How to Simplify Secrets Management for DORA, C5 and NIS2 Compliance

Read full article here: https://www.akeyless.io/blog/simplifying-secrets-management-for-compliance-dora-c5-and-nis2/?utm_source=nhimg

As regulations tighten across Europe, secrets management has become central to compliance and cyber resilience. Frameworks like DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act), C5 (Cloud Computing Compliance Controls Catalog), and NIS2 (Network and Information Systems Directive) all emphasize strong identity, access, and data protection practices. At the heart of these requirements lie secrets, API keys, tokens, passwords, and encryption keys that power critical systems and services.

Why Secrets Management is a Compliance Priority

• Secrets are everywhere - in scripts, CI/CD pipelines, cloud workloads, and SaaS integrations. Mismanagement leads to credential leaks, unauthorized access, and insider threats.
  
• Compliance mandates are explicit - Regulations demand encrypted credentials, strict access governance, and provable audit trails.
• Operational resilience depends on it - Automated rotation, just-in-time credentials, and continuous monitoring reduce risks and accelerate recovery from incidents.

How Secrets Management Supports Key Regulations

• DORA - Enhances ICT risk management with centralized credential control, encrypted storage, automated rotation, and detailed audit logs to meet reporting obligations.

• C5 - Meets cloud compliance standards by enforcing strong identity and access controls, securing secrets across dynamic environments, and protecting against credential exposure in automation pipelines.

• NIS2 - Strengthens resilience through encryption, risk management policies, fast incident reporting (within 24–72 hours), and supply chain security, all enabled by centralized, automated secrets management.

Unified Compliance Through Akeyless

Akeyless delivers a unified secrets and machine identity management platform purpose-built for compliance. Key features include:

• Zero-Knowledge Encryption (DFC™) – ensuring only customers can access their secrets.
• Just-in-Time & Automated Rotation – eliminating long-lived credentials and reducing attack windows.
• Centralized Audit Logs – simplifying reporting for DORA and NIS2.
• Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Support – standardizing controls across diverse environments.

The Bottom Line

Secrets management is the connective tissue between compliance and resilience. By securing machine and workload credentials, organizations can meet the strictest requirements of DORA, C5, and NIS2 while strengthening their overall security posture.

With Akeyless, compliance leaders gain proactive risk mitigation, simplified audits, and scalable controls, future-proofing their organizations against both regulatory scrutiny and real-world cyber threats.