As new geographic markets emerge and businesses of all sizes expand their operations overseas, employers face significant challenges in managing the risks involved when employees work in dangerous regions.  International employment lawyer Mariana Villa da Costa, quoted in a report by USA Today, estimates that about 10% of employees who are transferred from the U.S. are assigned to countries that are considered "dangerous or have harsh conditions of living." In addition to global operations management considerations, employers must engage in "travel risk management," factoring in numerous country-specific or region-specific factors when sending employees to potential danger zones, e.g., the risks of war, terrorism, kidnapping, natural disasters or political instability. Myriad companies--many staffed by former military and intelligence employees with international experience--have sprung up to provide service-specific assistance, including medical (transporting sick or injured employees to bordering countries with superior medical faculties and facilities) and safety (security briefings and extraction of kidnapped workers).