What is GRC Advisory?
Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) is the integrated framework that connects your organization's security strategy to its business objectives and regulatory obligations. For Saudi organizations, GRC is not optional — it is the foundation upon which SAMA CSF assessments, NCA ECC audits, and PDPL compliance programs are built.
CISO Consulting's GRC Advisory service delivers a structured, Saudi-market-specific program that eliminates the chaos of managing multiple frameworks in silos. We unify your compliance obligations into a single, coherent operating model.
The Saudi GRC Landscape in 2026
Saudi organizations today navigate one of the most complex regulatory environments in the region. The December 2024 NCA Regulations introduced enforcement powers with fines reaching SAR 25 million. SAMA continues to tighten its Cyber Security Framework requirements for financial institutions. The PDPL is now fully enforced, and the NCA's ECC-2:2024 expanded its scope to include private sector organizations hosting critical national infrastructure.
Organizations that treat each framework as a separate compliance project face duplicated effort, inconsistent controls, and audit fatigue. Our GRC Advisory service maps all relevant frameworks to a single control set — so SAMA CSF, NCA ECC, and ISO 27001 are addressed simultaneously, not sequentially.
Our GRC Advisory Services
1. GRC Program Design
We design a GRC operating model tailored to your organization's size, sector, and regulatory scope. This includes governance structure, committee charters, roles and responsibilities, and the policy hierarchy that underpins every compliance activity.
2. Integrated Compliance Framework
We map your obligations across SAMA CSF, NCA ECC-2:2024, PDPL, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and NIST CSF into a unified control catalogue. Every control is tagged to its regulatory source — eliminating duplicate effort and providing a single source of truth for auditors.
3. Risk Assessment & Register
A formal, methodology-driven risk assessment identifying your organization's top cybersecurity risks, their likelihood and impact, and a prioritized treatment plan. Updated quarterly to reflect your evolving threat environment and regulatory changes.
4. Compliance Gap Analysis
A structured assessment of your current compliance posture against target frameworks. Delivered as a scored gap report with a remediation roadmap, effort estimates, and ownership assignments — not just a list of what's missing.
5. Audit Preparation & Evidence Management
We prepare your organization for SAMA self-assessments, NCA audits, and third-party certifications. This includes evidence collection, control testing, documentation reviews, and pre-audit walkthroughs with your team.
6. Third-Party & Supply Chain Risk
NCA ECC-2:2024 explicitly addresses supply chain and third-party security. We assess your vendor ecosystem, establish a vendor risk classification framework, and implement ongoing monitoring for your critical suppliers.
Deliverables
- GRC operating model and governance charter
- Integrated control catalogue (SAMA / NCA / PDPL / ISO 27001)
- Cyber risk register and treatment plan
- Compliance gap report with remediation roadmap
- Evidence library for audit readiness
- Vendor risk assessment framework
- Quarterly compliance status dashboard
Who This Service Is For
- Financial institutions under SAMA CSF mandatory assessment
- Government entities and CNI operators under NCA ECC
- Organizations pursuing ISO 27001 certification
- Companies managing PDPL obligations for personal data
- Organizations with multiple overlapping regulatory obligations
Start with a GRC Readiness Assessment
Every engagement begins with a complimentary 60-minute GRC readiness consultation. We assess your current compliance posture, identify your highest-priority gaps, and recommend an engagement model matched to your timeline and budget.