Every season brings a new wave of founders relocating to Dubai – for regulatory clarity, banking, schools, and the simple fact that the city rewards speed. Most arrive with excellent cryptographic hygiene and surprisingly thin physical OPSEC. This is a starter.
Week one: lock down the footprint
- Do not post your residence district on social media. Not even “Business Bay” – pick a neighbour.
- Use a virtual office or lawyer’s address for all company-registration purposes.
- Your personal car shouldn’t be in your own name.
- Your children’s school run shouldn’t follow the same route twice in the same week.
Week two: harden the residence
- Change door locks to high-security cylinders. Most villa cylinders in the UAE are defeatable in under 30 seconds.
- Add CCTV with 30-day offsite retention (not NAS – offsite).
- Install a duress code on your alarm keypad distinct from your disarm code.
- Brief domestic staff on tailgating, package receipt, and social-engineering phone calls.
Week three: rehearse the bad day
The best security investment any founder can make is one afternoon of rehearsal. What does the family do if the principal is unreachable for 6 hours? Who has the lawyer’s number? Where are the backup keys? Who authorises large transfers? If you haven’t rehearsed, you don’t have a plan – you have a document.
Almas Aman runs a one-day residence and OPSEC clinic for founders. Ping us.