NESA / UAE IA V2 Gap Assessment
Controls-by-controls assessment of your posture against the UAE Information Assurance Standard V2 — the national framework applied to critical-infrastructure entities, government-adjacent organisations, and their suppliers. Delivered by a GRC Mastery + ISO 27001 Lead Auditor practitioner.
What it is
A focused, 3 – 4 week assessment of your current cybersecurity posture against the UAE Information Assurance Standard V2 — the national-level controls framework covering governance, risk management, information lifecycle, asset and supply-chain security, and technical defence-in-depth.
We review your existing controls, interview key stakeholders across IT, operations, HR, and legal, observe the technical and procedural evidence, and map every UAE IA V2 control to its current implementation maturity. The output is a gap report, a prioritised remediation roadmap, and a mapping of existing ISO 27001 / NIST / CIS work to the NESA framework — so remediation doesn't duplicate effort.
Led by a practitioner holding GRC Mastery and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor credentials with hands-on experience in UAE regulated-sector environments.
What this is not
Who this is for
What you get
- Scope & applicability document — what parts of your organisation are in scope and which UAE IA V2 control families apply.
- Controls-by-controls assessment report — every applicable control with current state, maturity rating (0 – 4), evidence observed, gap severity.
- Cross-framework mapping — where your ISO 27001 / CIS / NIST evidence already satisfies NESA (to avoid duplicate work).
- Prioritised remediation roadmap — 90-day / 6-month / 12-month plan with effort estimates.
- Executive summary — 2-page board-consumable posture brief with maturity heat map.
- Procurement-ready posture statement — a document you can use in response to client / tender questions about NESA compliance.
- Walkthrough session — 90-minute live review with your IT and executive teams.
How we deliver
Pricing
Published range
Per engagement. Written quote within 48 hours.
What drives the price:
- Organisation scope (single entity vs. multi-entity / group)
- Number of applicable control families
- Technical environment complexity
- Supply-chain and third-party assessment scope
- Existing ISO 27001 / CIS / NIST maturity (drives mapping workload)
Commercial terms
- Deposit: 50% at signing
- Net terms: Net-30
- Quote validity: 30 days
- Combined with ISO 27001 Gap: 15 – 20% discount
- Deliverable: PDF + editable DOCX
Your cert-backed lead
Engagement Lead
Manoj Prabhakaran
ISO 27001 Lead Auditor · GRC Mastery · CPTS · CDSA · Security+ · Azure Cloud Security
Focus: UAE IA V2 control mapping, cross-framework alignment, maturity assessment, roadmap design for UAE-regulated sectors.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between NESA and UAE IA V2?
UAE IA (Information Assurance) Standard V2 is the current national standard, issued by the Signals Intelligence Agency (SIA, formerly NESA — the National Electronic Security Authority). People still use "NESA" colloquially for the framework. V2 is the updated version that most UAE critical-sector and government-adjacent entities are now being assessed against.
Does NESA apply to my organisation?
If you're a critical-information-infrastructure entity, a government entity, or a supplier to either, yes — directly. If you're in the broader UAE business ecosystem, NESA increasingly appears in enterprise procurement as a posture question. Even when not directly mandated, NESA alignment is often a differentiator.
What's the difference between NESA and ISO 27001?
ISO 27001 is an international voluntary certification covering ISMS management. NESA / UAE IA V2 is a UAE national standard with specific controls designed for critical-infrastructure and government-adjacent entities. Significant overlap with ISO 27001 exists (~50 – 60%), but NESA has UAE-specific controls around cross-border data, national security, and supply-chain assurance that ISO 27001 doesn't explicitly cover.
Do you get us certified?
NESA / UAE IA V2 isn't a certification in the ISO sense — it's compliance assessed by the issuing authority or an authorised auditor against the standard's controls. We deliver the gap assessment and remediation roadmap; formal assessment against the standard is conducted by designated auditors. Where applicable we support your authorised-auditor engagement.
How long does the gap assessment take?
3 – 4 weeks end-to-end for a typical mid-market organisation. Larger or multi-entity engagements extend to 5 – 6 weeks. The controls framework is deep — we don't rush coverage.
Can you combine this with ISO 27001 Gap?
Yes — and many clients do. Running both assessments in parallel saves 15 – 20% versus sequential engagements because interview and documentation work overlaps significantly. Ask us about the combined engagement during scoping.
What evidence do you produce?
A controls-by-controls assessment report with maturity rating and gap severity, a prioritised remediation roadmap, an executive summary, and a mapping document showing where existing ISO 27001 / CIS / NIST controls already satisfy NESA requirements (avoiding duplicate work).
Do you cover ADHICS and Dubai ISR too?
ADHICS (Abu Dhabi healthcare) is scoped separately — similar framework, sector-specific controls. Dubai ISR v2 is on our 2027 roadmap (join the waitlist on the GRC category page) and will be added when our Dubai-government engagement pipeline justifies it.
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Preparing for a NESA assessment — or responding to a tender question about UAE IA V2?
Book a 30-minute scoping call. We'll assess applicability, scope the engagement, and send a written quote within 48 hours.
