mitigates systemic risks, enhances trust, harmonizes rules, and drives cybersecurity investments like €10-15B EU-wide spend.
Implementation Overview
Involves gap analyses, framework development, testing programs, vendor mapping. Tailored by size/complexity; full application January 17, 2025. Requires audits, simulations, but proportionality aids smaller firms. (178 words)
NERC CIP Details
What It Is
NERC Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards are mandatory reliability regulations developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). They protect the Bulk Electric System (BES) from cyber and physical threats that could cause misoperation or instability. The approach is risk-based tiering, categorizing BES Cyber Systems as High, Medium, or Low impact.
Key Components
- Core standards: CIP-002 to CIP-014 covering scoping, governance, personnel, perimeters, system security, incident response, recovery, and supply chain.
- 13+ standards with requirements like 35-day patching, 15-month reviews.
- Built on audit-enforced compliance via FERC; no certification but mandatory audits.
Why Organizations Use It
- Legal mandate for BES owners/operators to avoid fines up to $1M+ per violation.
- Enhances grid reliability, reduces outage risks, lowers insurance costs.
- Builds stakeholder trust, enables market access.
Implementation Overview
- Phased: scoping, gap analysis, controls, audits.
- Targets utilities in US/Canada/Mexico; complex for large operators.
- Involves annual audits by NERC/Regional Entities.
Key Differences
| Aspect | DORA | NERC CIP |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | ICT risk mgmt, resilience testing, third-party oversight | BES cyber systems protection, perimeters, incident response |
| Industry | EU financial entities/services | North American electric utilities |
| Nature | Mandatory EU regulation | Mandatory reliability standards |
| Testing | Annual basic, triennial TLPT | Annual audits, 15/36-mo vulnerability assessments |
| Penalties | 2% global turnover fines | Million-dollar fines per violation |
Scope
Industry
Nature
Testing
Penalties
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about DORA and NERC CIP
DORA FAQ
NERC CIP FAQ
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