Content... By: Dave Lee
Israel, Finland and Sweden are seen as the most advanced in "cyber defense," according to a new security report.
The study on cyber readiness promoted by McAfee, a leading company in antivirus and computer security, considered that China, Brazil and Mexico are among the least able to defend against potential attacks.
The report concludes that the more information is shared globally, the more you are one step ahead of threats.
It also suggests giving more legal tools to fight international crime.
The United Kingdom, with a rating of four out of five, also comes out well in the study, as do the United States, Germany, Spain and France.
"Subjective look"
The rankings are based on the perception of how prepared a country is to face a range of threats and attacks. "The subjectivity of the report is its greatest strength," explains Raj Samani, McAfee's Chief Technology Officer.
"What it does is give the perception of the preparation by those individuals who understand and who work in cybersecurity one day and the other as well," says the expert.
Sweden, Finland and Israel all impressed the experts who participated in the report, even though the Middle Eastern country receives an average of more than 1,000 cyberattacks per minute.
Isaac Ben-Israel, security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is quoted in the report as saying: "The hacktivist group Anonymous carries out many attacks but does not cause much damage. The real threat comes from states and large criminal organizations."
In addition, he adds that the country has implemented a cyber defense division responsible for assessing threats to key infrastructures such as energy production and water supply.
"Enhancing cooperation"
At the other end of the security scale, Mexico is listed as the least prepared to face a cyber threat, a situation blamed on the need for authorities to focus on gang and drug problems.
China is seen by some international observers as an aggressor in cyberspace.
However, Peiran Wang, an expert in the field, says the country is vulnerable because it lacks a joint strategy.
"The ministries of Public Security, Industry, State Security and even the military authorities are involved and do not communicate well," explains Wang, a researcher at the Free University of Brussels.
In the UK, the report praises the investment of more than $1 billion in its cybersecurity program.
However, the British Home Office's plans were criticised by information security expert Peter Sommer.
"Much depends on cooperation with the private sector, which controls about 80% of the national critical infrastructure," he explains.
"More than half of the new funding will go to 'secret ballot', the intelligence agencies, where the use of the money will be difficult to investigate. I would have preferred more emphasis on public education, to help potential victims help themselves."
Fight against cybercrime
"Cyber criminals direct their connections through different countries," Samani says.
"If criminals are particularly cunning, they go through countries where they know there is no cooperation," he says.
"The bad guys share information, we need to do the same," he reasons.
Joss Wright of the Oxford Internet Institute welcomed the report's findings. However, he has serious doubts about the feasibility of his suggestions.
"These are recommendations that have been said for maybe 10 years," he told the BBC.
"I would love for information to be shared well, but when you talk about national security there is a culture of not sharing," he adds.
"They're not going to suddenly change 70, 100, 1,000 years of a military way of thinking," he concludes.
