Worldwide, cybercrimes are estimated to cost hundreds of millions to perhaps trillions.
A new index ranking cybercrime threats by country has placed Russia at the top, highlighting a concentrated source of cybercriminals. The 'World Cybercrime Index' (WCI), published today in the journal PLOS ONE, surveyed experts to identify hotspots for cybercrime activity.
Following Russia were Ukraine and China, with the United States coming in fourth. The UK landed in eighth place, behind countries like Nigeria and Romania. Recent cybercrime activities have also placed India on the list at 10th rank.
The WCI scores reveal a concerning trend: a small group of nations harbours a significant portion of the global cybercrime threat. Russia received the highest WCI score of 58.39, while Ukraine and China scored considerably lower at 36.44 and 27.86, respectively.
The co-author of the study, Dr Miranda Bruce from the University of Oxford and UNSW Canberra, said the study will enable the public and private sectors to focus their resources on key cybercrime hubs and spend less time and funds on cybercrime countermeasures in countries where the problem is not as significant.
"The research that underpins the Index will help remove the veil of anonymity around cybercriminal offenders, and we hope that it will aid the fight against the growing threat of profit-driven cybercrime," Dr. Bruce said in a statement.
"We now have a deeper understanding of the geography of cybercrime and how different countries specialise in different types of cybercrime."
"By continuing to collect this data, we'll be able to monitor the emergence of any new hotspots, and it is possible early interventions could be made in at-risk countries before a serious cybercrime problem even develops."
The top 20 countries ranked by cybercrime threat level
- Russia (World Cybercrime Index score: 58.39)
- Ukraine (World Cybercrime Index score: 36.44)
- China (World Cybercrime Index score: 27.86)
- US (World Cybercrime Index score: 25.01)
- Nigeria (World Cybercrime Index score: 21.28)
- Romania (World Cybercrime Index score: 14.83)
- North Korea (World Cybercrime Index score: 10.61)
- UK (World Cybercrime Index score: 9.01)
- Brazil (World Cybercrime Index score: 8.93)
- India (World Cybercrime Index score: 6.13)
- Iran (World Cybercrime Index score: 4.78)
- Belarus (World Cybercrime Index score: 3.87)
- Ghana (World Cybercrime Index score: 3.58)
- South Africa (World Cybercrime Index score: 2.58)
- Moldova (World Cybercrime Index score: 2.57)
- Israel (World Cybercrime Index score: 2.51)
- Poland (World Cybercrime Index score: 2.22)
- Germany (World Cybercrime Index score: 2.17)
- Netherlands (World Cybercrime Index score: 1.92)
- Latvia (World Cybercrime Index score: 1.68)
Experts in cybercrime intelligence gathering and investigations participated in a global survey. The survey, involving 92 leading figures from around the world, focused on five major cybercrime categories. These experts identified the countries they considered to be the primary sources of each cybercrime type. Additionally, they ranked each country based on the impact, skill, and professionalism of their cybercriminal activity.
According to the Oxford University, the five major categories of cybercrime assessed by the study were:
- Technical products/services (e.g. malware coding, botnet access, access to compromised systems, tool production).
- Attacks and extortion (e.g. denial-of-service attacks, ransomware).
- Data/identity theft (e.g. hacking, phishing, account compromises, credit card comprises).
- Scams (e.g. advance fee fraud, business email compromise, online auction fraud).
- Cashing out/money laundering (e.g. credit card fraud, money mules, illicit virtual currency platforms).