Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident and Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Central Bank of Ireland Portal

January 2025
Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT￾related Incident and Significant Cyber Threat Report(s) on the Central Bank of Ireland Portal

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 2 Contents
1 Glossary of Terms & Abbreviations .........................................................................4
2 Checklist............................................................................................................................5
3 Overview...........................................................................................................................6
3.1 Purpose of This Guidance..........................................................................................................6
4 Portal Information .........................................................................................................7
4.1 Inactivity.........................................................................................................................................7
4.2 Internet Browser..........................................................................................................................7
4.3 Logging In .......................................................................................................................................7
4.4 User Permissions..........................................................................................................................7
5 Major ICT-related Incident Reporting ....................................................................9
5.1 How to Submit an Initial DORA Major ICT-related Notification...................................9
5.1.1 Complete the Reporting Template..................................................................................9
5.1.2 Create a New Major Incident Report on the Portal ...................................................9
5.1.3 Naming Convention for the DORA Major Incident Report.................... …………..11
5.1.4 Submission of a DORA Major Incident Report on the Portal………. .................... 12
5.1.5 Incident Reference Code................................................................................................. 15
5.2 How to submit an Intermediate DORA Major Incident Report .................................. 16
5.2.1 Complete the Reporting Template............................................................................... 16
5.2.2 Submit the Intermediate Report on the Portal......................................................... 17
5.3 How to submit a Final DORA Major Incident Report..................................................... 20
5.3.1 Complete the Reporting Template............................................................................... 20
5.3.2 Submit the Final Report on the Portal......................................................................... 20
5.4 How to Reclassify a Major Incident as Non-major .......................................................... 23
5.4.1 Complete the Reporting Template............................................................................... 23
5.4.2 Submit the Major Incident Reclassified as Non-major Report on the Portal... 24
5.5 Submitting a DORA Major Incident Report where there are two (or more)
separate incidents on the same day ........................................................................................... 27

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 3
5.6 Common Validation Errors .................................................................................................... 28
6 Significant Cyber Threat Reporting ...................................................................... 29
6.1 Complete the Reporting Template ...................................................................................... 29
6.2 Submit a DORA Significant Cyber Threat on the Portal................................................ 29
6.3 Naming Convention for the DORA Significant Cyber Threat Report........................ 34
7 FAQ................................................................................................................................... 35
7.1 What happens if I get an error message on the Portal when uploading a report? . 35
7.2 What do I do if I’m unable to access the Portal? .............................................................. 35
7.3 What do I do if my submission is rejected on the Portal?.............................................. 35
7.4 Can I make an update to my initial notification, intermediary report, or final
report?................................................................................................................................................. 37
7.5 I am unable to edit a cell in the reporting template ........................................................ 37
Annex: Validation Rules ............................................................................................... 38

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 4 1 Glossary of Terms & Abbreviations Term Description C Code The financial entity’s number that is used for the Portal Central Bank The Central Bank of Ireland DORA Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554) ICT Information and Communication Technology LEI Legal Entity Identifier Portal The Central Bank of Ireland Portal used to submit major ICT-related incident and significant cyber threat reports here Reporting Template The major ICT-related incident reporting template or significant cyber threat reporting template that are available on the Central Bank of Ireland’s DORA webpage here

