Backups used to be boring. Not anymore. Regulations like DORA, NIS2, and FISMA have arrived – and things have got a lot more interesting.
For a long time, backup and disaster recovery lived quietly in the background. You knew it was important. You had something in place. Maybe you even tested it…. once a year. But now, governments and regulators are paying attention.
And they’re not just asking if you have backups. They want to know, in detail, how fast you can recover, how clean those backups are and what evidence you have to prove it.
Regulations like NIS2, DORA, and FISMA are leading the charge – and if your business touches critical infrastructure, finance, healthcare (or even just supplies companies that do) this matters to you.
Let’s take a look at what’s changing and how you can stay ahead.
So, what are these regulations actually saying?
NIS2 (The EU’s Network & Information Security Directive)
This one landed in October 2024 and has recently dramatically expanded who it applies to. Suddenly, mid-sized companies are on the hook for proving they can respond to and recover from a cyberattack. The key point is that regulators want evidence that your recovery plans work. Not assumptions. Not best efforts. Actual proof.
DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)
This one’s aimed at financial services, but if you sell into that world (or work with a firm that does), you’re likely affected too. DORA demands frequent, real-world testing of recovery systems, not just theoretical policies.
Think ransomware simulations, timed recoveries, and clean-room validations.
FISMA (US Federal Information Security Modernization Act)
Updated to reflect today’s threat landscape, FISMA now requires integrity checks on restored systems. In other words, can you prove your backup isn’t infected before putting it back into production?
Why this matters and what’s at risk?
Let’s cut to the chase. Failing to comply doesn’t just mean a slap on the wrist. It means you face:
- Hefty fines
- Lost business, especially if your customers need you to meet their own compliance needs
- Reputational damage if recovery from an attack takes days (or worse, reintroduces malware)
We’ve seen this play out. More than once. And it’s no longer just a security issue, it’s a board-level conversation.
Recovery Assurance: Your compliance ace in the hole
At Predatar, we believe that the most overlooked part of cybersecurity is what happens after an attack.
That’s where Recovery Assurance comes in. It gives you the confidence—not just that you have backups, but that they actually work, are malware-free and can get you back up and running when it counts.
Even better, it gives you the audit-ready evidence regulators are asking for.
Let’s map that out:
| Regulation | What they want | What Predatar does |
| NIS2 | Proof of working recovery strategy | Automated risk-based recovery testing |
| DORA | Simulated attack recoveries | CleanRoom testing + recovery scoring |
| FISMA | Clean, validated backups | Threat scanning + evidence trails |
No guesswork. No scrambling when an auditor shows up. Just scheduled, reliable, and reportable testing that proves you’re ready.
What should you do next?
If any of this has your attention, here are some practical steps:
- Find out which regulations apply to you (or your biggest customers).
- Review how often you test your backups and how real those tests are.
- Ask yourself: could we prove we’re compliant if asked tomorrow?
- Let’s talk. We make this process simple.
Wrapping it up
Regulators aren’t just looking for cybersecurity best practices anymore. They want real-world readiness. The ability to recover, quickly and cleanly, with proof to back it up.
That’s where Recovery Assurance fits in. And that’s where Predatar can help.
If you’d like to see how Predatar supports customers navigating these changes, get in touch today, and if you know some that needs a nudge, don’t forget to share this post with them.
