Last updated: July 2026

SAMA CSF Compliance Consulting

Looking for a SAMA CSF Compliance Consulting Company in Saudi Arabia? Reach Your Target Maturity Level Without a Multi-Year Program.

We are a SAMA CSF compliance consulting company for Saudi Arabia banks, insurers, financing companies, credit bureaus, and financial market infrastructure. Instead of a budget-draining, multi-year program, we run a maturity gap assessment in around 2 weeks, hand you a phased remediation roadmap within weeks, and implement the controls with your team - mapping SAMA CSF and NCA ECC together so you build once and satisfy both.

Every engagement is led personally by a former Microsoft Security Consulting team member. Fixed price. You review the gap assessment report before you pay.

Book a Free SAMA CSF Strategy Call See the NCA ECC Compliance Service

Gap assessment in ~2 weeks Fixed-price proposal in 48 hours Pay after you review the report 234 assessments, 14 countries

SAMA CSF compliance consulting company helping Saudi Arabia financial institutions reach their target maturity level

What Does a SAMA CSF Compliance Consulting Company Do?

A SAMA CSF compliance consulting company prepares your financial institution to meet the Cyber Security Framework issued by the Saudi Central Bank. It assesses your current maturity level against governance, risk management, cybersecurity operations and technology, and third-party risk, builds a phased roadmap to close the gap to your target maturity level, and implements the missing controls with your team.

SAMA CSF is not a one-time checklist. It is a maturity model, which means SAMA expects your institution to reach a defined target maturity level and sustain it over time. A strong consulting partner therefore does two things at once: gets your controls genuinely embedded, and builds the ongoing evidence and monitoring that keeps you at that level between reviews. That is exactly how Atlant Security runs every engagement.

What Is the SAMA Cyber Security Framework?

The SAMA Cyber Security Framework (SAMA CSF) is issued by the Saudi Central Bank, formerly the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. It is a sector-specific, mandatory framework for the financial institutions SAMA regulates: banks, insurance and reinsurance companies, financing companies, credit bureaus, and financial market infrastructure providers.

SAMA CSF is more prescriptive than the National Cybersecurity Authority’s Essential Cybersecurity Controls (NCA ECC) in several control areas, and most financial institutions in Saudi Arabia must comply with both frameworks at the same time. Rather than a simple pass or fail control checklist, SAMA CSF is built around a maturity model - your institution is assessed on how consistently and effectively practices are embedded, and SAMA expects you to reach and sustain a defined target maturity level, commonly maturity level 3 and above.

ISO 27001 is a useful shared control base for this work. Because SAMA CSF and NCA ECC share many controls, a single well-mapped implementation can satisfy both, instead of running two separate compliance projects.

The Areas SAMA CSF Assesses

SAMA CSF looks at your institution across governance, risk management, day-to-day cybersecurity operations and technology, and third-party risk, then rates your maturity across these areas.

Governance

Board and management accountability

Cybersecurity strategy, roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines that give your board and senior management real oversight of cyber risk - not just a policy binder on a shelf.

Risk Management

Ongoing risk process

A structured process to identify, assess, treat, and monitor cybersecurity risk across your institution, aligned to the risk appetite SAMA expects a regulated financial entity to maintain.

Cybersecurity Operations and Technology

Day-to-day controls

The operational controls - access management, monitoring, incident response, secure configuration, and technical safeguards - that SAMA reviews to confirm your maturity claims match reality.

Third-Party Risk

Vendors and outsourcing

Oversight of vendors, service providers, and outsourced technology, since a weak link in your supply chain is treated as a weak link in your own cybersecurity posture.

Who Must Comply With the SAMA Cyber Security Framework?

SAMA CSF is mandatory for financial institutions regulated by the Saudi Central Bank.

Banks licensed and regulated by the Saudi Central Bank

Insurance and reinsurance companies operating in Saudi Arabia

Financing companies regulated by SAMA

Credit bureaus operating under SAMA oversight

Financial market infrastructure providers

SAMA CSF vs NCA ECC - What Is the Difference?

Most financial institutions in Saudi Arabia must comply with both frameworks. Here is how they compare, and why we map them together instead of running two separate projects.

	SAMA CSF	NCA ECC
Issued by	Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)	National Cybersecurity Authority (NCA)
Scope	Financial institutions regulated by SAMA only	Baseline framework across Saudi Arabia sectors
Assessment model	Maturity-level model with a defined target level	Control implementation against defined domains
Prescriptiveness	More prescriptive in several control areas	Broad baseline, less sector-specific detail
Who needs it	Banks, insurers, financing companies, credit bureaus, financial market infrastructure	Government and private entities across sectors, including the same financial institutions
Control overlap	Shares many controls with NCA ECC	Shares many controls with SAMA CSF

Need Both SAMA CSF and NCA ECC?

