BD among least cyber-secure countries

Mobile phones sustain highest malware attacks


FE Report | Published: February 11, 2019 09:37:52 | Updated: February 11, 2019 09:53:02


Reuters file photo used for illustrative purpose only

Bangladesh has been found the sixth least cyber-secure among 60 countries covered in a study.

Around 35.91 per cent mobile phones and 19.07 per cent computers of the country were attacked by malware in 2018, said the study conducted by UK-based research firm Comparitecha.

In terms of overall performance, Bangladesh has scored 47.21 points, followed by Pakistan with 47.10 points, the study showed.

Apart from the percentage of attacks during 2018, the study was also based on seven categories (national strategy, military, content, privacy, critical infrastructure, commerce, and crime).

Comparitecha ranked a total of 60 countries on the least cyber safe to the most cyber safe. The study looked at 60 countries and found huge variation in a number of categories, from malware rates to cybersecurity-related legislation.

Countries with the least cyber-secure scores were given 100 points, while countries with the most cyber-secure scores were allocated zero points. The total score was achieved by averaging each country's score across the seven categories.

According to the study, Algeria is the least cyber-secure country in the world. Other under-performers are Indonesia, Vietnam, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan.

Bangladesh received the highest percentage of mobile malware attacks, Germany received the highest score for financial malware, and China received the highest score as the most telnet attacks originated from that country.

In terms of financial malware attacks, Germany received 3.0 per cent while Bangladesh got 1.3 per cent.

The highest percentage of computer malware infections was in Algeria at 32.41 per cent while Bangladesh received 19.07 per cent.

According to the research findings, Japan is the most cyber-secure country in the world. Other top-performing countries included France, Canada, Denmark, and the United States.

The research findings said that there were some countries that lacked significantly in a variety of areas and others who outperformed the majority of countries.

Countries analysed in the research could do with some significant improvements, it added.

nsrafsanju@gmail.com

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