The Cyber Defense Index 2022/23

The Cyber Defense Index is a ranking of 20 of the world’s
According to their collective cybersecurity, major economies
Assets, organizational capabilities, policy stances. It
This measures the degree to that these economies have adopted.
Technology practices that increase cyberattack resistance
How well governments and policy frameworks promote this.
secure digital transactions.

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Overall ranking

Pillars

Comparative

The overall rankings tab displays the performance of the examined
Economy relative to each other and aggregates their scores
Four pillars: cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and cybersecurity
Resources, organizational capacity, policy commitment.

This pillar shows how well each country’s services are provided by
Secure and reliable digital and telecommunications networks
Computing resources that support primary economic activity.
As well as an overall indicator of the telecom capacity,
These metrics are compiled by the UN and include the country’s
Number of data centers and secure server. This pillar also
Includes indicators derived from our global study in which
Respondents rated the criticality of each country’s critical infrastructure.
infrastructure.

This pillar captures many views of the technological and
Each country has its own legal enforcement “assets”
improper access to and misuse of data. These include the ITU.
Our own holistic assessment of cybersecurity capabilities
Ranking of digital privacy protections and survey
Respondents’ opinions on cybersecurity tools and their effectiveness
In their market, infrastructure is used.

This pillar measures cybersecurity maturity relative to the rest of the world.
Digital experience for the country’s companies
institutions. This includes a measure digital participation
The extent to which government agencies are familiar
Artificial intelligence and survey respondents
Assessments of cybersecurity capabilities
They are both strategic and formally integrated within their organizations.

This pillar measures the comprehensiveness and quality of the pillar.
The effectiveness of a country’s regulatory framework in enhancing
Promoting resilient cybersecurity practices. This is a measure
This includes the World Bank’s assessment of the government’s performance
Its effectiveness and quality in cybersecurity regulation
Survey respondents’ evaluations of the robustness.
Completeness and accuracy of the regulation.

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Experts

MIT Technology Review Insights would love to thank the following
Expert commentators for their time, insights and expertise:

Magda Chelly Senior Cybersecurity Expert, Founder Women on
Cyber, and Co-Founder, Responsible Cyber, Singapore
Michael Henri Coden is Associate Director and Co-Founder of
Cybersecurity, MIT Sloan and Senior Advisor at BCG
Platinion, United States
Sadie Creese is Director, Global Cyber Security Capacity Centre.
Professor of Cybersecurity, University of Oxford (United Kingdom).
Terry Cutler, Cybersecurity Creator, Fraudster Mobile App
Expert, Founder and CEO, Cyology Labs, Canada
Alexander Klimburg, Head, Centre for Cybersecurity, World
Austrian Economic Forum
Manion Le Blanc is the Head of the International Cyber Policy Sector
European External Action Security and Defence Policy Division
Service in Brussels
Clay Lin, Director World Bank Information and Technology
United States, Solutions and Chief Information Security Officer
Andrew W. Lo, Professor in Finance, Director, MIT Laboratory
Financial Engineering, United States
Andrew Milroy, Cybersecurity Advisor and Founder of Veqtor8,
Singapore
Taylor Reynolds, Technology Policy Director at MIT Internet Policy
Research Initiative, United States
Denis Robitaille is the World Bank Group Vice President for Information and Governance.
Technology Solutions and WBG Chief Information Officer, United
States
Daniel Weitzner, Founding Director, MIT Internet Policy Research
United States, Initiative
Yufei Wu, Professor at the Centre for Information and Communication
Technology, University of Trinidad and Tobago (Republic of)
Trinidad and Tobago

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About

Methodology: The Cyber Defense Index 2022/23

The MIT Technology Review Insights Cyber Defense Index rates are and
List of the most digitally-forward and largest economies in the world
Capacity to prepare for and respond to and recover from
Cybersecurity threats. It assesses 20 of the world’s major economies
(largely members of the G20 forum, excluding Russia and adding
Poland) according to how well their institutions have adopted
Technology and digital practices to be resilient against
Cyberattacks and how governments and policy frameworks can prevent them
secure digital transactions.

The Index was created by combining two large sets of input data.

Secondary source data, which includes global digital technology
Adoption statistics and policy and regulatory data are largely available.
Sourced from international benchmarks and institutions
A global survey of 1000 senior executives (with an equal number of
Respondents from each country (ranked in the Index) who were able to provide their opinions.
Cybersecurity responsibilities for their organizations.
Respondents were either CIOs, chief technology officers, or CTOs at 43%.
Security officers. The respondents were asked to rate the
Technology adoption and policy and regulation are both effective
Formation and management of their own cybersecurity activities as well as
Comment on their technology development priorities for the next year
The next two to three year.

Both sets of data influenced a number of indicators–lists
These factors were then chosen from both qualitative and quantitative variables
Data are populated and organized into four pillars. Data from secondary
Scores were converted from sources. This was done to create the indicators
These data were also sourced from survey responses, where each country’s
The global variance of responses was used to rank the responses.
mean.

The CDI uses survey data to provide “boots on” information.
The ground” assessments of current operating conditions
maintaining cybersecure environments. Similar to the previous example.
Indexes of purchasing managers or business confidence
Incorporate the views of professionals (or their)
country’s) relative performance.

The trend analysis was performed on the indicator data, informed by
Interviews with global cybersecurity professionals were conducted as part of primary research.
Technology analysts, policymakers, and developers. This was
Complementary peer-review and consultative peer review.
cybersecurity technology analysts. These inputs will be used to calculate the weighting
To determine the relative importance of each assumption,
Which indicator and which pillar had the greatest impact on a country’s cybersecurity?
posture.

The four pillars in the CDI are

This pillar shows how well each country’s robust infrastructure is serving them.
Secure digital and telecommunications networks, computing
Resources that support primary economic activity. Additional
To an overall indicator of telecom capability, as measured by the
UN, these metrics include the country’s total data
Secure servers and centers. This pillar also includes indicators
These are the results of our global survey, in which respondents rated the
Availability of critical infrastructure in each country. This
pillar’s indicators collectively represent 30% of the CDI’s
score.

This pillar captures many views of the technological and
Legal enforcement “assets” in every country that prevent improper behavior
access to and use of data. These include the ITU’s holistic
Assessment of cybersecurity capabilities, our own ranking
Digital privacy protections and survey respondents’ opinions
How well cybersecurity tools are used
Their market. At 35%, this pillar contributes the largest
A portion of the Index’s score.

This pillar measures cybersecurity maturity relative to the rest of the world.
Digital experience for the country’s institutions and businesses.
This includes digital participation in government
The extent to which artificial intelligence is used by organizations
intelligence and the assessments of survey respondents about the degree
Cybersecurity capabilities are both strategic and formal.
integrated into their organizations. This pillar accounts
20% of the overall score.

This pillar measures the comprehensiveness and quality of the pillar.
The effectiveness of a country’s regulatory framework in enhancing and
Promoting resilient cybersecurity practices This is a measure
This includes the World Bank’s assessment of the government’s performance
Its effectiveness and quality in cybersecurity regulation
Survey respondents’ evaluations of the robustness and
Completeness of the regulation. This pillar accounts for 15% of
The overall score

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