Deutschland nach neuer Studie auf Platz 21 der für Cyberkriminalität anfälligsten Länder

NordVPN’s Cyber ​​Risk Index spans 50 countries that make up 70% of the world’s population. Germany ranks 21st among the countries most vulnerable to cyber crime.

What increases the cyber risk in Germany

Germany only ranks in the middle of the field because residents are exposed to a significant risk from cyber threats. "Cyber ​​criminals are not looking for victims, they are looking for opportunities – almost like pickpockets in crowded places," says Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN. “If you spend enough time on crowded buses and trains, a pickpocket will accidentally bump into you at some point. The same thing happens online. The cyber risk increases with every hour spent online. "

NordVPN’s Cyber ​​Risk Index shows that 90% of Germans use the Internet and that 8 out of 10 have smartphones, live in cities and shop online.

What reduces the cyber risk in Germany

Germany ranks 22nd in the Global CyberSecurity Index. The Global CyberSecurity Index is calculated on the basis of nationwide legal, technical, organizational and capacity-building factors.

However, cybersecurity infrastructure has only a limited impact on cyber crime. “Cyber ​​risk management at the state level is of course important, but it has little effect in and of itself. Online security must be addressed individually. Understanding what factors impact cyber risk – time and income spent online, for example – is an important step towards a safer digital life, ”says Daniel Markuson.

This is another reason why Germany is not even higher on the list of the most vulnerable countries. For example, Germans spend less time online – an average of two hours less than other countries. In addition, only 5 out of 10 Germans use Facebook, only 3 out of 10 Instagram and only 1 out of 10 online games. A low general crime level is another factor that reduces cyber risk in Germany.

The methodology behind the Cyber ​​Risk Index

NordVPN created the index together with Statista, the world’s leading provider of business data. The index was created in three stages. First, Statista collected social, digital, cyber, and crime data from 50 selected countries. NordVPN then analyzed the positive and negative effects of the factors on cyber risk and calculated the correlation between the first three data sets (social economy, digital, cyber) and the fourth data set (crime).

Finally, NordVPN tailored the data to the 14 most important factors, used it to create the Cyber ​​Risk Index and classified the 50 countries according to their respective cyber risk.