Israel along with Nordic countries Finland and Sweden are the most vigilant countries as far as cyber security is concerned, according to a survey by Security and Defense Agenda, a Belgian research group, which was commisioned by McAfee.
A five-point scale was used to judge the countries’ defence capabilities with respect to various online security parameters.
The three countries at the top bagged the highest score of 4.5.
None of the countries secured five points, with the US, UK, Germany, France, Netherlands and a few others with four points.
China and Russia, considered to be more security conscious, lagged behind with three points, along with Poland and Italy.
McAfee Chief Technology Officer Raj Samani, speaking to the BBC, explained that the report was based on subjectiveness.
The score takes into consideration adequate firewalls and anti-virus measures, including proper governance and education.
Israel’s top security advisor to the Prime Minister, Isaac Ben-Israel, observed that the real threat was from major crime organisations and state hackers, rather than from the Anonymous group.
China seemed to be vulnerable to security attacks, as an expert, Peiran Wang, cited poor communication between ‘The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of State Security and military’ which is something unbelievable on the part of the Chinese. Wang is a professor at Brussels’ Free University.
A £650m investment programme approved by the Home Office for UK cyber-security was also a highlight of the report, but information security expert. Peter Sommer was skeptical about the plans.
Sommer said 80% of the critical infrastructure is handled by the private sector, which would not go well with the plan.