SAMA CSF and NCA ECC share many controls, and ISO 27001 is a useful shared control base for both. We map all three together in one engagement, so your team implements each shared control once instead of running two or three separate compliance projects.

Learn about NCA ECC Compliance

Our SAMA CSF Compliance Process

Five stages from first call to a sustained target maturity level. The difference from most SAMA CSF consultants is stage four: we implement the controls with you, not just hand you a finding list.

Scoping and current-state review

We confirm which SAMA regulatory category you fall under and review your current cybersecurity governance, risk, operations, and third-party controls before we assess anything.

Maturity gap assessment

We assess your institution against the SAMA CSF maturity model and hand you a prioritized gap report against your target maturity level, typically within two weeks.

Phased remediation roadmap

A phased roadmap that closes the highest-risk gaps first, built to fit your budget and internal capacity rather than forcing a single multi-year program.

Hands-on implementation

We implement the missing controls with your team - governance structures, risk processes, technical controls, and third-party oversight - and map SAMA CSF against NCA ECC so you implement each control once for both frameworks.

Reach and sustain your target maturity level

We stay engaged through your SAMA review and help you build the ongoing monitoring and evidence practices that keep you at your target maturity level, not just pass once and drift back down.

SAMA CSF Compliance Timeline

A realistic timeline for a Saudi Arabia financial institution closing the gap to its SAMA target maturity level. Full remediation length depends on your starting maturity and scope.

Phase	Timing	Outcome
Scoping and current-state review	Week 1	Confirmed regulatory category and a clear picture of your starting posture
Maturity gap assessment	Weeks 1-2	Prioritized gap report against your SAMA target maturity level
Remediation roadmap	Week 3	Phased plan with the highest-risk gaps sequenced first
Control implementation	Weeks 3-12+ (scope-dependent)	Governance, risk, operational, and third-party controls implemented with your team
SAMA CSF and NCA ECC mapping	Parallel	Shared controls implemented once and mapped to both frameworks
SAMA review support	Ongoing	Evidence and monitoring in place so your target maturity level is sustained, not a one-time snapshot

How Much Does SAMA CSF Compliance Cost?

Unlike most SAMA CSF consultants, we publish our starting price. Fixed-price proposals within 48 hours of your strategy call. No open-ended hourly billing, no surprises.

Maturity Gap Assessment

A prioritized maturity gap report against your SAMA target level.

From $3,000per engagement

Maturity assessment across governance, risk, operations, and third-party controls
Gap analysis against your target maturity level
SAMA CSF and NCA ECC control mapping
Prioritized remediation roadmap

Book Free Strategy Call

Zero-risk: you review the report before you pay.

Full Remediation and Implementation

End to end: from gap assessment to your target maturity level.

Custom Fixed Price

Everything in the Maturity Gap Assessment
Hands-on control implementation with your team
Governance and risk process build-out
SAMA CSF and NCA ECC mapped together
Support through your SAMA review
We stay until you reach your target maturity level

Book Free Strategy Call

Zero-risk: you review the report before you pay.

Full remediation pricing depends on your current maturity level, institution size, and how many gaps need to be closed to reach your target maturity level. We provide a fixed-price proposal within 48 hours of your strategy call.

Who Needs SAMA CSF Compliance Support?

If any of these describe your institution, a SAMA CSF compliance consulting company is your fastest path to your target maturity level.

A Saudi Arabia bank, insurer, or financing company preparing for a SAMA cybersecurity review

A financial institution that must comply with both SAMA CSF and NCA ECC and wants a single implementation

An institution assessed below its SAMA target maturity level with no clear remediation roadmap

A first-time SAMA CSF assessment with no internal cybersecurity maturity program in place

A renewal or re-assessment cycle that needs updated governance, risk, and technical evidence for SAMA

Third-party or vendor risk gaps flagged in a prior SAMA review that still need to be closed

Why Choose Atlant Over Other SAMA CSF Consultants

Most SAMA CSF consultants sell a finding list and a multi-year program. Here is how we are different.

	Atlant Security	Typical SAMA CSF Consultant
Who does the work	A former Microsoft security consultant, personally	Junior or offshore staff you never meet
Gap assessment timing	Around 2 weeks	Often 6-8 weeks before you see a finding
Pricing	Fixed price - you review the report before you pay	Open-ended hourly billing
Control implementation	Hands-on - we implement the controls with you	A checklist and advice, then you are on your own
Framework mapping	SAMA CSF and NCA ECC mapped together, implement once	Two separate engagements, duplicate effort
Vendor neutrality	100% independent - zero software commissions	Often resells the GRC tool they recommend
Engagement length	We stay until you reach your target maturity level	Report delivered, then the relationship ends

Every engagement is led personally by a former Microsoft Security Consulting team member, CISSP certified - never delegated to junior staff

