What is the Houston Area Security Index?

The Houston Area Security Index is original CinchOps research grading 2,420 small and mid-sized businesses across 12 Houston-area cities and 3 industries (law, accounting, manufacturing) on six external security categories. Scores reflect what an attacker sees from outside the network using publicly accessible information only.

Where does the Houston Area Security Index data come from?

All data is first-party, collected directly by CinchOps using the Telivy external assessment platform. No insider access, no surveys, no self-reporting. The dataset is not available from any other source. The full CSV is downloadable from this page.

What percentage of Houston businesses fail their security scan?

45.5% of the 2,420 Houston-area businesses scanned earned a failing grade (D or F) on the Houston Area Security Index 2026. Only 26.5% earned a passing grade (A or B). The average overall grade across the index is a D+ (1.60 GPA on a 4.0 scale).

Which security categories are worst across Houston SMBs?

DNS Health is the worst category with 59.9% of businesses failing. Application Security is second-worst with 50.6% failing. Network Security has 63.8% failing. Categories that perform well are IP Reputation (100% pass), Social Engineering (95.7% pass), and Vulnerabilities (76.5% pass).

Original Research - 2026 Edition

Houston Area Security Index 2026

Business Security Scorecard Analysis by Region and Industry

Houston Area Security Index 2026: External Scan of 2,420 Houston Businesses

Published June 15, 2026. Updated June 18, 2026. Research by Shane Stevens, CEO of CinchOps

The Houston Area Security Index measures the public security posture of businesses across the greater Houston area in three industries: law, accounting, and manufacturing. Scores reflect what an attacker sees from outside the network - DNS health, exposed employee data, weak configurations, and known vulnerabilities.

Security by IndustryAverage scores by category

Grade DistributionOverall grade

Regional ComparisonCompare security metrics across regions

Category PerformanceAverage scores by security category

Category Grade BreakdownGrade distribution per category

Business Details

Grade Key

ExcellentStrong security posture, minimal risk

GoodAbove average, minor improvements needed

FairAverage security, attention required

PoorBelow average, significant gaps

CriticalMajor vulnerabilities, immediate action needed

Industry	Region	Business Count	Final Grade	Social Engineering	Application	IP Reputation	Network	DNS	Vulnerabilities

Key Findings

CinchOps scanned 2,420 Houston-area small and mid-sized businesses across 12 cities and 3 industries using external attack-surface signals only. The dataset reflects what a threat actor can see from the public internet without ever touching the target network.

45.5% of Houston-area SMBs failed with a D or F grade. Only 26.5% earned a passing A or B. The average overall grade is a D+ (1.60 GPA).
DNS Health is the worst category at 59.9% failing. Application Security is second-worst at 50.6%, and Network Security has 63.8% failing. The pattern is consistent: categories that require active configuration are catastrophically weak.
The Woodlands and Katy lead the regional ranking, both at a 1.67 GPA. Sugar Land trails at 1.33. Houston, with 2,054 of the 2,420 businesses, sets the metro baseline at 1.60.
CPA firms have the lowest fail rate (42.7%), explained by AICPA peer review and IRS compliance pressure. Manufacturing trails at 46.6% fail rate.
Top combination: The Woodlands CPA practices at a 1.90 GPA. Worst combination: Sugar Land manufacturers at 1.15 GPA with 65% failing. The spread between top and bottom is a full letter grade.

How to cite: CinchOps. (2026). Houston Area Security Index 2026. https://cinchops.com/houston-area-security-scorecard/

Source data: Download the full dataset as CSV (29 rows, 38 columns)

Scope and originality: This is first-party data collected directly by CinchOps and is not available elsewhere. Scope is limited to external signals (no insider access), three industries, and twelve Houston-area cities. The index is updated annually.

WHERE CINCHOPS COMES IN

Closing the Gaps Behind Your Grade

Most businesses on this page scored a D in DNS Health and a C in Network Security. Those are not exotic problems. They are patching gaps, expired certs, open ports, and missing MFA. The work below is what closes them, quietly, consistently, every day, for businesses across the Houston area.

Prevent

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Defend

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Know Your Business Security Score

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Regions Ranked by Average Grade

Cities with at least 10 scanned businesses, sorted by aggregate grade point average across all three industries.

