NESA
The UAE's National Electronic Security Authority Information Assurance Standards define the cybersecurity requirements for critical information infrastructure in the UAE — the baseline for government and utility systems.
The National Electronic Security Authority (NESA) — now operating under the Cyber Security Council of the UAE — published the UAE Information Assurance Standards (IAS), which establish cybersecurity requirements for critical information infrastructure (CII) in the UAE. The IAS covers 188 controls across five categories: information security governance, risk management, incident management, supply chain security, and technical controls. Organizations operating critical information infrastructure — government entities, telecoms, utilities, financial institutions, healthcare providers — are required to comply.
The NESA IAS controls are organized into mandatory and advanced levels. Mandatory controls apply to all CII operators; advanced controls apply based on risk assessment outcomes. The technical controls cover access management, vulnerability management, encryption, network security, application security, and security monitoring — requirements that are implemented at the system architecture level, not addressed through policy documentation. Annual compliance assessments by approved assessment bodies are required for CII operators.
NESA compliance intersects with other UAE and Gulf regulatory frameworks. Financial institutions in the UAE face both NESA requirements and CBUAE cybersecurity expectations. Healthcare providers face MOHAP data governance requirements alongside NESA. Telecom operators face TRA obligations alongside NESA. Engineering teams building systems for UAE critical information infrastructure must design for multiple overlapping frameworks simultaneously — starting with NESA as the cybersecurity baseline.
We architect NESA IAS compliance into systems serving UAE critical information infrastructure — implementing the mandatory and advanced controls at the system design level, building the security monitoring and incident response capabilities that NESA assessments evaluate, and navigating the intersection with CBUAE, MOHAP, and TRA requirements for organizations in regulated sectors. Our teams deploy into the UAE with NESA compliance built from the first infrastructure decision.
Compliance-Native Architecture Guide
Design principles and a structured checklist for building software that is compliant by default — not compliant by retrofit. Covers data architecture, access controls, audit trails, and vendor due diligence.