SOURCE 0 - DORA VOCABULARY
69 QUESTIONS PROFESSIONALS ASK ABOUT DORA COMPLIANCE PROOF, AND THE DOCTRINAL TERM THAT ANSWERS EACH ONE
Author: Jean-François ELSEN (Senior Forensic Auditor · Judicial Specialist in Digital Evidence · DGSA)
Location: Brussels – Charleroi, Belgium
Organization: Jean-François ELSEN · jfelsen.com
Classification: Authoritative Public Release · July 2026
Audience: C-Suite Executives, Boards of Directors, Regulators, Supervisory Authorities, Legal Departments, CISOs, Compliance Officers, AI Governance Architects, Forensic Analysts, Critical Infrastructure Operators, Public Authorities
Series: SOURCE 0 Doctrine Series
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This page maps the questions professionals ask about proving compliance with Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (DORA) in plain language to the corresponding term in the SOURCE 0 doctrinal vocabulary, developed by Jean-François ELSEN. Each entry states the natural-language question, the doctrinal term that addresses it, and what SOURCE 0 contributes as the answer.
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1 - HOW DOES A BANK PROVE, AFTER A MAJOR ICT INCIDENT, THAT IT COMPLIED WITH DORA'S NOTIFICATION DEADLINES?
Doctrinal term: the three self-attested instants. Article 19 requires a financial entity to state when it became aware of an incident, when it classified it as major, and when it notified the authority — only the last of the three is attested by an outside actor. SOURCE 0 seals the first two, independently, at the moment they occur.
2 - CAN A BANK'S OWN INCIDENT LOGS BE USED AS LEGAL PROOF OF COMPLIANCE WITH DORA, OR DOES A REGULATOR REQUIRE INDEPENDENT VERIFICATION?
Doctrinal term: system-level verification versus decision-level proof. TLPT and internal audit verify that a resilience apparatus exists and functions, not the antecedent state of one specific system at one disputed instant. SOURCE 0 fixes exactly that decision-level state, independently, before any dispute arises.
3 - IF A BANK'S INTERNAL SERVERS WERE COMPROMISED DURING AN ICT INCIDENT, CAN THE BANK STILL TRUST ITS OWN LOGS TO REPORT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REGULATOR?
Doctrinal term: the Post-Execution Fallacy. Reconstructing awareness from logs generated by the compromised environment assumes the reliability of the very infrastructure the incident calls into question. SOURCE 0 supplies proof by sealing the relevant state before the incident, not by reconstructing it afterward.
4 - DOES DORA REQUIRE A BANK TO PROVE ITS ICT SYSTEM STATE BEFORE AN INCIDENT HAPPENED, NOT JUST AFTERWARD?
Doctrinal term: pre-execution requirement versus self-held record. Article 6 and Articles 28-30 impose proactive, pre-incident obligations, but the record proving compliance on a given date is held by the entity itself. SOURCE 0 is the advance deposit, fixed independently before any dispute.
5 - IF A REGULATOR SUSPECTS A BANK ALTERED ITS RECORDS AFTER AN ICT INCIDENT TO LOOK COMPLIANT, HOW WOULD THAT BE DETECTED?
Doctrinal term: fortuitous corroboration versus designed fixation. Detecting after-the-fact alteration usually relies on external sources such as interbank records — corroboration by chance. SOURCE 0 replaces chance with design: a record built specifically to prove the fact, before alteration could occur.
6 - IS THERE AN INDEPENDENT WAY TO PROVE, UNDER BELGIAN LAW, THAT A BANK'S ICT COMPLIANCE RECORD HAS A CERTAIN DATE, RATHER THAN JUST A LEGAL PRESUMPTION OF ACCURACY?
Doctrinal term: Date certaine. A qualified timestamp under eIDAS Article 41 carries only a presumption of accuracy; under the Belgian Law of 21 July 2016, date certaine is established exclusively through deposit with a huissier de justice belge. SOURCE 0's Historical Reality Dossier is built on that deposit.
