NESA / SIA Compliance
UAE Information Assurance Standards compliance for government entities and critical infrastructure
UAE Information Assurance Standards
The UAE Information Assurance (IA) Standards are issued by the Signals Intelligence Agency (SIA) — the national authority formerly known as the National Electronic Security Authority (NESA). The standards define a mandatory baseline for protecting the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability of information across government entities and organisations designated as part of the UAE's Critical Information Infrastructure (CII).
The framework specifies 188 security controls grouped into management and technical control families, each assigned a priority (P1–P4) so that organisations can sequence remediation against risk. Controls are applied through a combination of mandatory baseline requirements and a threat- and risk-based selection, and the standard maps closely to ISO/IEC 27001, allowing organisations to align IA compliance with an existing information security management system (ISMS).
Who Needs NESA / SIA Compliance?
- Federal and local government entities
- Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) operators
- Smart city infrastructure (Dubai, Abu Dhabi)
- Energy and utilities sector providers
- Financial services and banks
- Telecommunications and ICT providers
- Vital service providers and government suppliers
What Our Engagement Covers
- Scoping of Critical Information Infrastructure and in-scope assets
- Assessment against all 188 IA controls and applicable priority tiers
- Risk assessment and threat-based control selection
- Information security governance, policies, and procedures
- Technical control hardening and security architecture review
- Evidence collection and audit-ready documentation
- Continuous compliance monitoring and re-assessment
Our Methodology
1. Gap Assessment
Evaluate current posture against the IA Standards, classify control maturity, and produce a prioritised gap report.
2. Implementation
Deploy required management and technical controls, policies, and security architecture aligned to P1–P4 priorities.
3. Audit Preparation
Compile evidence, run mock assessments, and prepare documentation for regulator and sector-authority review.
4. Ongoing Compliance
Quarterly reviews, control monitoring, and re-assessment to maintain compliance as the threat landscape evolves.
Frameworks & Standards
We align IA compliance with the wider standards your organisation already operates against, reducing duplication of effort across overlapping requirements:
- UAE Information Assurance (IA) Standards (SIA / NESA)
- ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27002
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework
- Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) ISR where applicable
- Sector-specific regulatory requirements
Why Pyramid Ledger
As a London-headquartered cybersecurity and software development firm serving the UK, Europe, and the Middle East, we combine internationally recognised security engineering with practical knowledge of UAE regulatory expectations. We help government entities and CII operators move from gap assessment to demonstrable, audit-ready IA compliance — and keep it that way year-round.