With so much of our personal data stored online, cybersecurity is of the utmost importance.
Each year, our study looks at over 60 countries to find out where in the world you’re most “cyber safe.” This year, we’ve analyzed 75 countries, judging each of them with an extended list of 15 criteria (previous reports had 7). This means countries are now ranked from one to 75 with one being the least cyber-secure country and 75 being the most cyber-secure country.
The new criteria are as follows:
- % of mobiles infected with malware
- % of users attacked by mobile banking trojans
- % of users attacked by mobile ransomware trojans
- % share of users attacked by banking malware (non-mobile)
- % of users attacked by ransomware trojans (non-mobile)
- % of computers infected by at least one malware attack (web-based)
- % of computers facing at least one local malware attack
- % of mobile users attacked via web sources
- % of telnet attacks by originating country (IoT)
- % of attacks by cryptominers
- % of SSH-based attacks by originating country (IoT)
- % of all spam emails by originating country
- % share of countries targeted by malicious mailings
- % of computers attacked by phishing
- The best-prepared countries for cyberattacks
And, given the impact COVID-19 had on the cybersecurity landscape, we decided to also look at how COVID-19-related malware attacks impacted each country, scoring this separately to the full study.
So which country was the most and least cyber-secure? And did any country come out “top of the class?”
Unfortunately, similar to previous years, there wasn’t one country that “aced” every test. In fact, countries often perform well in one area but fall worryingly short in others.
Which is the least cyber-secure country in the world?
According to our study, Tajikistan is the least cyber-secure country in the world, followed by Bangladesh and China.
Tajikistan had the highest percentage of users attacked by banking malware (4.7%), computers facing at least one local malware attack (41.16%), and attacks by cryptominers (5.7%). It also scored poorly for the percentage of users attacked by ransomware trojans (1.35%). But, it was also one of the better-scoring countries in several categories, including percentage of users attacked via web sources (0.03%), percentage of telnet attacks by originating country (0.01%), percentage of spam emails by originating country (0.01%), and share of countries targeted by malicious mailings (0.01%). Zero users were attacked by mobile ransomware trojans and no SSH-based attacks originated from Tajikistan.
This just highlights how vastly different each country’s cybersecurity and cyber threats (threats to the country itself and the threat it poses to other countries) may be. For example, Tajikistan appears to be particularly vulnerable to malware but isn’t the source of many attacks, nor does it seem to be the target for spam and other malicious mailings.
The highest-scoring countries per category were:
Mobiles infected with malware
Iran – 30.29%
Algeria – 21.97%
Bangladesh – 17.18%
Users attacked by mobile banking trojans
Japan – 1.89%
Turkey – 0.33%
Italy – 0.31%
Users attacked by mobile ransomware trojans
Kazakhstan – 0.57%
Kyrgyzstan – 0.14%
China – 0.09%
Percentage of users attacked by banking malware
Tajikistan – 4.7%
Uzbekistan – 4.6%
Iran – 1.6%
Users attacked by ransomware trojans
Bangladesh – 2.37%
Haiti – 1.38%
Tajikistan – 1.35%
Computers infected with at least one malware attack (web-based)
Vietnam – 8.69%
Bangladesh – 7.34%
Latvia – 7.31%
Computers facing at least one local malware attack
Tajikistan – 41.16%
Bangladesh – 39.9%
Uzbekistan – 36.58
Mobile users attacked via web sources
Ecuador – 6.33%
Oman – 4.98%
Morocco – 4.51%
Percentage of telnet attacks by originating country (IoT)
India – 19.99%
China – 15.46%
Egypt – 9.77%
Percentageof attacks by cryptominers
Tajikistan – 5.7%
Kyrgyzstan – 2.51%
Uzbekistan – 2.46%
SSH-based attacks by originating country (IoT)
China – 28.56%
United States – 14.75%
Germany – 4.67%
Spam emails by originating country
Russia – 21.27%
Germany – 10.97%
United States – 10.47%
Share of countries targeted by malicious mailings
Spain – 8.48%
Germany – 7.28%
Russia – 6.29%
Computers attacked by phishing
Brazil – 19.94%
Portugal – 19.73%
France – 17.9%
Global Cybersecurity Index
Honduras – 0.044
Haiti – 0.046
Bolivia – 0.139
Which is the most cyber-secure country in the world?
Just like in 2019 and 2020, the safest country is Denmark, which had an overall score of 3.56. It was placed in the top three 10 times out of a possible 15, scoring particularly well in categories such as percentage of users attacked by ransomware trojans (0.02%) and percentage of attacks by cryptominers (0.11%). This country also had zero users attacked by mobile ransomware trojans and mobile banking trojans.
