From the Dubai Electronic Security Centre’s Information Security Regulation (ISR) to the national IA Standards (NESA/SIA) and sector rules from the Central Bank, UAE organisations face a fast-maturing compliance landscape: plus DIFC and ADGM data protection regimes for firms in the financial free zones.

Security Solution Consultants delivers governance, risk and compliance services across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the wider Emirates. We map your obligations, close the gaps and keep you audit-ready with the GRCLens platform.

Federal standards and emirate-level rules

The UAE combines federal direction with emirate-specific regulation, and knowing which applies to you is the first question worth answering properly. Organisations frequently assume a single national regime and discover mid-programme that a second, emirate-level one also applies.

UAE Information Assurance Standards

The UAE Information Assurance Standards: historically associated with NESA: define national controls for entities supporting critical information infrastructure across sectors including energy, banking, aviation, healthcare, ICT and transport. The standards cover both management and technical controls, and are prioritised so that a subset must be addressed first rather than the whole set at once. Responsibility for the standards has moved between federal bodies over recent years, so it is worth confirming the current supervising authority for your sector rather than relying on older guidance.

Dubai: the DESC Information Security Regulation

The Dubai Electronic Security Center issues the Information Security Regulation for Dubai government entities and their partners. If you operate in Dubai and supply a government entity, ISR is usually the regime that reaches you in practice, and it is assessed independently of the federal standards.

Federal Personal Data Protection Law

The UAE’s federal personal data protection law governs the processing of personal data, with obligations covering lawful basis, transparency to data subjects, security measures, and responses to data subject requests. Specialised regimes apply in the financial free zones: the DIFC and ADGM each have their own data protection legislation and regulators, which are separate from the federal law and generally more prescriptive.

The free zone question

This is where UAE compliance most often goes wrong. An organisation established in the DIFC or ADGM is subject to that zone’s data protection law and regulator, not the federal law. Advice written for mainland UAE does not transfer cleanly, and a privacy programme built against the wrong instrument can require substantial rework.

We establish which regime actually applies before designing the programme: including for groups that operate across mainland and free zone entities simultaneously, which is common and needs handling deliberately rather than by assumption.

Our Cyber Security Services in the UAE

  • ISR (Dubai) compliance advisory: gap assessment, control implementation and audit preparation against the DESC Information Security Regulation for Dubai government entities and their suppliers.
  • National IA / NESA (SIA) alignment: assess and implement the UAE IA Standards for critical-sector organisations.
  • ISO 27001 ISMS certification: full ISMS build-out with certification support, the most requested baseline for UAE enterprises and free-zone firms.
  • PCI DSS advisory: scoping, gap analysis and remediation for merchants and payment service providers.
  • SOC 2 Type 1 & Type 2 readiness: for technology and service providers selling into enterprise and government supply chains.
  • DIFC & ADGM data protection: policies, DPO support and breach readiness under the free-zone DP laws.
  • Enterprise risk & maturity assessment: board-level risk visibility and security maturity benchmarking.

GRCLens & EASMLens for UAE Organisations

GRCLens centralises your risks, controls and compliance evidence across ISR, ISO 27001 and PCI DSS in one dashboard. EASMLens continuously discovers and monitors your internet-facing assets: essential visibility for organisations with rapid digital growth across the Gulf.

Why UAE Organisations Choose Our Cyber Security Services

  • Deep framework expertise across ISR, IA Standards, ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS and NIST.
  • Gulf-dedicated product: our GRCLens Gulf edition (grclens.net) is purpose-built for regional frameworks.
  • Flexible delivery: remote-first with on-site workshops in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as required.
  • Experience with banks, government suppliers, SaaS and enterprise clients.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who must comply with the Dubai ISR?

Dubai government entities and, increasingly, private-sector suppliers that process government data or deliver services to government. Compliance is commonly flowed down through contracts: we can assess whether your contracts trigger ISR obligations.

Is ISO 27001 mandatory in the UAE?

Not by law for most sectors, but it is the de facto procurement baseline for enterprise and government deals, and it satisfies large parts of ISR and IA Standards requirements: making it the most efficient starting point.

Can you support both DIFC and mainland entities?

Yes. We advise mainland companies and DIFC/ADGM-registered firms, including the free zones’ data protection regimes.

Do you provide Arabic documentation?

Core policies and evidence packs are delivered in English, with Arabic translations arranged where regulators or auditors require them.

Do the UAE IA Standards apply to private companies?

They apply to entities supporting critical information infrastructure and to government bodies, and reach private organisations both directly by sector and indirectly through contract. Sector matters more than ownership here.

We are in the DIFC. Does the federal data protection law apply to us?

Generally no: DIFC entities are subject to DIFC data protection legislation and its own commissioner. Groups operating across both mainland and free zone entities need to handle each under the right regime rather than applying one policy to everything.

Do you deliver on site in the UAE?

Yes. We have a Dubai presence and deliver workshops, assessments and board sessions on site alongside remote delivery.

Get Started

Talk to our Gulf team about ISR, IA Standards, SOC 2 or ISO 27001 compliance. Contact us.

Our cyber security services in the UAE help you meet these obligations with evidence rather than assertions.