Most (& Least) Cyber-Secure Countries For Remote Employees

Recent research has shown that 68% of high-revenue growth companies have embraced a hybrid work model. Remote and hybrid working are indeed a hot trend for businesses worldwide.

For those businesses embracing remote or hybrid working, they are enjoying benefits including reduced costs, improved flexibility, and wider skills and talent pools. However, amidst this growing remote working trend, cyber security has become more critical than ever.

Cloud application security company Indusface conducted a study to find out the most secure countries for businesses to allow employees to work remotely by analyzing historical cyber attack data per country.

The security company created an index score based on cybersecurity data, including DDOS attacks, phishing sites, Malware hosting sites, and compromised computers.

It turns out that Honduras is the most secure country in the Americas for businesses to allow employees to work remotely.

Key Study Findings: 

• Honduras is the most cyber-secure American country for businesses to allow their employees to work from, with a cyber security index score of 89.55 out of 100.
• Costa Rica ranks second with an index score of 84.81. It has nearly 400% fewer malware-hosting sites on average than the United States.
• The least cyber-secure American countries are Panama, the United States, and Brazil.

Most Cyber-Secure Countries in the Americas to Work Remotely

Honduras is the most secure American country for businesses to allow employees to work remotely from, with a cyber security score of 89.55 out of 100. The country also ranked as the most cyber-secure country in the world. 

Contributing to Honduras’ top ranking is that it is home to one of the lowest average number of DDOS attacks (40) and phishing sites (90) in the world, making businesses more assured of their cyber security. 

Costa Rica ranks as the second most cyber-secure American country, with a cyber security index score of 84.81/100. The country has 270 malware-hosting sites per 100,000 urls - nearly 400% less than the United States where over 1,320 sites have been reported! Sites that contain malware are more likely to steal your business information and endanger your security.

Ranking third as the most cyber-secure American country is Guatemala with an overall cyber security index score of 84.47/100. This Central American country boasts the lowest number of phishing sites with an average of only 20 per 100,000 urls. 

Top 5 most cyber-secure American countries

^{* Total DDOS Attacks were counted between 2015 to 2021.  **Compromised computers = have been infected with the Gamarue botnet.}

Meanwhile, Panama ranks as the least secure American country for businesses to allow employees to remotely work from.

Least Cyber-Secure American Countries to Work Remotly

Panama ranks the least secure country in the Americas for businesses to allow employees to work remotely from, with a total cybersecurity score of only 48.45 out of 100.

With 1,560 phishing sites and 1,150 malware-hosting sites per 100,000 urls, businesses in Panama will need to be extra careful when identifying whether a website is genuine.

The United States ranks as the second least cyber-secure American country. The US has one of the highest number of malware-hosting sites per 100,000 internet users (1,320), which leads to its low cyber security score of 62.71. 

Following closely behind is Brazil, which ranks as the third least cyber secure American country. It has a cyber security score of 67.18/100.

Top 3 least cyber secure American countries to work from

Venky Sundar, founder and president of Indusface commented on working remotely across the world: 

“Attracting top talent through remote work can revolutionize your business. However, it also leaves your sensitive data and assets vulnerable to hackers. Therefore, it is important to be prepared to address remote work security risks.”

There are some key points you can use to prepare for remote work security risks and that you should consider when recruiting remote talents globally:

1. Firstly, you should consider which countries are least targeted by hackers and least risky to your cyber security. 
2. Secondly, look at regulations that govern data security in the country. For example, GDPR is probably the gold standard when it comes to data security. 
3. Thirdly, research cyber security law enforcement in the country. This indicates how quickly people will be punished when found guilty of committing cybercrime. 
4. Fourthly, check to see if there are cybersecurity government grants. Cybersecurity grants are provided to SMBs which tend to be more susceptible to cyber attacks. 
5. Fifthly, the level of cybersecurity awareness among the population also affects how likely hackers are to succeed in commiting cyber crimes. 

Security Tips for Businesses Leveraging Remote or Hybrid Working

According to Sundar, there is no one way to secure remote working. But you should make sure that security is an integral part of your workplace culture and employees’ training on cyber security is an ongoing commitment in your company.

Besides that, other top tips and best practices to secure remote working within your business are: 

1. Enforce strong authentication 

Authentication starts by identifying the remote worker before a worker can access corporate data and assets. From this, you can build audit trails of the actions against the identity.

2. Update and encrypt your systems and devices

Outdated technology could open doors to hackers with credential information like credit cards being stolen. Cases like this will have a fatal hit on your business’s reputation as well as cyber security. It is recommended that all your devices be updated and encrypted with SSL certificates. 

3. Initiate employee cyber security training

Cyber security training is vital to guard against internal security risks from your own employees, both those working in the office and remotely.

Untrained employees can unknowingly expose the business to malware or ransomware attacks at work, which puts the company and clients at risk.

To guard against internal cyber security risks, carry out regular and ongoing employee training on cyber security, and make it fun.

You could get your team engaged in the training by setting up phishing email simulators so they can see and be aware of the potential dangers that exist online. 

4. Avoid weak or duplicate passwords

Many businesses duplicate or share passwords for multiple accounts. Research has shown that hackers love that and bankon weak passwords when brute forcing PoS terminals.

To protect against data breaches, make sure everyone uses secure passwords. Ask remote employees to use an automatic password generator to create safer, more secure passwords for work. 

5. Only upload files to secure systems

Hackers often attack victims by uploading malicious code that can be executed directly on the victims’ server.

Avoid storing data in unencrypted storage, leaving data on devices without password protection, and attaching sensitive information directly into an email just be be safe. 

All these points should be part of your security policy for employees, including remote workers.

Full List of Secure Countries for Employees to Work Remotely Worldwide