Ireland 2nd most safest country in EU for CyberSafety

New research, from VPNOverview, has analysed 27 EU countries on a range of factors to reveal the ones which are the most cyber safe and the ones which fall behind when it comes to being cyber safe.

The ‘safe’ factors analysed:

• % of population who have discovered malicious software on a personal device
• % of population who have been a victim of online banking fraud
• % of population who have had their social media or email hacked
• Country’s vulnerability to cyber attacks
• % of users at risk of online infection: threats that originate from infected or dangerous websites
• % of users at risk of local infection: from infected files or via removable media like USB drives
• Country’s commitment to tackling cybercrime (scored out of 1)
• The number of pieces of anti-cybercrime legislation in place in each country

The top five most cyber safe countries

Germany came out as the most ‘cyber safe’ European nation, scoring highly in four out of eight factors, although even they still scored lowly for some factors such as instances of malicious software.

1. Germany
2. Ireland
3. Denmark
4. Croatia
5. Sweden

The five least cyber safe countries

And at the other end of the scale, Romania was among the countries with the most room for improvement, scoring worst for the percentage of those at risk of malicious web attacks as well as the amount of anti-cybercrime legislation in place.

1. Romania
2. Cyprus
3. Lithuania
4. Italy
5. Slovenia

David Janssen, internet safety analyst at VPNoverview says:

“This research once more shows that cybercrime is an issue impacting tens of millions of Europeans, one way or another. It’s also a form of crime which easily transcends borders, so there is a lot to be gained from collaboration on an EU level.

Through the open method of coordination, which rests on soft law mechanisms such as guidelines and indicators, benchmarking and sharing of best practice, the EU Member States can collectively improve cyber safety.

The European Cyber Safe Index presented in this study provides a solid set of indicators to work from, as well as benchmarks set by countries performing well on each indicator.”

Occurrences of Cybercrime

When we look at the number of people in a country that have been impacted by or a victim of cybercrime, which countries have been the most affected?

% of Population Who Have Discovered Malicious Software on a Personal Device

Top

1. Slovakia – 21%
2. Ireland – 26%
3. Croatia – 30%

Bottom

1. The Netherlands – 59%
2. Finland – 53%
3. Luxembourg – 49%

% of Population Who Have Been a Victim of Online Banking Fraud

Top

1. Greece – 2%
2. Portugal – 3%
3. Estonia – 4%

Bottom 3

1. United Kingdom – 24%
2. France – 17%
3. Luxembourg – 15%

% of Population Who Have Had Their Social Media or Email Hacked

Top

1. Spain – 6%
2. Portugal – 6%
3. Slovakia – 7%

Bottom

1. France – 23%
2. Belgium – 19%
3. Austria – 19%

Risk of Further Cybercrime

And when we analyse risk, which countries are looking the most vulnerable? From infection to cyber attacks, which country is the safest?

Exposure Rank: Country’s Vulnerability to Cyber Attacks

Top

1. United Kingdom –  5
2. France – 6
3. The Netherlands – 7

Bottom

1. Luxembourg – 78
2. Cyprus – 77
3. Slovenia – 68

% of users at risk of online infection: threats that originate from infected or dangerous websites

Top

1. Denmark – 5.9%
2. Ireland – 7.9%
3. The Netherlands – 8.1%

Bottom

1. Romania – 24.6%
2. Lithuania- 23.7%
3. Latvia – 23.1%

% of users at risk of local infection: From infected files or via removable media like USB drives

Top

1. Denmark – 5.2%
2. Ireland – 5.9%
3. Czech Republic – 7.2%

Bottom

1. Bulgaria – 21.7%
2. Romania – 19.7%
3. Lithuania – 17.7%

Commitment to cyber security

When it comes to protecting their country and people against cybercrime, which governments are taking the biggest steps to tackle the issues? And, which are falling behind?

Country’s commitment to tackling cybercrime (scored out of 1)

Top

1. Estonia – 0.846
2. France – 0.819
3. United Kingdom – 0.783

Bottom

1. Slovenia – 0.343
2. Slovakia – 0.362
3. Greece – 0.475

The number of pieces of Anti-Cybercrime legislation in place in each country

Top

1. Germany – 7
2. France – 7
3. Hungary – 6

Bottom

1. Romania – 2
2. Slovenia – 3

VPNoverview brings you everything you need to know about safe internet, online privacy and VPN (from the best premium VPN services to the best free VPN providers).

Research: https://vpnoverview.com/internet-safety/cybercrime/european-cyber-safe-index/

Methodology:

VPNOverview analysed 27 current EU member states (Malta was excluded due to a lack of data) on the following eight factors, before giving each a normalised score out of ten (ten being the best and one being the worst) before combining these for a final score out of 100.

Occurrences of Cybercrime

% Who Have Discovered Malicious Software on Their Device

% Who Have Been a Victim of Online Banking Fraud

% Who Have Had Their Social Media or Email Hacked

All according to the European Commission’s 2017 Special Eurobarometer 464a: ‘Europeans’ Attitudes Towards Cyber Security’.

Risk of Further Cybercrime

‘Exposure Rank’ – Ranked based on a country’s vulnerability to cyber attacks according to Rapid7’s 2018 National Exposure Index.

% of Users at Risk of Online Infection

Online infection: Online infections are defined as the threats that originate from infected or dangerous websites

% of Users at Risk of Local Infection

Local infection: Local infections are defined as those that are transferred through infected files or via removable media like USB drives

Both taken from Kaspersky Lab’s ‘IT Threat Evolution Report’ Q3 2018.

Commitment to Cyber Security

Cybersecurity Commitment Score

A score out of 1 based on each country’s commitment to tackling cybercrime, according to the International Telecommunication Union’s 2017 Global Cybersecurity Index.

Pieces of Relevant Legislation

The number of pieces of anti-cybercrime legislation in place in each country, according to the CSIS (Center for Strategic & International Studies) Global Cyber Strategies Index.

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