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 5 2 Checklist When submitting a major ICT-related incident or significant cyber threat report on the Central Bank of Ireland (Central Bank) Portal, the following checklist may be of assistance.  The relevant reporting template provided here on the DORA webpage on the Central Bank’s website has been used.  All mandatory fields have been populated in the reporting template.  All conditional mandatory fields have been populated in the reporting template, where required. (Note, a number of fields become mandatory based on the preceding answers provided. The reporting instructions tab of the reporting template outlines such fields).  The name of the reporting template adheres to the naming convention. Please see here for more details on the naming convention.  The correct type of submission (i.e. initial notification, intermediate report, final report or major incident reclassified as non-major) has been selected in field 1.1 of the incident reporting template and matches the report type selected on the “Load a file” page of the Central Bank Portal (the Portal).  The user has the necessary access permissions to submit the reporting template on the Portal. Please see here for more details on Portal user permissions.  Following the submission of an initial notification, when submitting an intermediate report, final report or major incident reclassified as non-major report for the same incident, on the “Load a file” page of the Portal the “First file being submitted for this incident” tick box is unchecked and the correct corresponding “Report Reference” is selected. This ensures that the report being submitted is linked to the relevant preceding report submitted in respect of the incident. Please see here for more details on the submission process.  When submitting an intermediate report or final report, the relevant incident reference code has been populated in field 3.1 of the incident reporting template, where applicable. Please see here for more details.  The user is aware of alternative methods of submitting the reporting template in the event that the entity’s or Central Bank’s systems are unavailable. (Note, if experiencing technical issues with the Portal, please email onlinereturns@centralbank.ie or call 01 224 4545. If unable to submit an incident or significant cyber threat report, please contact the relevant supervisory team in the Central Bank using existing communication channels). Once any technical/operational issues have been resolved, the expectation is that the incident or significant cyber threat report will be submitted on the Portal as soon as practicable.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 6 3 Overview
3.1 Purpose of This Guidance
This document provides systems guidance for financial entities subject to the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)1 in relation to submitting major ICT-related incident reports and significant cyber threat reports on the Portal. The information contained in this guidance applies to financial entities in scope of DORA where the Central Bank is the designated competent authority, and should be read in combination with other relevant documentation and legislative texts concerning DORA incident and cyber threat reporting.2 When submitting a major ICT-related incident or significant cyber threat report, in scope financial entities must use the relevant reporting template provided here on the DORA webpage of the Central Bank’s website. It is important to note that validation rules apply to the structure of the reporting template. This means that when populating the reporting template, the structure and formatting of same must not be altered. For more information on the validation rules, please refer to the annex. In this guidance, examples of the successful and unsuccessful submission of a major ICT-related incident report and significant cyber threat report on the Portal are provided. With regard to the Portal, it is the responsibility of the financial entity’s administrator to manage user access to same. For users not familiar with the Portal, information and related guidance documents are available on the Central Bank’s website here.

1 Regulation (EU) 2022/2554.
2 For instance, the Regulatory Technical Standards on the content of the notification and reports for major incidents and significant cyber threats and determining the time limits for reporting major incidents and the Implementing Technical Standards on the standard forms, templates and procedures for financial entities to report a major incident and to notify a significant cyber threat (the draft version is available here).

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 7 Back to “Checklist” 4 Portal Information
4.1 Inactivity
A Portal login session times out after eight hours of inactivity, at which point the user is required to login again (including using the second factor method). When the user is finished using the Portal, it is recommended that the user exit the system using the logout link under “Account Settings” in the top right corner of the screen.
4.2 Internet Browser
As explained in the Browser Support Section of the Portal, the Portal should work with any modern, standards-based browser. The Central Bank does not require, or recommend, any particular browser as the Central Bank’s websites and public-facing applications support the current versions of all major browsers. Testing is concentrated on the most commonly used browsers. At this time, this specifically includes Chrome and Edge.
4.3 Logging In
The Getting Started Help section of the Central Bank’s website provides information on how to register for and login to the Portal, including setting up second factor authentication.
4.4 User Permissions
Portal administrators automatically have permission to view/submit a DORA major ICT-related incident or significant cyber threat report. The administrator can assign permissions to non-administrator users via the Portal administrator tab. Go to “Portal Administration” > “Manage Users” > Select the relevant user > Select “Actions” > “Manage Permissions”. Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate ONR Returns. From this section, viewer or submitter access can be chosen.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 8 Back to “Checklist” In the above example, the user has submitter access for major ICT-related incident reports and viewer access for significant cyber threat reports. A submitter has the ability to both submit reports and view previously submitted reports. A viewer can only view previously submitted reports. Select the required level of access and then click “Save”. The administrator has access to all reports as indicated by the grey shaded circles highlighted in the red box below. If you cannot see the Returns tab, please note the below:
Portal administrators should activate their permissions via the Portal administrator tab. The Portal administrator receives automatic access to all return/report types, however in the scenario where the “View/Edit” option is not displayed, the following action should be taken:
Go to “Portal Administration” > “Manage Users” > Select the relevant user > Select “Actions” > “Manage Permissions” > Scroll to the bottom of the permission page and select “Save”. Once saved, best practice is to clear the browser history and to log in again. The “Returns” menu item should then appear.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 9 Back to “Checklist” 5 Major ICT-related Incident Reporting
5.1 How to Submit an Initial DORA Major ICT-related Notification
5.1.1 Complete the Reporting Template
As already noted, the reporting templates are available here on the DORA webpage of the Central Bank’s website. For field 1.1 of the DORA incident reporting template, ensure that type of submission selected is “Initial notification”. Ensure that all mandatory and conditional mandatory fields for the initial notification are populated in the reporting template, and that name of same adheres to the naming convention (see section
5.1.3 for more details).
5.1.2 Create a New Major Incident Report on the Portal
To submit a major ICT-related incident report, the user logs in to the Portal with their user details, navigates to the “Returns” tab and clicks “View / Edit Returns”. The reports are located under the Incident Reporting heading.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 10 Back to “Checklist” Click on the hyperlink for “DORA Major Incident Report”. This opens the report landing page where the user can load a file or view previously uploaded files. Then navigate to “Returns” > “View / Edit Returns” > “DORA Major Incident Report” > “Load File”. The Load a File screen allows the user to submit a DORA major incident report to the Central Bank. The elements of the Load a File screen above are explained as follows:

