UAE Information Assurance Standard (SIA, formerly NESA) compliance software
Assess and evidence the UAE Information Assurance Standard — management and technical controls, prioritised P1 to P4, in Arabic or English.
What UAE IA (NESA/SIA) requires
The UAE Information Assurance Standard is the national baseline for information security, issued under the UAE Information Assurance Regulation. Originally published by NESA (the National Electronic Security Authority), the standard and its regulation are now administered by the Signals Intelligence Agency, into which NESA was integrated in 2023.
The standard is mandatory for federal and semi-government entities and for organisations designated as critical information infrastructure — energy, banking, aviation, healthcare, ICT, transport and defence. Its controls are grouped into six management families (M1–M6) and nine technical families (T1–T9), and each control carries a priority from P1 to P4. P1 controls carry the highest regulatory weight because they address the large majority of the threats the regulator identified.
Applicability is risk-driven: a defined subset of management controls is always applicable, while the remaining controls apply according to the entity's risk assessment and information classification. That makes documented risk assessment and a defensible applicability statement central to compliance, not optional extras.
Who it applies to
- UAE federal and semi-government entities
- Critical information infrastructure operators (energy, banking, aviation, health, ICT, transport)
- Service providers and contractors handling government or CII information
- Organisations required to demonstrate IA compliance to a sector regulator
At a glance
- Issuing authority: Signals Intelligence Agency (SIA), formerly NESA
- Control families: 6 management (M1–M6) + 9 technical (T1–T9)
- Prioritisation: P1–P4 tiers, with P1 the highest regulatory priority
- Applicability: Always-applicable core plus risk-based selection
How GRCLens supports UAE IA (NESA/SIA)
UAE IA (NESA/SIA) runs on the same shared control model as every other framework in GRCLens, so evidence captured once can satisfy several obligations at the same time.
Priority-tier dashboard
Compliance is reported by P1–P4 tier, not one blended percentage, so the controls the regulator weights most are visible first — with drill-down into the families behind each tier.
Full family catalogue
All fifteen management and technical families are pre-loaded with control statements, guidance and expected deliverables, each tagged with its priority and applicability basis.
Risk-based applicability
Mark risk-based controls not applicable with recorded justification, producing the applicability statement the standard expects alongside your risk assessment.
Connector-validated evidence
Pull technical validation directly from the estate — vulnerability management, Entra ID and identity, SIEM, cloud posture and ITSM — mapped to candidate IA controls for assessor confirmation.
Assurance workflow
Failing checks become owned items in the assurance register with severity, treatment, due dates and second-party verification, and can be pushed to Jira or ServiceNow.
Native Arabic operation
Control text, families, workflow and reporting run in Arabic with right-to-left layout, or in English.
UAE IA (NESA/SIA) frequently asked questions
Is NESA still the authority for the UAE IA Standard?
NESA was integrated into the Signals Intelligence Agency in 2023, and the IA Standard and Regulation are now administered by SIA. The framework is still widely referred to as NESA compliance, and GRCLens labels it UAE IA (SIA/NESA) so both names are recognisable.
Why do P1 controls matter more?
The standard assigns each control a priority from P1 to P4, and the P1 set addresses the large majority of the threats the regulator identified. GRCLens therefore reports compliance per tier so P1 gaps are never hidden inside an overall score.
How is control applicability decided?
A core group of management controls is always applicable; the rest are selected on the basis of the entity's risk assessment and information classification. GRCLens records not-applicable decisions with justification so the applicability statement is defensible.
Can one programme cover UAE IA and Dubai ISR?
Yes. Both run on the same control model in GRCLens, so evidence captured once — access reviews, patch compliance, incident procedures — serves both assessments where the requirements overlap.
One platform, many obligations
Talk to us about UAE IA (NESA/SIA)
Security Solution Consultants provides UAE IA / NESA readiness and advisory alongside the platform, so you can combine tooling with hands-on expertise.
Contact us