Secure your business operations in the UAE and protect your valuable data with our expert NESA compliance services.
NESA stands for the National Electronic Security Authority, which is a UAE government entity responsible for ensuring the security of electronic information and communication systems in the country. The primary goal is to protect critical infrastructure, such as banking, energy, transportation, and government entities, from cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
NESA develops and implements information security standards, policies, and guidelines that all entities in the UAE must adhere to in order to maintain compliance with the regulations. It is mandatory for all businesses, government agencies, and service providers operating in the UAE, and involves implementing a range of technical and organizational security measures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. By complying, entities in the UAE can ensure the security of their operations, protect against cyber threats, and maintain the trust of their customers and stakeholders.
Who must be NESA compliant?
It is mandated to all government organizations, semi-government organizations and business organizations that are identified as critical infrastructure to UAE.
What are the standards to follow to become NESA Compliant?
The UAE National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS), developed and governed by NESA, defines the protection requirements of UAE Cyberspace. The primary standard to follow is UAE Information Assurance Standards (UAE IAS). Additionally, the NESA National Cyber Risk Management Framework defines its Risk Assessment process.
What are the NESA Security Control Implementation timelines?
In a prioritised way, UAE IAS lists 188 security controls. There are four stated priorities, and the controls are organised around these four goals. NESA anticipates that the entities will implement the Priority 1 controls as soon as possible. P2 to P4 controls will be added later. Despite the fact that no set dates are stated in the regulations, our experience suggests that the P1 dates are close.
P1 controls are largely management controls, with some technological security needs thrown in for good measure. It demands 35 controls among the 188 controls that assist organisations in establishing an information security foundation. These measures must be adopted by all relevant entities, regardless of the conclusion of the Risk Assessment.
How does NESA evaluate the compliance status?
According to the standards and based on the information, from the public domain. NESA would get involved through different approaches based on the implementation level at the operator.
(a) Reporting: NESA would collect and consolidate the reports from entities to generate sector and national risk contexts. These are based on the self-assessment reports prepared by the critical national infrastructure entities
(b) Auditing: NESA may audit, by means of requesting evidence, the operator to validate some or all of the reported status of an entity.
(c) Testing: The audits may be extended by testing specific control implementations at the operator.
More About NESA IA
The IAS Standards developed by NESA are a threat-based strategy that aids organisations in creating necessary security measures. Every security control mapping was created to neutralise the majority of the 24 risks that NESA derived from multiple industry reports in 2012, which accounted for close to 80% of the reported breaches. According to the IAS standard, security controls are classed according to priority, from highest priority to lowest importance, spanning from P1 to P4. It is unquestionably the proper move to close the gap between IT Risk and Business Risk that the standard being introduced often takes a threat-based approach rather than an asset-based one. Although NESA is a thorough standard, it may not always provide protection from very sophisticated attackers. Although it doesn’t go into great detail with activities particular to each business, it covers the management and technical control sectors.
Benefits of getting NESA Compliant
- Legal Compliance: All businesses, government institutions, and service providers operating in the UAE must comply with NESA guidelines. Noncompliance with the regulations may result in fines, legal penalties, and other punishments.
- Business Continuity: NESA compliance requires enterprises and organisations to put in place procedures to ensure that operations continue in the event of a cyber-attack or other disruptive incident. This ensures that firms can continue to operate even if unexpected circumstances occur.
- Improved Risk Management: In order to comply with NESA standards, businesses and organisations must identify, assess, and manage information security risks. This assists firms in better understanding the risks they face and implementing appropriate risk management procedures.
- Improved Security: Businesses and organisations must comply with NESA by implementing security measures that safeguard the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of electronic information and communication systems. This aids in the prevention of cyber dangers and vulnerabilities like as hacking, data breaches, and other cyber-attacks.
- Enhanced Reputation: Compliance with NESA standards can assist businesses and organisations in developing a reputation in the UAE as a trustworthy and safe enterprise. Customers, stakeholders, and partners prefer to do business with companies that have a solid reputation for information security and compliance.
- Competitive Advantage: Compliance with NESA standards can provide a competitive edge to businesses and organisations. Customers are becoming more aware of the importance of information security and are more likely to patronise companies who can demonstrate their commitment to security and compliance.
Types of Service we provide
- NESA Compliance Consulting
- NESA Compliance Audit
- Provide guidance in implementing
- NESA Compliance Training:
- Policies and procedures writing and review
- Data handling procedures writing and review
- Support in Review and update or update of Contracts, notices, inquiries, complaints, and dispute resolution
Audit and Compliance Process
Tiers-based enforcement of compliance is used by NESA. How regulatory agencies cooperate with you in enforcing Compliance depends on the extent of risk that your organization poses to the UAE’s information infrastructure. The results of your present security controls and the inherent risk of the sector are used to calculate the level of risk.
Stage 1
Stage 2