1. First file being submitted for this incident
   This is a pre-ticked box which indicates that this is the first report being submitted in respect of an incident. As the box is pre-ticked upon loading the screen, no action is required. 1 2 3 4 5 6 It is important to note that multiple reports will most likely be submitted for the same incident. Section 5.1.3 below provides information on how to name the first submission of an incident and how to link reports back to the first submission using the naming convention

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 11 Back to “Checklist” Unticking the box allows the user to submit additional reports related to the first submission. Note: if it is the first incident report being submitted, the tick box will not appear (as no previous submissions have been made).
2. Submission Type
When the user is submitting the first report for an incident, the relevant submission type of “Initial notification”, “Intermediate report” or “Final report” can be selected from the dropdown options.
3. Choose File
Pressing the “Choose File” button opens the user’s file explorer. From here, the relevant populated reporting template can be selected. As already noted, the reporting templates are available on the Central Bank’s website.
4. Load File
Where the reporting template adheres to the naming conventions (please section 5.1.3 for more details) and appears beside “Choose File,” click on the “Load File” button.
5. Cancel
Clicking on the “Cancel” button returns the user to the DORA Major Incident Report Portal screen.
5.1.3 Naming Convention for the DORA Major Incident Report
As per point 6 on the screenshot above, the reporting template must adhere to the following naming convention:
CCCCCCC_YYYYMMDD_DIR_n.xlsx(zip)
Where:
CCCCCCC – is the financial entity’s C code.
(Note – this is the numerical section of the financial entity’s number preceded by “C” and NOT the institution number. Where the institution number is CBI0012345, the C Code will be C12345). YYYYMMDD – is the date of the incident. DIR – is the return code for DORA incident reports. n – is the numeric identifier for the incident being reported on a given day. The first incident being reported in the day must use 1. This allows for more than one incident to be reported where such an incident occurs on the same date as another reported incident. xlsx(zip) – is the file extension (.xlsx or .zip). By way of example, if an incident occurred on 1 February 2025 in the institution CBI0012345 (and is the first incident to happen on that day), the reporting template should be named as follows:
C12345_20250201_DIR_1.xlsx

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 12 Back to “Checklist”
5.1.4 Submission of a DORA Major Incident Report on the Portal
When the reporting template is chosen from the file explorer, it appears on screen as below. Select “Load File”. The File Upload Status screen appears as below. The initial “File Status” appears as “Queued”. The status progresses through the following identifiers:
Queued Processing Validating
Accepted
Rejected

