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The Nations Cyber Security Strategy and Status: Top 10 Ranked Nations (Article 1 of 17)

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Cyber Secure India” will be running a series of this Title ‘The Nations Cyber Security Strategy and Status‘ for the next 16 issues

India ranks among top 10 in ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Index-2020, Released on 29 June 2021
India has moved up by 37 places to rank as the tenth best country in the world in the Global Cybersecurity Index 2020 launched by the International Telecommunication Union on June 29, 2021

The development of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) all across the globe and its dependency on technology and developments has given rise to a new domain and culture in businesses and governance are managed. The interaction among entities within a nation and also among nations have increased many folds due to the advent of Cyber Domain. The presence of this Cyberspace has not only allowed existence of IT and ICT infra and processes but also has given way to emergence of new technology and processes. Cyberspace, the name given to the global and dynamic domain composed of the infrastructures of information technology – including the Internet – networks and information and telecommunications systems. The domain also provides for new avenues for unprecedented and global exploitation as this domain provides for new challenges, risks and threats. The existence of Cyberspace now adds more dynamics to the field of Cyber Security.

The importance of Cyber Security is more significant in the present era, where the Cyber Attacks are initiated by both the State and Non-State Actors, within States and across Geographical Borders. ‘Cyber Security’ is a necessity for our society and for our economic model, especially where the dependency among countries and ecosystems has no physical borders.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), being an international body and also a ‘Watch Dog’ in the Cyberspace, had initiated the framework and also provided a quantification criterion of the Safety of the Cyber Space measurement for each country. The Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) was formulated by ITU in the year 2014. The aim was to provide a ranking among countries, based on the GCI score. The Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) is a survey that measures the commitment of Member States.

The Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) is a multi-stakeholder initiative to raise cybersecurity awareness and to measure the commitment of countries to cybersecurity and its wide field of application cutting across industries and sectors. The objective of the GCI as an initiative is to help countries identify areas for improvement in the field of cybersecurity, as well as to motivate them to take action to improve their ranking, thus helping raise the overall level of commitment to cybersecurity worldwide.

Reference model of GCI

The GCI is a composite index combining 25 indicators into one benchmark measure to monitor and compare the level of ITU Member States cybersecurity commitment with regard to the five pillars identified by the High-Level Experts Group and endorsed by the Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA). These pillars form the five pillars of GCI.

The main objectives of the GCI are to measure:

  • the type, level and evolution over time of cybersecurity commitment in countries and relative to other countries;
  • the progress in cybersecurity commitment of all countries from a global perspective;
  • the progress in cybersecurity commitment from a regional perspective;
  • the cybersecurity commitment divide, i.e. the difference between countries in terms of their level of engagement in cybersecurity programmes and initiatives.

Conceptual Framework of GCI

The five pillars of the GCI are briefly explained below:

  1. Legal: Measured based on the existence of legal institutions and frameworks dealing with cybersecurity and cybercrime.
  2. Technical: Measured based on the existence of technical institutions and frameworks dealing with cybersecurity.
  3. Organizational: Measured based on the existence of policy coordination institutions and strategies for cybersecurity development at the national level.
  4. Capacity Building: Measured based on the existence of research and development, education and training programmes; certified professionals and public sector agencies fostering capacity building.
  5. Cooperation: Measured based on the existence of partnerships, cooperative frameworks and information sharing networks.

Each pillar was then further divided in sub-pillars

The questionnaire that is administered for the measurement, was elaborated on the basis of the sub-pillars. The sub-pillar matrix therefor got out quantification of 25 related indicators. The values for the 25 indicators were therefore constructed through 157 binary questions. This model was adopted in order to achieve the required level of granularity and ensure accuracy and quality on the answers.

Through the information collected, the GCI aims to illustrate the practices of other countries so that Member States can implement selected aspects suitable to their national environment, with the added benefits of helping harmonize practices and fostering, a global culture of cybersecurity.

Conclusion

The GCI score is only indicative and is a dynamic component. The collection of information for the GCI is an ongoing process, and hence the Index is an indicative ranking among nations of the very instance. The goal of the GCI is to help foster a global culture of cybersecurity and its integration at the core of ICTs. This second iteration of the GCI measures the commitment of ITU Member States towards cybersecurity in order to drive further efforts in the adoption and integration of cybersecurity on a global scale.

The Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) for Year 2020 was released on 29 June 2021. The US topped the list followed by the UK and Saudi Arabia in the second position and Estonia in the third position in the index. The last three on the list are Equatorial Guinea on the 180th position, Dem. People’s Rep. of Korea on 181st, and Micronesia, Vatican, and Yemen on the 182nd position. The other positions are as below:

GCI Results

Rank

Country

1

USA

2

UK

2

Saudi Arabia

3

Estonia

4

Korea (Rep. of)

4

Singapore

4

Spain

5

Russian Federation

5

UAE

5

Malaysia

6

Lithuania

7

Japan

8

Canada

9

France

10

India

11

Turkey

12

Australia

13

Luxembourg

13

Germany

14

Portugal

15

Latvia

16

Netherlands

17

Norway

17

Mauritius

18

Brazil

19

Belgium

20

Italy

21

Oman

22

Finland

23

Egypt

24

Indonesia

25

Vietnam

26

Sweden

27

Qatar

28

Greece

29

Austria

30

Poland

31

Kazakhstan

32

Denmark

33

China

33

Croatia

34

Slovakia

35

Hungary

36

Israel

37

Tanzania

38

North Macedonia

39

Serbia

40

Azerbaijan

41

Cyprus

42

Switzerland

43

Ghana

44

Thailand

45

Tunisia

46

Ireland

47

Nigeria

48

New Zealand

49

Malta

50

Morocco

51

Kenya

52

Mexico

53

Bangladesh

54

Iran

55

Georgia

56

Benin

57

Rwanda

58

Iceland

59

South Africa

60

Bahrain

61

Philippines

62

Romania

63

Moldova

64

Uruguay

65

Kuwait

66

Dominican Republic

67

Slovenia

68

Czech Republic

69

Monaco

70

Uzbekistan

71

Jordan

72

Uganda

73

Zambia

74

Chile

75

Cote d’Ivoire

76

Costa Rica

77

Bulgaria

78

Ukraine

79

Pakistan

80

Albania

81

Colombia

82

Cuba

83

Sri Lanka

84

Paraguay

85

Brunei Darussalam

86

Peru

87

Montenegro

88

Botswana

89

Belarus

90

Armenia

91

Argentina

92

Kyrgyzstan

93

Cameroon

94

Nepal

95

Chad

96

Burkina Faso

97

Malawi

98

Zimbabwe

99

Myanmar

100

Senegal

101

Liechtenstein

102

Sudan

103

Panama

104

Algeria

105

Togo

106

Jamaica

107

The Gambia

108

Suriname

109

Lebanon

110

Bosnia and Herzegovina

111

Samoa

112

Fiji

113

Libya

114

Guyana

115

Ethiopia

116

Venezuela

117

Andorra

118

Papua New Guinea

119

Ecuador

120

Mongolia

121

Sierra Leone

122

State of Palestine

123

Mozambique

124

Madagascar

125

Trinidad and Tobago

126

Syrian Arab Republic

127

Nauru

128

Tonga

129

Iraq

130

Guinea

131

Lao P.D.R.

132

Cambodia

133

Mauritania

134

Bhutan

135

Eswatini

136

Cabo Verde

137

Somalia

138

Tajikistan

139

Barbados

140

Bolivia

141

Sao Tome and Principe

142

Antigua and Barbuda

143

Republic of the Congo

144

Turkmenistan

145

Kiribati

146

San Marino

147

Bahamas

148

El Salvador

149

Seychelles

150

Guatemala

151

Angola

152

Vanuatu

153

Saint Kitts and Nevis

154

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

155

Namibia

156

Niger

157

Gabon

158

Saint Lucia

159

Belize

160

Mali

161

Guinea-Bissau

162

Liberia

163

Grenada

164

Lesotho

165

Nicaragua

166

Solomon Islands

167

Haiti

168

Tuvalu

169

South Sudan

170

Congo

171

Afghanistan

172

Marshall Islands

173

Timor-Leste

174

Dominica

175

Comoros

176

Central African Republic

177

Maldives

178

Honduras

179

Djibouti

179

Burundi

179

Eritrea

180

Equatorial Guinea

181

Dem. People’s Rep. of Korea

182

Micronesia

182

Vatican

182

Yemen

 

(In the next article we shall elaborate on the top 10 ranked countries and their Cyber Security Strategies)

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