7 - DOES A QUALIFIED ELECTRONIC TIMESTAMP UNDER EIDAS PROVE THAT A BANK DID NOT ALTER ITS RECORDS, OR ONLY THAT A HASH EXISTED AT A CERTAIN TIME?
Doctrinal term: technical fixation versus third-party deposit. A qualified timestamp proves a hash existed unaltered at a stated time, not that the underlying data was accurate. SOURCE 0 supplies the missing half: third-party deposit of the underlying fact, not just its fingerprint.
8 - IF A BANK SUBMITS A HASH OF ITS OWN DATA TO A QUALIFIED TIMESTAMPING AUTHORITY, DOES THAT AUTHORITY VERIFY THAT THE UNDERLYING DATA IS ACCURATE, OR ONLY THAT THE HASH WAS RECEIVED AT THAT TIME?
Doctrinal term: the blind witness. The timestamping authority receives only a fingerprint, submitted by the entity itself, and never sees the data. SOURCE 0 routes the record itself to a huissier de justice who can attest to what was actually deposited.
9 - HOW DO YOU PROVE THE EXACT INSTANT A GOVERNANCE PLATFORM BLOCKED A SPECIFIC NON-COMPLIANT ACTION, RATHER THAN MERELY LOGGING THAT ENFORCEMENT EXISTS AS A CAPABILITY?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. The platform's own enforcement log is produced and administered by the same entity under review, and nothing external prevents that specific entry from being written or amended after the fact. SOURCE 0 independently seals the instant the blocking action occurred, before any dispute over whether it happened at all.
10 - WHAT DOES A PLAIN-LANGUAGE ANSWER TO 'HOW DO YOU PROVE A DORA NOTIFICATION WAS SENT ON TIME' ACTUALLY LIST AS PROOF?
Doctrinal term: the four self-generated artifacts. The answer converges on four items, three produced entirely by the entity and a fourth generated by the authority only at receipt. SOURCE 0 adds an independent seal of awareness and classification, fixed before either instant can be disputed.
11 - DOES A BOARD RESOLUTION PROVE A POLICY WAS ACTUALLY APPROVED ON THE DATE STATED?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. The resolution is drafted and archived by the entity it is meant to oversee, proving neither the real approval date nor the absence of later alteration. SOURCE 0 seals the document's state at the moment of adoption, independently of the entity that produced it.
12 - HOW DO YOU PROVE THE BOARD ACTUALLY RECEIVED INFORMATION ABOUT A MATERIAL CHANGE AT A PROVIDER BEFORE ACTING ON IT?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. Internal reporting channels under Article 5(2)(i) remain internal flows with no opposable date. SOURCE 0 fixes the date the information reached the board, before any decision that followed from it.
13 - HOW DO YOU SHOW THE BUDGET ALLOCATED TO DIGITAL RESILIENCE WAS GENUINELY REVIEWED EVERY YEAR?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. The annual budget review is documented only by the entity itself. SOURCE 0 allows each review to be dated at the moment it took place, independently of the internal register.
14 - CAN A BOARD MEMBER PROVE THEY ATTENDED THE ICT TRAINING REQUIRED UNDER DORA ON THE STATED DATE?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. The training attestation is issued and kept internally. SOURCE 0 seals proof of attendance at the moment of the training, independently of the HR record.
15 - WHAT IS AN ICT THIRD-PARTY USAGE POLICY WORTH IF ITS APPROVAL DATE IS NEVER VERIFIED BY A THIRD PARTY?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. Nothing more than the entity's own statement about itself. SOURCE 0 provides an independent attestation of the document's state at the claimed date.
16 - HOW DO YOU PROVE THE ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE ICT RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK ACTUALLY HAPPENED ON TIME?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. The review report is produced by the entity itself and dated only by its own systems. SOURCE 0 fixes the finalisation date of the report before any later dispute.
