Data Backup Digest

A new report by secure data centre Artmotion suggests that Asian countries are not secure places to store digital data. This report was created from data provided by the UN, World Economic Forum and Transparency International, along with other groups.

The report, entitled Data Danger Zones, ranks more than 170 nations on how well they keep data secure. Switzerland topped the list with a risk score of 1.6 percent, making it the safest place to store your data according to the report.

Other countries within the top ten include Iceland, Luxembourg, Austria, New Zealand, Portugal and Denmark.

Asian countries performed particularly bad overall. Singapore has a risk score of 1.9 percent, which is good and considered the safest Asian location and second globally, but other countries drag the overall score down.

For example, although Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea made it into the top 15 countries for security, China and India drag near the bottom of the list and pull the entire region’s average down.

Despite China being named a rapidly expanding data centre market within the list, the country fails to make it within the top 50. India performs particularly poorly, ranking at number 107 on the list.

There are a number of factors you must consider when selecting a data storage provider of any kind, whether that’s for hosting, cloud storage, or anything else. One of the most important factors is the physical location of that data storage centre.

Many elements stem from the physical location of storage. This includes privacy regulations, political environments and physical infrastructure support. For example, you don’t want your data to be stored in a country that has weak protection when it comes to protecting that data against government snooping. Equally, you want your data to be stored in a place which has the proper facilities to best store your data, from high speed transfers to strong security.

“More than ever, it is important for businesses and individuals to understand the impact that location can have on the privacy and security of their data,” said Mateo Meier, CEO of Artmotion. “In the age of cloud computing, it’s easy to forget that every piece of information stored still requires a physical home, and that the geographic location of that home can have a serious impact on data privacy.”

The Data Danger Zones report examined over 3.5 trillion IP addresses in the 170 countries, making it one of the most comprehensive guides created for data security. It’s hoped that this report will help businesses make informed decisions on where they store their data, along with understanding on just how safe it really is in those countries.

Of course, you shouldn’t take this report as gospel. There’s many reasons why you might not want to store your data in Switzerland, for example, especially if you’re not based there. Some businesses need the ability to be able to quickly access their physical data storage. As with everything, nothing is ever risk free – weigh up all the factors and consider what will be best for your business and its data.