234 assessments delivered across 14 countries since 2013

Maturity gap assessment in around 2 weeks, with a phased remediation roadmap that follows within weeks

Fixed-price proposals within 48 hours - you review the gap assessment report before you pay

100% vendor-neutral - we take zero commissions from any software or GRC vendor

Hands-on control implementation with your team, not a checklist handed back to you

We map SAMA CSF and NCA ECC together so shared controls are implemented once, not twice

We stay engaged until you reach and can sustain your SAMA target maturity level

Alexander Sverdlov - Founder of Atlant Security and lead SAMA CSF compliance consultant

Every SAMA CSF Engagement Is Led by Alexander Sverdlov

Former Microsoft Security Consulting team member. CISSP certified. Alexander has personally led 234 security assessments across 14 countries since 2013. At Atlant Security, the senior consultant who scopes your SAMA CSF maturity assessment is the same person who implements the controls with your team - never handed to junior staff.

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Reach Your SAMA Target Maturity Level - Without a Multi-Year Program

Book a free 30-minute strategy call with Alexander. We will discuss your institution, your current maturity level, and exactly what it takes to pass your SAMA review. Fixed-price proposal within 48 hours.

Book a Free SAMA CSF Strategy Call alexander@atlantsecurity.com

Zero-risk: you review the report before you pay.

Schedule Your Free SAMA CSF Strategy Call

Need an Independent IT Security Audit First?

If you are not yet sure where your institution stands, an independent IT security audit gives you a baseline before you commit to a full SAMA CSF maturity assessment.

Learn about our IT Security Audit

For small projects and ad-hoc work outside our pre-agreed packages or retainers, our standard hourly rate is $460.

SAMA CSF Compliance FAQ

What is SAMA CSF compliance?

SAMA CSF compliance means meeting the requirements of the Cyber Security Framework issued by the Saudi Central Bank (formerly the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, SAMA). The framework covers governance, risk management, cybersecurity operations and technology, and third-party risk, and it assesses institutions on a maturity model rather than a simple pass or fail checklist. Compliance means demonstrating that your institution has reached and can sustain the maturity level SAMA expects for your category.

Who must comply with the SAMA Cyber Security Framework?

The SAMA Cyber Security Framework applies to financial institutions regulated by the Saudi Central Bank: banks, insurance and reinsurance companies, financing companies, credit bureaus, and financial market infrastructure providers. It is a sector-specific, mandatory framework for these regulated entities, separate from the broader national baseline that applies across other Saudi Arabia sectors.

Is SAMA CSF mandatory?

Yes. SAMA CSF is a mandatory framework for the financial institutions the Saudi Central Bank regulates. It is not a voluntary certification you can choose to skip - banks, insurers, financing companies, credit bureaus, and financial market infrastructure providers are expected to implement it and demonstrate their maturity level during SAMA review.

What is the SAMA CSF maturity model and what level do we need?

SAMA CSF assesses institutions on a maturity model, evaluating how consistently and how well cybersecurity practices are embedded across governance, risk management, operations and technology, and third-party risk, rather than simply checking whether a control exists. SAMA expects regulated institutions to reach and sustain a defined target maturity level, commonly maturity level 3 and above, appropriate to their size and risk profile. We assess your current maturity level and build the roadmap to close the gap to your target.

How much does SAMA CSF compliance cost?

A standalone SAMA CSF maturity gap assessment starts from $3,000. Full remediation cost depends on your current maturity level, the size of your institution, and how many gaps need to be closed to reach your target maturity level. We provide a fixed-price proposal within 48 hours of your strategy call, and you review the gap assessment report before you pay for further work.

How long does SAMA CSF compliance take?

The maturity gap assessment typically takes around 2 weeks. The phased remediation roadmap that follows is built in weeks, not months, and sequences the highest-risk gaps first. Full remediation timing depends on your starting maturity level and how many controls need to be implemented, but the goal is a practical path to your target maturity level, not a multi-year, budget-draining program.

What is the difference between SAMA CSF and NCA ECC?

SAMA CSF is a sector-specific, mandatory framework issued by the Saudi Central Bank for the financial institutions it regulates, and it is built around a maturity-level model. NCA ECC (the Essential Cybersecurity Controls) is issued by the National Cybersecurity Authority as a baseline framework across Saudi Arabia sectors. SAMA CSF is more prescriptive than NCA ECC in several control areas, and financial institutions in Saudi Arabia typically must comply with both frameworks at the same time.

Can you help with both SAMA and NCA ECC together?

Yes. SAMA CSF and NCA ECC share many controls, since both frameworks draw on the same underlying cybersecurity practices and a base like ISO 27001. We map both frameworks in a single engagement so your team implements each shared control once instead of running two separate compliance projects, which cuts duplicate effort and cost.