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 13 Back to “Checklist” Progressing through these identifiers is automatic and can be quick to the extent that they may only appear briefly on screen. Website traffic depending, the majority of reports should be processed within five minutes. Clicking on “Refresh Page” updates the user on the current file status. Upon the successful completion of the uploading process, the file status appears as “Accepted” and the processed date displayed. The user also receives a confirmation email detailing the outcome of the submission. This email is sent to the address that the user has registered with the Portal, and is only sent to the user that has submitted the report. An example of such a confirmation email is set out below.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 14 Back to “Checklist” On the Portal upload screen, clicking on “Back”, redirects the user to the “View Uploaded Files” screen, where the user can view all previously uploaded files, the submission type, who uploaded the file, date of upload and the status.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 15 Back to “Checklist” The user can also access this screen from the main DORA Major Incident Report page.
5.1.5 Incident Reference Code
The incident reference code is a unique reference code used to identify a major incident and is based on the naming convention for incident reports. Upon the successful uploading of an initial notification on the Portal, the incident reference code is provided on the screen as per the below. This code is also included in the confirmation email sent to the user.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 16 Back to “Checklist” It is important to take note of the incident reference code as it is required when populating the intermediate or final reports (field 3.1 of the reporting template).
5.2 How to submit an Intermediate DORA Major Incident Report
5.2.1 Complete the Reporting Template
As already noted, the reporting templates are available on the DORA webpage of the Central Bank’s website. For field 1.1 of the DORA incident reporting template, ensure that type of submission selected is “Intermediate report”. Populate the relevant incident reference code in field 3.1 of the reporting template, as per the screenshot on the following page. As outlined in section 5.1.5 above, the incident reference code is displayed on the Portal upload screen for the initial notification, and is included in the confirmation email sent to the user following the successful submission of the initial notification on the Portal. If you need to retrieve this code again, on the Portal navigate to: “Returns” > “View/Edit Returns”

“DORA Major Incident Report” > “View Uploaded Files” > Select the file.
KEY POINT TO NOTE
When inputting the incident reference code, do not copy and paste directly from the Portal webpage. First, copy to a word doc or notepad and then copy and paste from there. This is to avoid locking a cell on the reporting template.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 17 Back to “Checklist” Ensure that all mandatory and conditional mandatory fields for the intermediate report are populated in the reporting template, and that name of same adheres to the naming convention (see
section 5.1.3 above for more details).
5.2.2 Submit the Intermediate Report on the Portal
When submitting an intermediate report on the Portal, navigate to “Returns” > “View / Edit Returns” > “DORA Major Incident Report” > “Load File”. As the intermediate report is typically not the first report submitted in response to a specific major incident,3 (i.e. it is a follow-up report to the initial notification that has already been submitted), the user unticks the relevant box on the Portal screen as set out below.

3
In a small number of cases where major incidents are quickly resolved, the intermediate or final report may be the first report submitted.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 18 Back to “Checklist” A dropdown menu option appears in respect of the Submission Reference. When this dropdown is selected, a list of previously submitted reports is provided in descending order. Choose the desired report reference (the example above shows the selection of the report submitted previously in the guidance – C404348_20250201_DIR_1, i.e. an incident that occurred on 1 February 2025). When submitting a subsequent report, always choose the report reference that is associated with the incident on the original date that the incident occurred.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 19 Back to “Checklist” Next, choose “Intermediate report” as the Submission Type. Click on the “Choose File” button and select the relevant populated reporting template to be uploaded. Ensure that the name of this file matches the report reference. Next, click on “Load File”. The file status of the intermediate report then progresses through the status identifiers. When accepted, the intermediate report is displayed as a successfully uploaded file on the Portal and the user receives a confirmation email (see section 5.1.4 above for more information).

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 20 Back to “Checklist”
5.3 How to submit a Final DORA Major Incident Report
5.3.1 Complete the Reporting Template
As already noted, the reporting templates are available on the DORA webpage of the Central Bank’s website. For field 1.1 of the DORA incident reporting template, ensure that type of submission selected is “Final report”. Ensure that all mandatory and conditional mandatory fields for the final report are populated in the reporting template, and that name of same adheres to the naming convention (see section 5.1.3 above for more details).
5.3.2 Submit the Final Report on the Portal
When submitting the final report on the Portal, the process is similar to that of the intermediate report outlined above in section 5.2. On the Portal, navigate to “Returns” > “View / Edit Returns” > “DORA Major Incident Report” > “Load File”. As the final report is typically not the first report submitted in response to a specific major incident, (i.e. it is a follow-up report to the initial notification and intermediate report that may have been submitted already), the user unticks the relevant box on the Portal screen as set out below.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 21 Back to “Checklist” A dropdown menu option appears in respect of the Submission Reference. When the dropdown is selected, a list of previously submitted reports is provided in descending order. Choose the desired Submission Reference (the example above shows the selection of the report submitted previously in the guidance – C404348_20250201_DIR_1, i.e. an incident that occurred on 1 February 2025.) When submitting a subsequent report, always choose the report reference that is associated with the incident on the original date that the incident occurred.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 22 Back to “Checklist” Next, choose “Final report” as the Submission Type. Click on the “Choose File” button and select the relevant populated reporting template to be uploaded. Ensure that the name of this file matches the submission reference. Next, click on “Load File”. The file status of the final report then progresses through the status identifiers. When accepted, the final report is displayed as a successfully uploaded file on the Portal and the user receives a confirmation email (see section 5.1.4 above for more information).