17 - CAN AN INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT BE RELIED UPON AS PROOF OF THE ICT FRAMEWORK'S STATE ON THE DATE OF THE AUDIT, GIVEN THAT THE AUDITOR REMAINS ORGANIZATIONALLY SUBORDINATE TO THE ENTITY AUDITED?
Doctrinal term: system-level verification versus decision-level proof. The three-lines-of-defence model guarantees organisational segregation, not probative independence from the entity's own hierarchy, so the report's stated date and content remain self-attested. SOURCE 0 adds an attestation external to the audited perimeter, fixing the framework's state at that same date.
18 - HOW DO YOU KNOW WHETHER CORRECTIVE ACTIONS REQUESTED AFTER AN AUDIT WERE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED ON TIME?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Follow-up on audit findings is a process documented internally, with no opposable time marker. SOURCE 0 allows each remediation step to be sealed at the moment it is carried out.
19 - CAN A DIGITAL RESILIENCE STRATEGY FILED WITH THE REGULATOR BE EDITED AFTERWARDS WITHOUT IT SHOWING?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Nothing prevents a retroactive rewrite of an internal document. SOURCE 0 fixes the document's state at the moment it was filed or communicated.
20 - HOW DO YOU PROVE A MULTI-VENDOR ICT STRATEGY EXISTED BEFORE AN INCIDENT, NOT ONLY AFTER IT?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The strategy document is as subject to rewriting as any other internal document. SOURCE 0 establishes proof of its existence and content at a verifiable earlier date.
21 - HOW DO YOU PROVE A RISK ASSESSMENT WAS DONE BEFORE A MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGE, AND NOT WRITTEN AFTERWARDS TO COVER THE INCIDENT?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The risk assessment is an internal document whose date can only be checked from the system that produced it. SOURCE 0 seals the assessment before the change is executed.
22 - IS THE CRITICAL ASSET INVENTORY ENOUGH TO PROVE IT WAS UP TO DATE ON THE DATE OF AN INCIDENT?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. The inventory is updated by the entity itself according to its own internal rules. SOURCE 0 fixes the inventory's state at a precise date, independently of any later modification.
23 - HOW DO YOU SHOW THE ANNUAL LEGACY SYSTEM ASSESSMENT ACTUALLY HAPPENED EVERY YEAR AND WASN'T JUST PAPERWORK?
Doctrinal term: the Paradox of Asymmetric Kinetics. The assessment is produced and kept by the entity that was obliged to carry it out, with no anchor between two annual checkpoints. SOURCE 0 allows each successive assessment to be dated in a way a third party can verify.
24 - CAN A REGISTER OF ICT THIRD-PARTY DEPENDENCIES BE PRESENTED AS RELIABLE IF IT WAS NEVER FIXED IN TIME?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. Without an independent time anchor, nothing prevents it from being completed retroactively once a risk materialises. SOURCE 0 fixes each version of the register at the date it was established.
25 - DOES AN ICT CHANGE MANAGEMENT LOG PROVE EVERY CHANGE WAS TESTED AND APPROVED BEFORE GOING INTO PRODUCTION?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The log is generated by the system it documents, editable from the same perimeter. SOURCE 0 attaches independent proof to each step of the change process before deployment.
26 - HOW DO YOU PROVE THE INFORMATION SECURITY POLICY IN FORCE AT THE DATE OF AN INCIDENT WAS REALLY THE ONE APPLIED?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. A documented policy can be rewritten without the earlier version leaving any opposable trace. SOURCE 0 preserves the exact state of the document at every relevant date.
27 - CAN THE STRONG AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOLS REQUIRED BY DORA BE PROVEN TO HAVE BEEN ACTIVE ON A GIVEN DATE?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. Internal documentation does not allow the actual state of the mechanism at a past instant to be reconstructed in an opposable way. SOURCE 0 supplies that independent proof at the relevant date.
28 - HOW DO YOU DEMONSTRATE A CRITICAL SECURITY PATCH WAS APPLIED BEFORE A VULNERABILITY WAS EXPLOITED, NOT AFTER?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The patch policy documents the obligation, but proof of actual execution remains internal. SOURCE 0 seals proof of the patch's application at the moment of deployment.
