Photo : International Telecommunication Union
Nearly one per cent of all emails sent in 2016 were essentially malicious attacks, the highest rate in recent years, the International Telecommunication Union reveled as threats against cyber security grow.
A spate of cyber attacks in recent years have exposed worldwide vulnerability to the digital threats – from a massive theft of Yahoo emails to the disruption of information highway and a halt in healthcare services in London.
Whatever the motives – cyber warfare, melaware threats, spying wars or financial crimes – the attacks have raised questions over security in several areas.
But the latest report by a UN telecommunications agency saus only about half of the world countries have a cybersecurity strategy or are in the process of developing one.
Releasing its second Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), the ITU said about 38 per cent of countries have a published cybersecurity strategy and an additional 12 per cent of governments are in the process of developing one.
The ITU emphasizes that more effort is needed in this critical area, particularly since it conveys that governments consider digital risks high priority.
“Cybersecurity is an ecosystem where laws, organizations, skills, cooperation and technical implementation need to be in harmony to be most effective,” the report says, adding that cybersecurity is “becoming more and more relevant in the minds of countries’ decision makers.”
The top 10 most committed countries include three from Asia and the Pacific, two each from Europe and the Americas, and one from Africa, the Arab States, and the Commonwealth of Independent States, according to the report.
They are, in order: Singapore, United States, Malaysia, Oman, Estonia, Mauritius, Australia, Georgia, France and Canada. Russia ranked 11th.
According to ITU’s report on 193 member States, the Index also shows the improvement and strengthening of the five pillars of the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda: legal, technical, organizational, capacity building and international cooperation.
Only last month, a cyberattack crippled tens of thousands of machines around the world. It is unclear who was behind the attack.
“While the impact generated by cyberattacks, such as those carried out as recently as 27 June 2017, may not be eliminated completely, prevention and mitigation measures to reduce the risks posed by cyber-related threats can and should always be put in place,” ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao said.
The findings show that there is “space for further improvement in cooperation” at all levels.