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 23 Back to “Checklist”
5.4 How to Reclassify a Major Incident as Non-major
5.4.1 Complete the Reporting Template
Where a major incident report has been successfully submitted on the Portal, but upon further assessment by the impacted financial entity it is determined that the incident reported as major at no time fulfilled the required classification criteria and materiality thresholds, the financial entity submits a major incident reclassified as non-major report. As already noted, the reporting templates are available on the DORA webpage of the Central Bank’s website. For field 1.1 of the DORA incident reporting template, ensure that type of submission selected is “Major incident reclassified as non-major”. Ensure that all mandatory and conditional mandatory fields for the major incident reclassified as non-major report are populated in the reporting template. For instance, in field 2.10 of the reporting template, the financial entity must provide a description of the reasons why the incident does not fulfil the criteria to be considered a major incident.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 24 Back to “Checklist”
5.4.2 Submit the Major Incident Reclassified as Non-major Report on the Portal
When submitting the major incident reclassified as non-major report on the Portal, the process is similar to that of the initial notification, intermediate report and final report outlined in the preceding sections. On the Portal, navigate to “Returns” > “View/Edit Returns” > “DORA Major Incident Report” > “Load File”. As the major incident reclassified as non-major report is not the first report being submitted relating to a specific major incident, i.e. it is a follow-up report, the user unticks the relevant box on the Portal screen as set out below. A dropdown menu option appears in respect of the Submission Reference. When the dropdown is selected, a list of previously submitted reports is provided in descending order.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 25 Back to “Checklist” Choose the desired Submission Reference (the example above shows the selection of the report submitted previously in the guidance – C404348_20250201_DIR_1, i.e. an incident that occurred on 1 February 2025). Next, choose “Major incident reclassified as non-major” as the Submission Type. When submitting a subsequent report, always choose the report reference that is associated with the incident on the original date that the incident occurred.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 26 Back to “Checklist” Click on the “Choose File” button and select the relevant populated reporting template to be uploaded. Ensure that the name of this file matches the submission reference. . Next, click on “Load File”.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 27 Back to “Checklist” The file status of the major incident reclassified as non-major report then progresses through the status identifiers. When accepted, the major incident reclassified as non-major report is displayed as a successfully uploaded file on the Portal and the user receives a confirmation email (see section
5.1.4 above for more information).
5.5 Submitting a DORA Major Incident Report where there are two (or more)
separate incidents on the same day
As outlined earlier in section 5.1.3 of the guidance, the reporting template should adhere to the following naming convention:
CCCCCCC_YYYYMMDD_DIR_n.xlsx(zip)
The “n” is the numeric identifier for the incident report being uploaded on a given day. E.g. If an incident occurred on 1 February 2025 in the financial entity CBI0012345, (and is the first incident) the reporting template should be saved as follows:
C12345_20250201_DIR_1.xlsx
Here, “1” denotes that this is the first incident on this day for this financial entity. If another, separate incident occurs in this financial entity later on this day (1 February 2025), which is not connected to the first incident, the “n” notation will be 2. E.g. C12345_20250201_DIR_2.xlsx It is important to note that the “n” notation does not reflect an initial notification, intermediate report or final report. It reflects that another separate incident(s) has occurred on the same day.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 28 Back to “Checklist”
5.6 Common Validation Errors
The examples shown thus far in the guidance regarding the submission of DORA major incident reports on the Portal are ones that have been successfully submitted. However, there may be instances where the submission of a report is rejected, or the user encounters errors when trying to upload a report on the Portal. In order to avoid common validations errors, it is important to note the following:

1. Ensure that the C Code is correct and a capital C is used. In the below example, a lower case
   C is used, which results in an error message being displayed on the Portal screen.
2. Ensure that the type of submission selected in field 1.1 (cell A4) of the reporting
   template matches the submission type selected on the Portal. In the below example, the submission types selected on the Portal and reporting template do not match, which results in an error message being displayed.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 29 Back to “Checklist” 6 Significant Cyber Threat Reporting
6.1 Complete the Reporting Template
As already noted, the reporting templates are available on the DORA webpage of the Central Bank’s website. For the DORA significant cyber threats reporting template, ensure that all mandatory and conditional mandatory fields are populated in the reporting template, and that name of same adheres to the naming convention (see section 6.3 below for more details).
6.2 Submit a DORA Significant Cyber Threat on the Portal
To submit a DORA significant cyber threat report, the user logs-in to the Portal with their user details, navigates to the “Returns” section and clicks “View/Edit Returns”. The reports are located under the Incident Reporting heading. Click on the hyperlink for “DORA Significant Cyber Threat Report”. This opens the report landing
page where the user can load a file or view previously uploaded files.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 30 Back to “Checklist” Then navigate to “Returns” > “View/Edit Returns” > “DORA Significant Cyber Threat Report” > “Load File”. The Load a File screen allows the user to submit a DORA significant cyber threat report to the Central Bank. The elements of the Load a File screen above are explained as follows:

1. Pressing the “Choose File” button opens the user’s File Explorer. From here the relevant
   populated reporting template can be selected.
2. When the reporting template appears beside “Choose File,” click on the “Load File”
   button.
3. Clicking on the “Cancel” button returns the user to the DORA significant cyber threat
   report Portal screen.
4. Ensure that the reporting template adheres to the naming convention (please see section
   6.3 for more details).
   When the reporting template is chosen from the file explorer, it appears on the Portal screen as below. 1 2 3 4

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 31 Back to “Checklist” Select “Load File”. The File Upload Status screen appears as below. The initial “File Status” is “Queued.” The status progresses through the following identifiers:
Progressing through these identifiers is automatic and can be quick to the extent that they may only appear briefly on screen.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 32 Back to “Checklist” Website traffic depending, the majority of reports should be processed within 5 minutes. Clicking “Refresh Page” updates the user on the current file status. Upon the successful completion of the uploading process, the file status appears as “Accepted” and the processed date displayed. The user also receives a confirmation email detailing the outcome of the submission. The email is sent to the address which the user has registered with the Portal, and is only sent to the user that has submitted the DORA significant cyber threat report. An example of the confirmation email is set out below.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 33 Back to “Checklist” On the Portal upload screen, clicking on “Back”, redirects the user to the “View Uploaded Files” screen, where the user can view all previously uploaded files, the submission type, who uploaded file, date of upload and the status. The user can also access this page from the main DORA Significant Cyber Threat Report page.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 34 Back to “Checklist”
6.3 Naming Convention for the DORA Significant Cyber Threat Report
The reporting template must adhere to the following naming convention:
CCCCCCC_YYYYMMDD_DCT.xlsx(zip)
Where:
CCCCCCC – is the financial entity’s C code.
(NOTE – this is the numerical section of the financial entity’s number preceded by “C” and NOT the institution number. Where the institution number is CBI0012345, your C Code will be C12345). YYYYMMDD – is the date of the incident. DCT – is the return code for DORA cyber threat reports. xlsx(zip) - is the file extension (.xlsx or .zip). By way of example, if the detection of a significant cyber threat occurred on 1 February 2025 in financial entity CBI0012345, the reporting template should be named as follows:
C12345_20250201_DCT.xlsx

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 35 Back to “Checklist” 7 FAQ
7.1 What happens if I get an error message on the Portal when uploading a
report?
An “Error” file status is different from a “Rejected” status. Please try to upload the report to the Portal again and if the error persists, contact the Central Bank helpline by emailing onlinereturns@centralbank.ie or call 01 224 4545.
7.2 What do I do if I’m unable to access the Portal?
If you are experiencing technical issues with the Portal, please email onlinereturns@centralbank.ie or call 01 224 4545. For users not familiar with the Portal, information and related guidance documents are available on the Central Bank’s website at: https://www.centralbank.ie/regulation/central-bank-portal. The Getting Started Help section of the Central Bank’s website provides information on how to register for and log in to the Portal, including setting up second factor authentication. If you are unable to submit an incident or significant cyber threat report, and/or are experiencing any other issues related to incident reporting, please contact your supervisory team in the Central Bank using existing communication channels. Once any technical/operational issues have been resolved, the expectation is that the incident or significant cyber threat report will be submitted on the Portal as soon as practicable.
7.3 What do I do if my submission is rejected on the Portal?
The submission of a report may be rejected on the Portal for various reasons, including due to the non-entry of data in a mandatory field in the reporting template or where inconsistent submission types are selected in respect of the reporting template and Portal. When a submission is rejected on the Portal, the user is presented with the validation errors and instructed as to what cell to amend in the reporting template to rectify the issue. In the example set out below, the user did not enter data into a number of manadatory fields of the reporting template. To rectify this, the user needs to enter data into the fields of the reporting