29 - HOW DO YOU PROVE A DETECTION MECHANISM WAS OPERATIONAL BEFORE, NOT AFTER, A MAJOR INCIDENT?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The test of the mechanism is documented by the entity itself, with no opposable proof of anteriority for a third party. SOURCE 0 fixes the date of each test verifiably, independently of the tested system.
30 - CAN AN ALERT THRESHOLD CHANGED AFTER AN INCIDENT BE PRESENTED AS IF IT HAD ALWAYS BEEN SET THAT WAY?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Nothing prevents this technically if the proof remains internal. SOURCE 0 seals the threshold configuration at the date it was actually applied.
31 - HOW DO YOU SHOW STAFF WERE ACTUALLY ALERTED AT THE EXACT MOMENT THE ANOMALY WAS DETECTED?
Doctrinal term: the three self-attested instants. Automatic alert mechanisms generate logs that remain internal to the same system. SOURCE 0 independently anchors the moment of detection and the moment of alert.
32 - CAN AN ACTIVITY LOG KEPT DURING AN INCIDENT SERVE AS PROOF OF THE REAL TIMELINE OF EVENTS?
Doctrinal term: the Post-Execution Fallacy. The log is produced by the entity itself, often under pressure, and remains editable afterwards. SOURCE 0 fixes each log entry at the moment it is created.
33 - HOW DO YOU PROVE THE BUSINESS IMPACT ANALYSIS EXISTED BEFORE THE INCIDENT AND WASN'T RECONSTRUCTED AFTERWARDS?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The BIA is an internal document whose production date can only be checked from the system that produced it. SOURCE 0 seals its existence and content at a date prior to the incident.
34 - IS THE ESTIMATE OF COSTS AND LOSSES CAUSED BY A MAJOR INCIDENT OPPOSABLE AS IT STANDS TO A REGULATOR?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. It remains an estimate produced by the entity concerned, with no independent validation of its date or content. SOURCE 0 fixes the estimate at the date it was communicated.
35 - HOW DO YOU DEMONSTRATE BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN TESTS TOOK PLACE AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR, AS DORA REQUIRES?
Doctrinal term: the Paradox of Asymmetric Kinetics. The test schedule is documented by the entity itself. SOURCE 0 allows each test to be dated independently of the internal register that records it.
36 - CAN A CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLAN ACTIVATED DURING AN INCIDENT PROVE IT WAS FOLLOWED EXACTLY, AND AT THE RIGHT TIME?
Doctrinal term: the three self-attested instants. Proof of compliance remains internal to the entity managing the crisis. SOURCE 0 anchors each communication step at the instant it actually took place.
37 - HOW DO YOU PROVE A BACKUP DATED BEFORE AN INCIDENT HASN'T BEEN ALTERED SINCE?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. A backup restored from the same system that produced it proves nothing about its own integrity. SOURCE 0 seals the backup's state at the moment of creation, independently of the storage system.
38 - DID THE RESTORATION TESTS REQUIRED UNDER DORA REALLY TAKE PLACE ON THE DECLARED DATES?
Doctrinal term: the Paradox of Asymmetric Kinetics. The test schedule is documented and kept by the entity itself. SOURCE 0 fixes the real date of each restoration test in an opposable way.
39 - HOW DO YOU SHOW A SECONDARY PROCESSING SITE WAS GENUINELY OPERATIONAL ON THE REQUIRED DATE?
Doctrinal term: Edge State Commitment. Operational readiness reports are produced internally. SOURCE 0 provides independent proof of the secondary site's readiness on the relevant date.
40 - CAN A POST-INCIDENT DATA RECONCILIATION BE FALSIFIED TO HIDE A LOSS OF INTEGRITY?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Nothing in the text imposes independent oversight on this reconciliation. SOURCE 0 seals the data's state before recovery, allowing the reconciliation performed afterwards to be objectively verified.
