As each country begins to adapt to a new, unprecedented, post-COVID-19 world, cybersecurity becomes increasingly imperative to secure digital infrastructures. From endpoint attacks that are designed to gain unauthorized access, steal data, and extort money by blocking access to files or computer systems, to cloud attacks that are designed to compromise and weaponize virtual machines, cybercrime can take many forms. But, which countries are most exposed?

With exposure defined as the fact of experiencing or being affected by something, passwordmanagers.co compiled data of five of the most significant types of end-point and cloud cyberattacks alongside the level of cybersecurity commitment across 108 countries to accurately assess each country’s exposure to cybercrime.

To better understand the landscape of exposure and distribution across the world and each continent, an exposure classification scale was also employed (very high, high, moderate, low, very low).

the most exposed countries

 

the least exposed countries

 

continent rankings

 

A Few Takeaways

  • Europe has the lowest exposure score per country (0.329).
  • 70.73% of European countries are classified in the low and very low exposure groups.
  • Europe accounts for 67.44% of low and very low exposure countries globally.
  • 66.67% of North American countries are classified in the moderate, low, and very low exposure groups.
  • Asia-Pacific accounts for 60% of very high exposure countries globally.
  • Combined, Asia-Pacific accounts for 40% of high and very high exposure countries globally.
  • 43.75% of Asia-Pacific countries are classified in the high and very high exposure groups.
  • 40% of South American countries are classified in the high and very high exposure groups.
  • South America has the highest proportion of countries classified in the moderate exposure group (50%).
  • Africa has the highest exposure score per country (0.643).
  • 75% of African countries are classified in the high and very high exposure groups.

“Cybersecurity is imperative to secure digital infrastructures, devices, and identities, and while some countries may be more exposed than others, the commitment to protect against cybercrime should dominate the priorities of every organization and individual,” said Josh Frisby, founder of passwordmanagers.co. “Depending on where you reside, you may be more or less exposed to cybercrime, but, by taking the appropriate steps, such as using a password manager to securely store your credentials, browsing the web via a VPN when using unsecured public Wi-Fi, and employing security software, you substantially increase your protection against cyberattacks.”