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 36 Back to “Checklist” template identified in the error message, and to upload the recitified reporting template to the Portal. In the example set out below, the type of submission selected in field 1.1 (cell A4) of the reporting template does not match the submission type selected on the Portal, which results in an error message being displayed. To rectify this, the user needs to amend the type of submission selected in field 1.1 (cell A4) of the reporting template to match the submission type selected on the Portal, and upload the rectified reporting template to the Portal.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 37 Back to “Checklist” In the example set out below, conditional mandatory fields in the intermediate report were not populated. These fields need to be populated in light of data provided in the initial notification. To rectify this, the user enters data into the conditional mandatory fields in the intermediate report that are identified in the error message, and uploads the rectified reporting template to the Portal.
7.4 Can I make an update to my initial notification, intermediary report, or
final report?
Yes, if the user has submitted an initial notification and it is accepted on the Portal, another initial notification can be submitted. Remember to untick the “First file being submitted for this incident” tick box on the Portal screen and upload the report with the same date. The same logic applies for the intermediate and final reports. Note: reports do not need to be unlocked on the Portal.
7.5 I am unable to edit a cell in the reporting template
This can occur if data is copied and pasted from a webpage and entered into a cell of the reporting template. The user will see the below error message when they try to edit the cell. If this occurs, you need to download a new reporting template from the Central Bank’s website and re-enter the data. The reporting template does not allow modifications to unprotected cells.

Guide to Submitting DORA Major ICT-related Incident & Significant Cyber Threat Reports on the Portal Central Bank of Ireland Page 38 Back to “Checklist”
Annex: Validation Rules
Validation Checks Error Message
General Checks
C code must be correct and using capital C - see section 5.6 Institution code 'C12345' is invalid Filename must follow naming convention as outlined on screen - see section 5.1.3 File Format should be as follows:
CCCCCC_YYYYMMDD_DIR_n.xlsx(zip) CCCCCC - your institution C-code YYYYMMDD - must be the date of the incident DIR -the DIR Return code n - numeric identifier xlsx -the file extension (.zip or .xlsx) File type extension must be .xlsx or .zip - see section 5.1.3 File Format should be as follows:
CCCCCC_YYYYMMDD_DIR_n.xlsx(zip) CCCCCC - your institution C-code YYYYMMDD - must be the date of the incident DIR -the DIR Return code n - numeric identifier xlsx -the file extension (.zip or .xlsx) If the file extension is .zip it must contain .xlsx file The compressed zip file doesn't contain allowed file type File size must be less than 80MB Uploaded file exceeds maximum permissible size of 80MB Reporting Template Checks Published structured reporting template must be used Multiple messages depending on structure alteration e.g.:
The protected reporting template has been altered. The template text contained in worksheet '<tab name>', cell 'xn' is incorrect. Please use the reporting template that has been provided. Submission Type selected on the Portal screen must match type of submission in selected in the reporting template - see sections 5.6 and 7.3 Worksheet 'Type of submission', column 'Type of submission' cell 'A4' the Submission Type selected on screen does not match the Type of submission specified in the file. All fields must be completed in the reporting template using the correct type of data as specified in the Reporting Instructions tab of the template Worksheet '<tab name>', '<column>' cell 'xn' + <text specific to the type of data to be captured> All fields marked as mandatory in the Reporting Instructions tab of the reporting template must be completed - see section 7.3 Worksheet '<tab name>', column '<column name>' is a mandatory field Fields marked as conditional mandatory "Yes, IF xyz" in the Reporting Instructions tab of the reporting template must be completed if the condition is met - see section 7.3 Worksheet '<tab name>', column '<column name>' is a conditional mandatory field Either LEI or EU ID must be completed Worksheet '<tab name>', column '<column name>' is a conditional mandatory field