41 - CAN A POST-INCIDENT REVIEW BE REWRITTEN AFTERWARDS TO DOWNPLAY A FAILURE?
Doctrinal term: the Post-Execution Fallacy. Nothing prevents such a rewrite as long as proof of the original version remains internal. SOURCE 0 seals the review's version at the date it was finalised.
42 - HOW DO YOU PROVE CHANGES ANNOUNCED AFTER AN INCIDENT WERE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED, AND NOT JUST PROMISED?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Communication of these changes remains a declaration, not independently verified. SOURCE 0 dates and seals the actual implementation of each change.
43 - DOES THE ANNUAL REPORT FROM ICT STAFF TO THE BOARD COUNT AS RELIABLE PROOF OF THE ENTITY'S CYBER MATURITY ON A GIVEN DATE?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. This report remains an internal document drafted by the very teams it is meant to assess. SOURCE 0 fixes the state of the report at the date of its presentation.
44 - WHO DECIDES WHETHER AN ICT INCIDENT WAS MAJOR UNDER DORA, AND CAN THAT DECISION BE TRUSTED LATER?
Doctrinal term: the Post-Execution Fallacy. The entity itself applies the materiality criteria to its own incident, using data drawn from the environment the incident may have compromised. SOURCE 0 seals the factual elements used for classification while the incident is still unfolding.
45 - CAN A VOLUNTARY NOTIFICATION OF A SIGNIFICANT CYBER THREAT BE BACKDATED TO LOOK MORE RESPONSIVE?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. The notification channel only certifies its own receipt, not the entity's prior knowledge of the fact. SOURCE 0 fixes the moment the information was available internally, before the notification itself.
46 - HOW DO YOU PROVE A COMPETENT AUTHORITY ACTUALLY FORWARDED INCIDENT DETAILS TO ANOTHER AUTHORITY ON TIME?
Doctrinal term: Proof Sovereignty. This inter-authority transmission remains an internal flow within the supervisory ecosystem, with no independent proof for an outside third party. SOURCE 0 gives the entity concerned an autonomous proof of the chronology of its own notifications, regardless of what authorities do with them afterward.
47 - HOW DO YOU DEMONSTRATE A FINAL INCIDENT REPORT REFLECTS THE ROOT-CAUSE ANALYSIS AS IT ACTUALLY EXISTED, WITHOUT LATER REWRITING?
Doctrinal term: the Post-Execution Fallacy. The final report remains a document produced by the entity concerned. SOURCE 0 seals each successive version, from the intermediate report to the final one.
48 - HOW DO YOU PROVE AN ENTITY ACTUALLY INCORPORATED A REGULATOR'S FEEDBACK INTO ITS RISK MANAGEMENT, RATHER THAN IGNORING IT?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Nothing imposes opposable traceability of that incorporation. SOURCE 0 seals the actual incorporation of supervisory feedback at the date the corresponding measures were adopted.
49 - HOW DO YOU PROVE A VULNERABILITY SCAN ACTUALLY HAPPENED BEFORE A NEW APPLICATION WENT LIVE?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The scan report is produced by the entity itself before its own deployment. SOURCE 0 fixes the scan's date independently of the system tested.
50 - ARE REMEDIATION PROCEDURES FROM RESILIENCE TESTS ACTUALLY APPLIED WITHIN THE ANNOUNCED TIMELINES?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Follow-up on remediation remains an internally documented process. SOURCE 0 seals each remediation step at the moment it is actually carried out.
51 - HOW DO YOU PROVE THE SCOPE OF A MANDATORY ANNUAL TEST WAS FIXED BEFORE THE TEST BEGAN, RATHER THAN ADJUSTED AFTERWARD TO MATCH WHATEVER WAS ACTUALLY COVERED?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The test's declared scope is defined and documented by the entity itself, with no independent record of what that scope was before execution. SOURCE 0 fixes the declared scope at a date prior to the test, so it cannot be rewritten afterward to match the result.
