Get VARA-ready before your next inspection

VARA's Technology & Information Rulebook sets binding cybersecurity requirements for every VASP licensed in Dubai, covering TLPT, key governance, CISO appointment, incident response and access controls. Confirm your specific compliance deadline against the current Rulebook version for your licence category — ITSEC tracks these dates and scopes engagements to meet them.

Threat-Led Penetration Testing (TLPT) is intelligence-led Red Team testing that simulates real-world adversarial attacks against your trading platforms, wallets and APIs — not a routine vulnerability scan. It's the specific testing methodology VARA's Rulebook mandates under Rule D for licensed VASPs.

Yes — VARA's Rulebook requires every licensed VASP to designate a Chief Information Security Officer under Rule I. Firms without the budget or need for a full-time hire typically appoint a Virtual CISO, which ITSEC provides as part of the compliance engagement.

VARA's Rulebook sets a 72-hour notification window for material cybersecurity incidents under Rule H. ITSEC builds incident response runbooks specifically sized to that window so your team can act immediately when something happens.

VARA requires annual independent TLPT / Red Team testing at minimum. Continuous vulnerability scanning and quarterly internal security reviews are strongly recommended on top of that, especially for exchanges and custodians handling client assets.

Non-compliance with VARA's Rulebook can result in findings during inspection, remediation orders, fines, or in serious cases suspension or revocation of your licence. Documented, tested evidence is what keeps an inspection finding from becoming a licensing issue.

A full VARA compliance engagement typically runs 3–4 weeks from kickoff to final report, covering TLPT, key governance review, CISO advisory setup and documentation. We provide a fixed-scope quote within one business hour of your enquiry.

No credible cybersecurity provider should guarantee a regulator's decision. ITSEC's role is to identify gaps, strengthen controls, prepare evidence and improve your inspection readiness — the outcome is determined solely by VARA.