The United Kingdom has placed fifth in a global survey ranking the level and focus of cyber security development.
The United States of America and Canada ranked first and second respectively for levels of cyber security preparation, Australia, Malaysia and Oman shared third place and the fourth most prepared countries were New Zealand and Norway.
The UK shares its ranking with Brazil, Estonia, Germany, India, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
The Global Cybersecurity Index, published by ABI Research and ITU, does not measure the success of these safeguards nor the level of risk to each country, merely the commitment made by the countries.
The report said: “All states are moving towards a more digitised and connected environment, and adopting cyber security early on can enable the deployment of more secure and resilient infrastructure in the long term.”
The index by which the countries are ranked is composite of five individual areas of cyber security focus: legal measures, technical measures, organisational measures, capacity building and international co-operation.
“These five indicators are critical to measuring national capabilities in cyber security because they form the inherent building blocks of a national culture,” the report said.
The ITU report shows that the legal aspect of cyber security is the highest priority worldwide. Europe has the highest rating in passing regulations to prevent the illegal access of prohibited information.
Global concern over cyber crime and data protection means that the focus on legal measures outranks all other categories. The legislation that countries implement allows them to regulate and monitor standards of behaviour regarding cyber security across the board.
“Without adequate technical measures and the capabilities to detect and respond to cyber attacks,” the survey advised, “nation states and their respective entities remain vulnerable to cyber threats.”
The report revealed that, comparatively, developments were lacking in raising awareness, educating the public on cyber security measures and providing adequate training.
This comes after several sectors in the UK raising concern over the lack of adequate skillsets necessary to safeguard their organisations.
The long-term aim of the report is to “drive further efforts in the adoption and integration of cybersecurity on a global scale”.
Such efforts include prompting information sharing between countries and promoting awareness for successful security strategies that are less well-known.