52 - DOES A THREAT-LED PENETRATION TEST PROVE A BANK'S ICT SYSTEMS STAYED SECURE IN THE YEARS BETWEEN TWO TESTS?
Doctrinal term: the Paradox of Asymmetric Kinetics. The attestation only covers the state observed at the moment of the test, run at best every three years. SOURCE 0 seals the state of the systems at each material change between two TLPT campaigns.
53 - HOW DO YOU PROVE AN INTERNAL TESTER USED FOR A TLPT WAS NOT CONFLICTED AT THE PRECISE MOMENT OF THE TEST?
Doctrinal term: Edge State Commitment. Approval by the competent authority covers the general use of an internal tester, not the absence of conflict at the exact instant of the test. SOURCE 0 seals the independence conditions declared at the exact date of each campaign.
54 - HOW DO YOU PROVE THE STATE OF REMEDIATION DECLARED IN A POST-TLPT REPORT MATCHES WHAT HAD ACTUALLY BEEN COMPLETED ON THE DATE THE REPORT WAS FILED?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. Nothing prevents the report from describing a later state of completion as if it already existed on the filing date, since proof of its real content remains internal. SOURCE 0 fixes the exact state of remediation at the date the report is submitted, independently of any later completion.
55 - HOW DOES A BANK PROVE ITS REGISTER OF ICT THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTS WAS ACCURATE ON THE DATE OF A SUPERVISORY REQUEST?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. The register's legitimacy as a reference document rests entirely on the entity that compiles and revises it. SOURCE 0 seals each version of the register at the moment it exists.
56 - HOW DO YOU PROVE DUE DILIGENCE ON A PROVIDER WAS ACTUALLY DONE BEFORE SIGNING THE CONTRACT, NOT AFTER?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The due diligence file is produced and kept by the entity itself. SOURCE 0 seals the due diligence file before the contract is concluded.
57 - WAS AN EXIT STRATEGY TESTED PERIODICALLY ACTUALLY TESTED ON THE DECLARED DATES?
Doctrinal term: the Paradox of Asymmetric Kinetics. The exit strategy's test schedule remains internally documented. SOURCE 0 fixes the real date of each exit strategy test.
58 - HOW DO YOU DEMONSTRATE AN ENTITY INFORMED THE AUTHORITY IN A TIMELY MANNER OF A NEW CONTRACT ON A CRITICAL FUNCTION?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. Proof of when the information was sent remains internal to the entity transmitting it. SOURCE 0 fixes the exact moment the information was available before its transmission.
59 - HOW DO YOU PROVE AN ENTITY ASSESSED ICT CONCENTRATION RISK BEFORE SIGNING WITH A NON-SUBSTITUTABLE PROVIDER?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. The cost/benefit analysis remains an internal document produced without external validation. SOURCE 0 seals this analysis at the date it was carried out, before the contract was signed.
60 - CAN THE ANALYSIS OF SUBCONTRACTING CHAINS BE RECONSTRUCTED AFTER AN INCIDENT TO LOOK MORE RIGOROUS THAN IT WAS?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Nothing in the text requires an independent time anchor on this analysis. SOURCE 0 fixes the state of the analysis at the date it was actually produced.
61 - HOW DO YOU PROVE AN ICT PROVIDER ACTUALLY NOTIFIED A MATERIAL CHANGE WITHIN THE CONTRACTUAL DEADLINE?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. Proof of the notification date depends on the provider's own messaging system. SOURCE 0 allows the client entity to independently seal the moment the information was received.
62 - IS A CONTRACTUAL AUDIT RIGHT EXERCISED ONCE A YEAR ENOUGH TO COVER THE WHOLE PERIOD BETWEEN TWO AUDITS?
Doctrinal term: Edge State Commitment. No — the audit only fixes the provider's state on the day it was carried out. SOURCE 0 fills that interval by sealing relevant evidence between two audit campaigns.
63 - HOW DO YOU PROVE CONTRACTUAL SERVICE LEVELS WERE ACTUALLY MET ON A PRECISE DATE, WITHOUT WAITING FOR THE PROVIDER'S REPORT?
