DORA training
DORA training teaches staff at financial institutions how to recognize technology risks and respond to disruptions. The subjects include secure working practices, incident reporting and keeping essential services available. Banks, insurers and other covered financial firms need employees who understand their own responsibilities when systems fail.
Under the Digital Operational Resilience Act, ICT security awareness and resilience training form compulsory modules for staff. The depth of training should match each person's role, while management must keep its knowledge of ICT risk current. Practical exercises help employees apply those responsibilities to outages, security alerts and recovery procedures.
What Article 5 and Article 13 require
DORA has applied since 17 January 2025, and two of its articles deal with training. Under Article 5(4), members of the management body keep up to date with enough knowledge and skills to understand and assess ICT risk and its effect on operations, "including by following specific training on a regular basis". The same article has the management body set aside a budget for ICT security awareness programs and resilience training.
Article 13(6) covers everyone else. ICT security awareness programs and digital operational resilience training are compulsory modules in the staff training scheme, for all employees and for senior management, at a level that fits each function. Where appropriate, ICT third-party service providers take part as well.
Course formats on the market
Most DORA courses for practitioners last one or two days. Frankfurt School of Finance & Management runs a one-day seminar in German, in Frankfurt or online, for people whose work touches the IT of banks, asset managers, insurers and payment service providers. The Frankfurt School DORA seminar covers ICT risk management, incident reporting, resilience testing including threat-led penetration testing, third-party risk, and the link to BAIT, KAIT, VAIT, ZAIT and NIS2.
The TÜV NORD Akademie (in German) teaches a one-day online course for boards, CIOs, CISOs and IT security officers and states that its certificate of attendance documents management training under Article 5(4). For a certificate with an exam, Global Knowledge runs a two-day DORA Foundation course; participants who pass can apply for the credential "PECB Certificate Holder in DORA Foundation".
Upcoming events on DORA and ICT risk
Finance Loop and DORA
Finance Loop runs no DORA certificate course of its own. Finance Loop is the meeting place for IT risk managers, information security officers and compliance staff at banks, insurers and their IT providers. Finance Loop announced KI Exchange 2026 in Hamburg, a conference by Payment & Banking whose program listed DORA compliance, and it co-organized the Frankfurt Quantum Finance Forum with Frankfurt School, the Deutsche Bundesbank and IBM, where quantum risk to cryptography is on the agenda.
Teams that want a session on their own DORA questions can ask for a private workshop through the Finance Loop Academy, in English or German, at their own premises. New dates reach you through the newsletter.
Is DORA training mandatory?
DORA training is mandatory for every financial entity in DORA's scope. Article 13(6) makes resilience training a compulsory module for all employees and senior management, and Article 5(4) asks the members of the management body to train on a regular basis.
What does DORA board training cover?
DORA board training provides enough ICT risk knowledge for the decisions DORA assigns to the management body: approving the ICT risk management framework, setting the budget for resilience and approving the policy on ICT third-party providers. The register of information and incident reporting fall under that responsibility.
Is there an official DORA certification?
Supervisors do not issue DORA certificates, but course providers issue their own: PECB grants a DORA Foundation credential after an exam, and TÜV NORD issues a certificate of attendance. DORA asks for regular training and names no certificate.
How long does DORA training take?
The seminars of Frankfurt School and TÜV NORD take one day, the PECB foundation course two days. Article 5(4) asks for training on a regular basis, so one course does not settle the duty for good.
DORA Training and Finance Loop
Finance Loop brings the people who answer for ICT risk at banks, insurers and payment institutions together with their IT providers. DORA compliance was on the program of KI Exchange 2026, which Finance Loop announced. Finance Loop arranges private workshops for teams in English or German.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.