New Study Shows Malta Is The Most Vulnerable EU Country To Cybercrime
Cyber security is becoming an increasingly important topic for debate and concern all over the world, and Europe is definitely no exception. A number of high-profile cyber attacks have already occurred in the first half of 2017 alone, with more being reported on a very regular basis. And while Malta isn’t the first place you think of when it comes to cyber attacks… it turns out we’d be screwed if it weren’t.
Website Building Expert has been voted as one of the leading online resources for small businesses looking to get online, and they’ve now conducted research investigating just how vulnerable different EU countries to cybercrime. “We’ve realised that many countries may be at more risk than they realise,” Grace Garland, WBE’s Heard of Communications, said.
In fact, the research found that Malta is the most vulnerable EU country to cybercrime attacks. As the study quotes, one of the main things looked at was vulnerability, and Malta’s “exceptionally high percentage of exposed internet connections” (73%) propelled it up the list. On the other side of the spectrum, Finland is the least vulnerable country with a rating of 29%.
The study brought up a list of other results, such as the EU countries who are most (and least) prepared for cyber attacks. And while it turns out that while The Netherlands (with a cybersecurity commitment rating of 76% and a preparedness rating of 60%) leads the EU as the most prepared country for cyber attacks, Malta’s preparedness rating of 34% throws it all the way down again. As it stands, in fact, Malta is the second least prepared EU country for cyber attacks.
The full report has other interesting takeaways, just as the fact that while residents of Romania encounter cybercrime the most, they are still in the top three most vulnerable countries. On the other hand, the UK placed in the top five of the countries who are committed to cybersecurity… making them extremely prepared for any attacks.
Of course, some of these statistics are directly proportionate to (and rely very heavily on) each other. On the other hand, it’s at least relieving to know that while Malta rates extremely low for security and preparedness when it comes to cyber attacks, the Maltese people at least have the comforting fact that they don’t actually encounter malware and cybercrime that often, a statistic which puts them in the middle of the pack.
The full WBE report is available online here.
What do you make of this latest data? Let us know in the comments below.
READ NEXT: Meet The Maltese Guys Trying To Make A Living From Playing Video Games
