The financial sector in Europe continues to face an ever-growing wave of cyberattacks, with adversaries playing a pivotal role in the economy. In 2023, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) reported a 65% increase in ransomware attacks targeting financial institutions. These attacks frequently exploited vulnerabilities in outdated IT systems and digital payment platforms — disrupting services and compromising sensitive data.
More recently, the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR 2024) revealed that 74% of breaches in the financial sector were financially motivated with attackers focusing data compromise and operational sabotage. Phishing remains the principal attack vector for adversaries accounting for almost 50% of successful breaches in European banks. These campaigns are leveraging artificial intelligence to deploy sophisticated social engineering tactics that deceive employees and grant unauthorized access to systems.
The surge in ransomware incidents is another pressing challenge. Financial institutions have experienced a 40% year-over-year increase in such attacks, with double-extortion tactics becoming commonplace.
Supply chain risks should also not be ignored. If frameworks are not aligned, they can significantly impact an organization’s operations. This can add further complexity to the cybersecurity landscape. However, it can help leverage discussions on how affiliates should be working together toward a more stronger cyber security posture. This fact is further strengthened by the DBIR, which states that 55% of breaches in the financial sector were tied to third-party compromises. Similarly, the Mastercard Cybersecurity Report (2024) revealed that over 60% of European financial institutions encountered operational disruptions due to third-party vulnerabilities. As financial organizations are increasingly adopting the use of external ICT (information and communication technology services) providers to support them. Perhaps in holding sensitive data, hosting applications or maintaining network infrastructure. Stringent monitoring and conducting risk management of these partnerships is critical.
The escalating volume and sophistication of cyber threats underscore the necessity for comprehensive cybersecurity frameworks. The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) offers a regulatory blueprint to address these challenges, mandating stronger defenses, robust third-party oversight, and improved cyber resilience across the financial sector.
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) was introduced by the European Union to create an aligned approach to managing operational resilience in the financial sector. It sets clear standards to help reduce systemic risks and ensure that financial institutions can withstand and recover from ICT-related disruptions.
Key Focus Areas Under DORA
Achieving compliance with DORA requires advanced solutions that streamline risk management, automate incident handling, and enable organizations to respond effectively to emerging threats.
Gurucul’s REVEAL platform integrates machine learning, advanced behavioural analytics, and automation. This can help organizations address challenges with overall system visibility, risk mitigation, incident response, and resilience testing.
One of DORA’s foundational principles is ensuring comprehensive visibility into IT environments to detect vulnerabilities and suspicious activities before they escalate. Gurucul’s REVEAL platform provides real-time monitoring across on-premises, cloud-based, and hybrid systems. Leveraging AI-driven behavioural analytics – organizations can identify anomalies in user and system activity that could be indicative of potential threats. This proactive approach can help uncover blind spots while providing the means to take immediate action to help meet DORA’s stringent monitoring requirements.
ICT risk management is at the heart of DORA’s framework. Gurucul’s REVEAL platform uses User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) to detect deviations from normal activity patterns such as unauthorized access attempts or suspicious data transfers. It assigns dynamic risk scores to users, devices, and third-party vendors. This will empower financial institutions to prioritize and address high-risk scenarios first. Ensuring they stay ahead of potential breaches and work toward reducing operational and reputational risks.
Incident detection and reporting are critical components of DORA compliance. Gurucul automates the incident response lifecycle, from identifying threats to mitigating their impact. The platform can help organizations investigate incidents in-depth, trace their origins, and assess their scope quickly.
Pre-configured response playbooks can also be utilized for containment and recovery. While compliance dashboards simplify regulatory reporting by providing detailed and timely updates to meet DORA’s reporting deadlines.
Gurucul’s REVEAL platform continuously monitors for vulnerabilities and uses predictive analytics to anticipate potential attacks. By integrating threat intelligence feeds, the platform ensures organizations are equipped with the latest information about emerging risks. As a result, automated workflows and response mechanisms minimize downtime by enabling rapid containment and restoration of affected systems. This level of resilience is critical for maintaining operational continuity and meeting DORA’s expectations for cyber preparedness.
DORA emphasizes the importance of regular testing to assess an organization’s ability to withstand cyber threats. Gurucul enables financial institutions to conduct advanced resilience exercises, including simulated attack scenarios, penetration tests, and stress tests. These simulations uncover system vulnerabilities and provide actionable recommendations to improve defenses. With real-time dashboards, security teams can track the effectiveness of these tests and adapt strategies as new threats emerge, ensuring continuous alignment with DORA’s requirements
The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) marks a significant milestone in the European financial sector’s approach to cybersecurity. Helping organizations to be better prepared to navigate todays threat landscape.
Gurucul’s REVEAL platform can help financial institutions to work toward DORA’s key requirements by delivering enhanced visibility, dynamic risk management, and streamlined reporting. Gurucul not only simplifies compliance but also helps build a proactive and future-ready cybersecurity infrastructure.
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Contact Gurucul today to learn how we can help you achieve your goals.
