Which countries have the worst (and best) cybersecurity?

Article by: REBECCA MOODY

With so much of our information (including incredibly personal data) being found online, cybersecurity is of the utmost importance.

So just where in the world are you cyber safe – if anywhere?

Our study looked at 60 countries and found huge variances in a number of categories, from malware rates to cybersecurity-related legislation. In fact, not one country is “top of the class” across the board. All of the countries we analyzed could do with some significant improvements.

However, there were some countries that lacked significantly in a variety of areas and others who outperformed the majority of countries. So with that in mind, we’ve created rankings for these 60 countries, from the least cyber safe to the most cyber safe.

Which countries have the worst (and best) cybersecurity?Our methodology: how did we find the countries with the worst cybersecurity?

We considered seven criteria, each of which had equal weight in our overall score. These were:

  • The percentage of mobiles infected with malware – software designed to gain unauthorized access to, destroy, or disrupt a device’s system
  • The percentage of computers infected with malware – software designed to gain unauthorized access to, destroy, or disrupt a computer’s system
  • The number of financial malware attacks – malicious programs created to steal a user’s money from the bank account on their computer system
  • The percentage of telnet attacks (by originating country) – the technique used by cybercriminals to get people to download a variety of malware types
  • The percentage of attacks by cryptominers – software that’s developed to take over a user’s computer and use its resources to mine currency (without the user’s permission)
  • The best-prepared countries for cyber attacks
  • The countries with the most up-to-date legislation

Apart from the latter two, all of the scores were based on the percentage of attacks during 2018. The best-prepared countries for cyber attacks were scored using the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) scores. The most up-to-date legislation was scored based on existing legislation (and drafts) that covered seven categories (national strategy, military, content, privacy, critical infrastructure, commerce, and crime). Countries received a point for having legislation in a category or half a point for a draft.

For each criterion, the country was given a point based on where it ranked between the highest-ranking and lowest-ranking countries. Countries with the least cyber-secure scores were given 100 points, while countries with the most cyber-secure scores were allocated zero points. All of the countries in between these two scores received a score on a percentile basis, depending on where they ranked.

The total score was achieved by averaging each country’s score across the seven categories.

All of the data used to create this ranking system is the latest available, and we have only included countries where we could cover all of the data points.

Which is the least cyber-secure country in the world?

According to our study, Algeria is the least cyber-secure country in the world. It was the highest-ranking country for lack of legislation and computer malware rates, and also received a high score in the categories for mobile malware and preparation for cyber attacks.

Other high-ranking countries were Indonesia, Vietnam, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan.

Some countries ranked at the top of one category but did better in others, improving their overall score. Germany received the highest score for financial malware, and China received the highest score as the country where most telnet attacks originated from.

The highest-scoring countries per category were:

  • Highest percentage of mobile malware infections – Bangladesh – 35.91% of users
  • Highest number of financial malware attacks – Germany – 3% of users
  • Highest percent of computer malware infections – Algeria – 32.41%
  • Highest percentage of telnet attacks (by originating country) – China – 27.15%
  • Highest percentage of attacks by cryptominers – Uzbekistan – 14.23% of users
  • Least prepared for cyber attacks – Vietnam – 0.245 score
  • Worst up-to-date legislation for cybersecurity – Algeria – 1 key category covered

Country cyber safety rankings and cryptominer attacks 

Country cyber safety rankings and cryptominer attacks

Which is the most cyber-secure country in the world?