Irish cybersecurity among the best in the world
Ireland is in the top 10 in the world when it comes to cybersecurity, a report by a tech consumer website has found.
The survey by British firm Comparitech examined a number of factors in 60 countries relating to keeping data secure, such as the percentage of mobile phones and computers infected with malware, and the number of financial malware attacks.
Malware is software designed to gain unauthorised access or to destroy a device’s system, while financial malware are malicious programs created to steal a user’s money from the bank account on their computer system, Comparitech said.
Ireland came sixth in the firm's survey, behind the US, Denmark, Canada, France and Japan. It ranked ahead of Sweden, the UK, Holland, Singapore and Australia.
Algeria was found to be the worst country for cybersecurity, with one-third of computers infected by malware, and a fifth of mobiles infected.
Indonesia, Vietnam, Tanzania and Uzbekistan are among the worst countries for cybersecurity, Comparitech said.
Ireland, by comparison, sees just under 4% of mobile phones infected with malware, as well as almost 8% of computers, the report found.
Just 0.5% of Irish online users have been the subject of financial malware attacks, Comparitech said.
The most up-to-date legislation for cybersecurity were France, China, Russia, and Germany, the report found.
Japan is the most secure country in the world, according to the findings.
Rebecca Moody of Comparitech said: "Despite some countries having clear strengths and weaknesses, there is definite room for improvement in each and every one.
"Whether they need to strengthen their legislation or users need help putting better protections in place on their computers and mobiles, there’s still a long way to go to make our countries cyber secure."
Comparitech said that as the landscape of cybersecurity constantly changes, countries had to try and "get one step ahead of cybercriminals" in relation to scams which were evolving constantly.
Ms Moody said that despite the findings, all countries surveyed had room for "significant improvements".