Iran – 30.29%
Algeria – 21.97%
Bangladesh – 17.18%
Japan – 1.89%
Turkey – 0.33%
Italy – 0.31%
Kazakhstan – 0.57%
Kyrgyzstan – 0.14%
China – 0.09%
Tajikistan – 4.7%
Uzbekistan – 4.6%
Iran – 1.6%
Bangladesh – 2.37%
Haiti – 1.38%
Tajikistan – 1.35%
Vietnam – 8.69%
Bangladesh – 7.34%
Latvia – 7.31%
Tajikistan – 41.16%
Bangladesh – 39.9%
Uzbekistan – 36.58
Ecuador – 6.33%
Oman – 4.98%
Morocco – 4.51%
India – 19.99%
China – 15.46%
Egypt – 9.77%
Tajikistan – 5.7%
Kyrgyzstan – 2.51%
Uzbekistan – 2.46%
China – 28.56%
United States – 14.75%
Germany – 4.67%
Russia – 21.27%
Germany – 10.97%
United States – 10.47%
Spain – 8.48%
Germany – 7.28%
Russia – 6.29%
Brazil – 19.94%
Portugal – 19.73%
France – 17.9%
Honduras – 0.044
Haiti – 0.046
Bolivia – 0.139
It wasn’t the only country deemed “safest” 10 times, however. In eleventh place was Haiti, which also enjoys this accolade. However, Haiti’s score was increased due to it being in the top three worst countries for percentage of users attacked by ransomware trojans and for its Global Cybersecurity Index score. Again, this highlights how it isn’t uncommon for a country to rank well in one category and poorly in another.
The lowest-scoring countries per category were:
Percentage of mobiles infected with malware
Finland – 1.06%
Ukraine – 1.15%
Denmark – 1.33%
Users attacked by mobile banking trojans
Algeria, Argentina, Denmark, Egypt, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria, and Thailand – 0.00%
Users attacked by mobile ransomware trojans
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Peru, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela – 0.00%
Share of users attacked by banking malware
Ecuador – 0.03%
Bolivia – 0.05%
Denmark, Ireland, and Panama – 0.10%
Percentage of users attacked by ransomware trojans
Denmark – 0.02%
Sweden – 0.03%
Ireland and Romania – 0.04%
Percentage of computers infected with at least one malware attack (web-based)
Haiti – 0.48%
Denmark – 1.33%
Ireland – 1.35%
Computers facing at least one local malware attack
Denmark – 2.83%
Sweden – 3.34%
Ireland – 3.49%
Mobile users attacked via web sources
Haiti and Tajikistan – 0.03%
Russia and China – 0.04%
Armenia – 0.05%
Percentage of telnet attacks by originating country (IoT)
Haiti, Tajikistan, Algeria, and Qatar – 0.01%
Denmark, Finland, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan – 0.02%
Azerbaijan and Switzerland – 0.03%
Share of attacks by cryptominers
Haiti – 0.05%
Denmark and Japan – 0.11%
Germany – 0.12%
Percentage of SSH-based attacks by originating country (IoT)
Tajikistan – 0.00%
Haiti and Azerbaijan – 0.01%
Armenia and Kyrgyzstan – 0.02%
Share of all spam emails by originating country
Haiti – 0.00%
Tajikistan and Oman – 0.01%
Qatar and UAE – 0.02%
Share of countries targeted by malicious mailings
Tajikistan, Norway, and Finland – 0.01%
Haiti and Kyrgyzstan – 0.02%
Georgia – 0.04%
Computers attacked by phishing
Haiti – 1.94%
Denmark – 3.26%
Sweden – 3.35%
Global Cybersecurity Index
United Kingdom – 0.931
United States – 0.926
France – 0.918
How have COVID-19-specific attacks impacted countries?
The last few years have seen rapid increases in the number of cyberattacks, in part due to the world’s shift to remote working. We also saw cybercriminals rebrand existing scam and phishing campaigns to take advantage of people’s uncertainty around COVID-19 support and prevention.