Doctrinal term: Proof Sovereignty. The service level report is produced by the provider itself. SOURCE 0 gives the client entity independent proof of the service's state on the date that matters to it.
64 - HOW DO YOU PROVE A CRITICAL PROVIDER ACTUALLY NOTIFIED ITS INTENTION TO FOLLOW A LEAD OVERSEER RECOMMENDATION WITHIN THE 60-DAY DEADLINE?
Doctrinal term: the Mandate of Anteriority. Proof of the notification date depends on the channel used by the provider itself. SOURCE 0 fixes this date independently of the provider's own notification system.
65 - CAN A FINANCIAL ENTITY PROVE IT ACTUALLY TOOK INTO ACCOUNT THE RISKS IDENTIFIED IN A LEAD OVERSEER RECOMMENDATION?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. As it stands, this remains an internal declaration by the entity. SOURCE 0 seals the date and content of the measures adopted in response to the recommendation.
66 - HOW DO YOU PROVE AN ENTITY ACTUALLY SHARED THREAT INFORMATION BEFORE IT SPREAD TO OTHER ENTITIES IN THE SECTOR?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. Sharing takes place within trusted communities, with no independent opposable timestamp. SOURCE 0 seals the exact moment of sharing, independently of the platform used.
67 - HOW CAN AN ENTITY UNDER INVESTIGATION DEMONSTRATE ITS GOOD FAITH AND DILIGENCE TO A REGULATOR EXERCISING SANCTIONING POWERS?
Doctrinal term: Proof Sovereignty. Documents produced in defence, if purely self-generated, remain contestable on their date and integrity. SOURCE 0 provides independent proof of these documents' state prior to the proceedings.
68 - CAN A SANCTION DECISION BE CHALLENGED ON THE BASIS OF AN INTERNAL TIMELINE RECONSTRUCTED AFTER THE FACT?
Doctrinal term: Prior Fixation. A timeline reconstructed after the sanction was notified loses all probative force before the authority. SOURCE 0 would have fixed that timeline before the proceedings even opened.
69 - IS A SMALL ENTITY UNDER DORA'S SIMPLIFIED FRAMEWORK EXEMPT FROM THE SELF-GENERATED EVIDENCE PROBLEM?
Doctrinal term: the Reference Legitimacy Gap. No — the relief applies to the scope of the obligations, not to the nature of the documentary evidence produced. SOURCE 0 applies in the same way, at a proportionate cost, to seal the elements required under the simplified framework.
CLOSING AXIOM
The law does not require material truth. It requires proof of diligence. SOURCE 0 seals that diligence.
REFERENCE NOTE
This page is a static reference glossary, not a doctrinal article, and is maintained as part of the SOURCE 0 Doctrine Series. It does not reproduce direct quotations from any court, regulator, or third party. SOURCE 0 is a registered trademark, BOIP/OBPI No. 1548293, Benelux.
REGULATORY NOTICE
This page is written for documentary purposes and does not constitute legal advice. SOURCE 0 is a proprietary pre-execution cryptographic attestation architecture, developed by Jean-François ELSEN. Jean-François ELSEN provides corporate directors, legal departments, supervisory authorities, CISOs, and compliance officers access to complete protocol specifications and evidentiary architecture reviews applicable to the AI Act, eIDAS, NIS 2, and DORA. For formal doctrinal consultations or evidentiary governance reviews, inquiries may be addressed to Jean-François ELSEN.
→ SOURCE 0 - THE ESA INCIDENT REPORT IS SELF-REPORTED EVIDENCE
→ SOURCE 0 - PROVING AN ICT INCIDENT TIMELINE
→ SOURCE 0 - WHY A SIEM LOG IS NOT LEGAL PROOF
→ SOURCE 0 - YOUR OWN AUDIT TRAIL CANNOT PROVE YOUR DILIGENCE
→ SOURCE 0 - PROVING A FIX WAS IN PLACE BEFORE A DATE