Rank	Region	Businesses	Average GPA	Pass Rate	Fair Rate	Fail Rate
1	The Woodlands	135	1.67	31.1%	26.7%	42.2%
2	Katy	70	1.67	25.7%	32.9%	41.4%
3	Houston	2,054	1.60	26.6%	27.7%	45.7%
4	Cypress	26	1.58	15.4%	46.2%	38.5%
5	Sugar Land	88	1.33	21.6%	23.9%	54.5%
6	Tomball	20	1.30	10.0%	40.0%	50.0%

Industries Ranked by Average Grade

Rank	Industry	Businesses	Average GPA	Pass Rate	Fair Rate	Fail Rate
1	Legal	980	1.61	29.3%	24.9%	45.8%
2	CPA	487	1.61	24.2%	33.1%	42.7%
3	Manufacturing	953	1.57	24.9%	28.5%	46.6%

Top 5 Strongest Region-Industry Combinations

Minimum 10 businesses per cell. CPA firms hold three of the top five spots, reflecting compliance pressure from the IRS and AICPA.

Rank	Region / Industry	Businesses	GPA	Pass Rate	Fair Rate	Fail Rate
1	The Woodlands / CPA	29	1.90	34.5%	34.5%	31.0%
2	Katy / CPA	31	1.87	25.8%	45.2%	29.0%
3	Cypress / CPA	17	1.71	11.8%	58.8%	29.4%
4	The Woodlands / Legal	96	1.64	32.3%	22.9%	44.8%
5	Houston / Legal	804	1.62	28.9%	25.4%	45.8%

Bottom 5 Weakest Region-Industry Combinations

Minimum 10 businesses per cell. Sugar Land takes three of the bottom five spots. Manufacturing also takes three of the bottom five. The intersection (Sugar Land manufacturers) is the worst-performing cell in the entire dataset.

Rank	Region / Industry	Businesses	GPA	Pass Rate	Fair Rate	Fail Rate
1	Sugar Land / Manufacturing	20	1.15	25.0%	10.0%	65.0%
2	Sugar Land / CPA	31	1.26	9.7%	38.7%	51.6%
3	The Woodlands / Manufacturing	10	1.40	10.0%	40.0%	50.0%
4	Katy / Manufacturing	16	1.44	25.0%	18.8%	56.2%
5	Sugar Land / Legal	37	1.49	29.7%	18.9%	51.4%

Six-Category Performance Profile

Each business is graded on six categories. Categories perform well where defaults handle security (IP reputation, automatic patches, baseline email filters). Categories fail where security requires active configuration (SPF/DKIM/DMARC, security headers, network exposure controls).

Rank	Category	Average GPA	Pass Rate	Fair Rate	Fail Rate
1	IP Reputation	3.94	100.0%	0.0%	0.0%
2	Vulnerabilities	3.12	76.5%	0.5%	23.0%
3	Social Engineering	2.91	95.7%	0.1%	4.2%
4	Network Security	1.95	30.2%	6.0%	63.8%
5	Application Security	1.55	4.4%	45.0%	50.6%
6	DNS Health	1.25	10.2%	29.8%	59.9%

Purpose and Intent

This information is shared not to create alarm, but to provide actionable data that can enhance your firm's security discussions and decision-making processes. We believe that informed businesses make better security choices, and transparency in cybersecurity assessment helps the entire Houston Area business community strengthen its defenses against evolving cyber threats.

Assessment Methodology

All data was gathered using industry-standard security scanning tools that analyze only externally visible, publicly accessible information. No unauthorized access to internal systems was attempted or conducted. The assessment utilized standard security reconnaissance techniques commonly employed by cybersecurity professionals.

Scorecard Categories

Social Engineering - Emails of employees exposed on the internet

Application Security - Common website and application vulnerabilities

IP Reputation - Suspicious activity, such as malware or spam, from your IPs

Network Security - Insecure network configurations and settings

DNS Health - The health of your domain name server

Vulnerabilities - Exposures and risks detected on your external assets

Scoring System

Score	Grade
4.0	A
3.0 - 3.99	B
2.0 - 2.99	C
1.0 - 1.99	D
0 - 0.99	F

Download the raw dataset: The complete underlying data is published as a CSV file with 29 rows (one per region/industry combination) and 38 columns covering business counts and grade-letter counts for each of the six categories plus the overall security score.
Download CSV (29 rows)

How to cite this research: CinchOps. (2026). Houston Area Security Index 2026. https://cinchops.com/houston-area-security-scorecard/

Scope, limitations, and originality: This is first-party data collected directly by CinchOps and is not available from any other source. The index measures only external attack-surface signals - publicly accessible information visible from the open internet. No insider access, surveys, or self-reporting are used. Industries covered: law firms, CPA practices, and manufacturing. Cities covered: Houston, Katy, Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Cypress, Missouri City, Richmond, Rosenberg, Fulshear, Brookshire, Tomball, and Sealy. The Houston Area Security Index is updated annually.