Finland – 1.06%
Ukraine – 1.15%
Denmark – 1.33%
Algeria, Argentina, Denmark, Egypt, Haiti, Hungary, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria, and Thailand – 0.00%
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, Japan, Latvia, Peru, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Venezuela – 0.00%
Ecuador – 0.03%
Bolivia – 0.05%
Denmark, Ireland, and Panama – 0.10%
Denmark – 0.02%
Sweden – 0.03%
Ireland and Romania – 0.04%
Haiti – 0.48%
Denmark – 1.33%
Ireland – 1.35%
Denmark – 2.83%
Sweden – 3.34%
Ireland – 3.49%
Haiti and Tajikistan – 0.03%
Russia and China – 0.04%
Armenia – 0.05%
Haiti, Tajikistan, Algeria, and Qatar – 0.01%
Denmark, Finland, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan – 0.02%
Azerbaijan and Switzerland – 0.03%
Haiti – 0.05%
Denmark and Japan – 0.11%
Germany – 0.12%
Tajikistan – 0.00%
Haiti and Azerbaijan – 0.01%
Armenia and Kyrgyzstan – 0.02%
Haiti – 0.00%
Tajikistan and Oman – 0.01%
Qatar and UAE – 0.02%
Tajikistan, Norway, and Finland – 0.01%
Haiti and Kyrgyzstan – 0.02%
Georgia – 0.04%
Haiti – 1.94%
Denmark – 3.26%
Sweden – 3.35%
United Kingdom – 0.931
United States – 0.926
France – 0.918
So how large of an increase are we talking? Well, Securelist noticed that in under a year, the number of malicious files disguised at virtual meeting tools like Zoom and Slack increased by more than 1000 percent. In the first few months of 2020 alone, Kaspersky announced that the number of global DDoS attacks had more than doubled, and that it had seen prominent increases in the number of attacks by cryptominers and mobile banking trojans.
Some countries also saw significant spikes where others perhaps didn’t. For example, in India, there was a significant increase in the % of telnet attacks by originating country (IoT) – rising by 54.14 percent (3.14% to 4.84%) from Q1 to Q2 and by 313.02% (4.84% to 19.99%) from Q2 to Q3.
Mcafee used to have a live map of COVID-19-related malicious file detections, though this is no longer operational. While it was, however, we also looked at where the majority of files were being detected and whether this made a difference to the country’s overall scores.
During the pandemic, several countries’ malware infection scores increased slightly (India, Italy, South Africa, and Ukraine) but those most impacted were Spain and the US. They accounted for over 48% of the overall files detected and, when taking this into account with our score, their rankings dropped from 17 to 8 and from 31 to 11, respectively.
- VPN providers
- Antivirus
- Identity theft protection
Our methodology: how did we find the countries with the worst cybersecurity?
We considered fifteen 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 users attacked by mobile banking trojans – a malicious program designed to gain access to confidential data processed through or stored on banking systems
- The percentage of users attacked by mobile ransomware trojans – a malicious program designed to steal sensitive data and lock a user out of their device until they pay a ransom
- The percentage of users attacked by banking malware (non-mobile) – a malicious program designed to gain access to confidential data processed through or stored on banking systems on a person’s computer
- The percentage of users attacked by ransomware trojans (non-mobile) – a malicious program designed to steal sensitive data and lock a user out of their computer/account until they pay a ransom
- The percentage of computers infected with malware (web-based) – software designed to gain unauthorized access to, destroy, or disrupt a computer’s system
- The percentage of computers facing a least one local malware attack – number of users whose anti-virus software was triggered by a potentially malicious program during the reporting period
- The percentage of mobile users attacked via web sources – number of users whose anti-virus software was triggered by a potentially malicious web page during the reporting period
- The percentage of all telnet attacks by originating country (based on the number of unique IP addresses of devices used in the attacks) – a technique used by cybercriminals to get people to download a variety of malware types
- The percentage of users attacked 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 percentage of SSH-based attacks by originating country (IoT) – a brute force attempt to remove the SSH or secure shell communication tool used between two computers
- The percentage of spam emails by originating countries – an unsolicited message sent in bulk via email (from the country it was sent from)
- The percentage share of countries targeted by malicious mailings – an unsolicited message sent in bulk via email (to the country it was sent to)
- The percentage of computers attacked by phishing attempts – emails that are sent to try and lure the victim into sharing personal data, such as credit card details
- The best-prepared countries for cyberattacks according to ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Index
The most recent quarterly value available for each country and category was taken unless the values were for yearly data (indicated above).
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 fifteen 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.
Countries added: Bolivia, Georgia, Haiti, Honduras, Israel, Kuwait, Panama, Qatar, and Venezuela.
Countries removed: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Estonia, Jordan, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Turkmenistan.
Data researcher: George Moody
Sources
Global Cybersecurity Index 2020 (PDF)
