Cybersecurity governance in the GCC is progressing toward greater integration and maturity. While international standards such as ISO 27001:2022 continue to set the benchmark for establishing an Information Security Management System (ISMS), regional frameworks like the UAE Information Assurance Framework (IAF) have introduced a national layer of compliance and assurance.

The challenge most organizations now face isn’t choosing between the two but learning how to bridge them effectively.

Where the Two Align

A significant portion of the UAE IAF maps directly to ISO 27001’s control objectives. Both frameworks emphasize:
  • Governance and Accountability: Leadership involvement, risk ownership, and continual improvement.
  • Asset and Risk Management: Comprehensive asset inventories and contextual risk assessment.
  • Access Control and Incident Response: Protection through defined user roles, monitoring, and incident management and response.
  • Business Continuity and Resilience: Establishing and testing recovery capabilities.
  • Monitoring and Auditing: Evidence-based control validation and internal audit cycles.

In practice, over 70% of IAF requirements align with ISO clauses and controls. The difference lies in how they’re interpreted and followed.

Where the Gap Lies

Bridging ISO and IAF isn’t a one-to-one translation. There are key differences organizations must address:

  • National Context Controls: The IAF mandates UAE regulatory coordination, incident reporting, and local data handling expectations that are not explicitly covered in ISO.
  • Sector-Specific Depth: Entities in finance, energy, and healthcare face domain-specific controls that exceed ISO’s baseline.
  • Regulatory Assurance: ISO certification is voluntary and international, while IAF compliance is mandatory for UAE-based public sector and regulated entities.
  • Governance Maturity: ISO centres on system management and improvement; IAF focuses on national-level assurance, reporting, and readiness validation.

A Practical Path to Integration

Organizations operating in the UAE can achieve compliance efficiency through an integrated approach:
  • Perform Control Mapping: Cross-reference ISO 27001 Annex A controls with IAF domains to create a combined control framework. (Example: ISO A.5.1 “Policies for Information Security” maps to IAF’s M1.2 “Information Security Policy”.)
  • Identify Gaps & Enhancements: Add UAE-specific assurance requirements (e.g., incident reporting, IA audits).
  • Integrate into the ISMS: Expand your Statement of Applicability (SoA) to cover IAF controls and evidence requirements.
  • Integrated Management System (IMS): Implement an Integrated Management System (IMS) to manage audit evidence, metrics, and reporting, ensuring readiness for both ISO and IAF evaluations.

Why Integration Matters

  • Reduces audit duplication and fatigue.
  • Speeds up compliance readiness across multiple regulators.
  • Increases board-level visibility on security and risk posture.
  • Enables efficient evidence management and continuous assurance.
  • Builds organizational trust and regulatory confidence.

Ultimately, the goal isn’t just to be certified or compliant; it’s to build a resilient governance ecosystem that speaks a unified language across global and local standards.Our approach focuses on:

How MAST Consulting Can Help

At MAST Consulting, we apply the principle of “One Framework, Multiple Compliance”, enabling organizations to maintain an integrated management system that simultaneously satisfies ISO, IAF, and sectoral frameworks, such as NESA, ADHICS, or the CBUAE Rulebook. Our approach focuses on:

Our approach focuses on:

  • Framework Harmonization: Mapping and aligning ISO 27001, UAE IAF, NESA, ADHICS, and CBUAE rulebook into a single, unified control environment.
  • Maturity Assessment & Roadmap: Assessing current state maturity and defining clear, actionable improvement plans.
  • Policy & Governance Development: Creating governance structures, policies, and control libraries aligned to both ISO and national frameworks.
  • IMS Enablement: Building continuous assurance mechanisms that support audit readiness, evidence management, and real-time compliance visibility.
  • Advisory & Capacity Building: Supporting leadership and teams with workshops, internal training, and readiness reviews.

Our mission is to help enterprises achieve compliance without duplication, ensuring that governance drives resilience, not bureaucracy.Our approach focuses on:

For organizations expanding or operating across GCC, MAST Consulting provides the bridge between international standards and regional expectations, enabling true cyber resilience through governance integration.