Everybody within the digital space knows the importance of protecting your network, business data, and corporate systems. Today, cybersecurity has become a must-have for anyone with a technological device, especially when it comes to corporate organizations. In fact, so far US enterprises have experienced 130 security breaches per year, per organization, on average. This shows just how important it should be for your organization to stay protected from cyberattacks at all times.

With the rise in hacker attacks and malware continues to increase from year to year, the demand for cybersecurity specialists also began to grow. Now, many North American companies are even considering hiring the services of a cybersecurity staffing agency to find specialists from all over the world. One of the most popular locations for outsourcing cybersecurity experts is in Latin America. This region has it all, from an established IT industry to the lack of time-zone differences. Keep reading to learn how to hire cybersecurity experts in Latin America!

Cybersecurity in Latin America

Latin America has a significant market for cybersecurity professionals. The region has been the victim of many cyberattacks over the years, increasing the demand for both cybersecurity education and IT specialists on the issue. The situation escalated to a point where local newspapers recently spoke about the importance of cybersecurity experts and highlighted that many of them were working for foreign companies. Moreover, Latin American IT professionals are aware that on a global scale, there’s a demand for approximately 65% more cybersecurity specialists than the existing number of them. This has led to the creation of new programs not only to boost the IT industry as a whole but also the cybersecurity sector in particular.

As for the cybersecurity industry, this market had an estimated value of almost 12.9 billion U.S. dollars and is still projected to reach double this value by 2025. Alongside this encouraging number, the IT security revenue of 2019-2020 in Latin America reached 4 billion dollars. This shows just how much cybersecurity in Latin America continues to grow. Now, there are different cybersecurity pathways for IT professionals to choose from, with every one of them offering a new way to protect your data.

Which Latin American countries can you hire nearshore cybersecurity experts from?

While there are at least a small number of cybersecurity experts in Latin America in every area of the region, there are certain countries that boast a higher quantity and quality of IT professionals. Here are the best countries in Latin America to hire cybersecurity specialists

1. Mexico
2. Argentina
3. Brazil
4. Uruguay
5. Chile
6. Ecuador
7. Dominican Republic
8. Colombia
9. Panama
10. El Salvador
11. Costa Rica
12. Peru

English proficiency of Cybersecurity experts in Latin America

Cybersecurity experts in Latin America tend to have good English proficiency levels, though it varies from country to country. Lucky for us, the EF EPI Index helps to analyze the average English level of countries from all over the world, including those in which outsourced cybersecurity experts live. Here are the average English proficiency levels from the best countries in Latin America to hire cybersecurity experts:

• Argentina: High
• Mexico: Very Low
• Brazil: Moderate
• Uruguay: Moderate
• Chile: Moderate
• Peru: Moderate
• Ecuador: Low
• Panama: Low
• El Salvador: Moderate
• Colombia: Low
• Costa Rica: Moderate
• Dominican Republic: Moderate

Most popular programming languages for cybersecurity experts in Latin America

• Python
• JavaScript
• PowerShell
• Java
• C/C++
• SQL
• PHP

Cost of hiring cybersecurity experts in Latin America

Thanks to the vast difference in the conversion rates of the various Latin American currencies into US dollars, nearshore cybersecurity experts are available at a much more affordable rate than their North American counterparts. Here are the approximate rates for hiring cybersecurity experts in Latin America, just keep in mind that these numbers will fluctuate a bit depending on the country each specialist resides.

• Junior cybersecurity experts in Latin America: 5,000 USD a month.
• Mid-level cybersecurity specialists: 6,000 to $7,000 a month.
• Senior cybersecurity specialists: 8,000 to 10,000 USD a month.

How To Hire Cybersecurity experts in Latin America

1. Work with a Cybersecurity staffing agency

Cybersecurity nearshore services are a fantastic way to hire cybersecurity experts in Latin America. You can access these through a cybersecurity staffing agency or nearshoring firm (like us, CyberWarrior.com! These organizations help you hire outsourced cybersecurity professionals without having to handle the recruitment process yourself. Instead, nearshoring firms recruit, vet, interview, and onboard information security engineers into your organizations for you in a matter of weeks. In the case of CyberWarrior, we create an ongoing training and professional development plan for each engineer you hire through us and help you ensure your cybersecurity specialists are always on the cutting edge and aligned with data security goals. This is certainly the easiest and most straightforward way to hire cybersecurity experts in Latin America.

2. Look for Cybersecurity experts in Latin America on online job boards

For those who still enjoy more old-fashioned recruitment tools such as job boards, there’s an option to combine this strategy with online communities like Reddit to find nearshore cybersecurity specialists. IT professionals from all over Latin America are part of these digital communities, which makes posting an ad for a job vacancy on a few of them a great move to find the outsourced cybersecurity experts you need.

3. Search for security specialists who work as independent contractors

Independent cybersecurity contractors are seasoned professionals who prefer to offer their services outside of any firm or freelancing platform. This is a viable option for those looking to hire specialists without the intervention of any third parties or who want to find someone for a long-term partnership. Though keep in mind that these types of IT professionals can be hard to find, as most of them are already committed to other work arrangements. Also, without a third-party provider that can vet these engineers for both skill, experience, and ethics, it carries a higher level of risk than other alternatives. Anyhow, it’s still a good idea to reach out to cybersecurity experts on LinkedIn and see what they have to say.

4. Ask for referrals

 Direct referrals are a lifesaver for many companies looking to add cybersecurity experts to their team through staff augmentation but don’t know how to contact or find IT professionals in Latin America. CyberWarrior leverages this strategy often – we’ve built extensive networks of contacts because of our cybersecurity bootcamps, online learning platform, and other economic development programs in the region. Networking has long been known as a key way to source high flight talent. If you ask your contacts in the industry to recommend you to a cybersecurity professional in Latin America, you can reach out to them directly and save money on recruitment fees.

5. Browse through freelancing platforms to find cybersecurity experts

Freelancing platforms are a popular place to hire cybersecurity experts in Latin America as well as IT professionals specialized in many different tech stacks. The most commonly used ones are Fiverr and Upwork, which connect companies and individuals from all over the world for short to medium work arrangements. While these platforms can be practical and easy to use, they offer very limited interview steps and also take a cut from your developer’s compensation, which can cause rates to be higher than hiring them through nearshore staff augmentation. Another shortcoming is that connections with cybersecurity engineers and all other talent is random, meaning that you don’t have a personalized introduction or any background on the individuals you are sourcing. This also increases risk because you don’t have a trusted reference that can speak to past experiences working with this engineer. Still, there is definitely a place for these alternatives and the growth of “gig-economy” platforms speak to their popularity.

Ready to hire Cybersecurity experts in Latin America?

As you can see, hiring cybersecurity experts in Latin America is easier than you might think. At CyberWarrior, we offer cybersecurity solutions through IT staff augmentation and nearshoring. We can connect you with our large network of cybersecurity experts in Latin America and from all over the world to help you find the right nearshore specialist for your company. We are located in Massachusetts with partnerships across Latin America and the United States. Importantly, when you partner with our us as your cybersecurity services provider for cybersecurity staffing or managed security services, you are investing in our philanthropic vision to create economic development opportunity for people that would otherwise not have them. CyberWarrior is a social enterprise driven by values including diversity, humility, passion, and grit. We have a long history of being advocates for helping underserved people enter and grow within the technology industry.

Contact us to learn more about the services that our cybersecurity staffing agency offers!