The smallest country in the world also happens to be the most educated in cybersecurity: Vatican City. This small city that turns out to be its own independent state governed by the Catholic Church, does not mess around in terms of cybersecurity, in return for the assumed high age of its inhabitants.
According to the National Privacy Test conducted by NordVPN, the Holy See came first, and eight of the other top ten countries were also European. The UK was ranked 35th in the overall ranking.
The countries most versed in cybersecurity
The proof, in the words of NordVPN itself, “is designed to assess aspects of an individual's online life, including their understanding of cybersecurity in theory and their ability to recognize and react to online threats“. Based on data collected since 2020 and with almost 140.000 respondents from 192 countries answering 20 questions, respondents from Vatican City scored 72 points on the test. That score is the highest of any other country surveyed by NordVPN.
According to NordVPN, “residents demonstrated excellent awareness of digital risks and how to avoid them.” He also criticized his digital habits, commenting the need for residents to improve the use of online services and privacy tools to stay safe.
Finland was in second place, and the Czech Republic in third. Compared to Vatican City, both countries performed comparatively worse in all areas of the test, which are digital habits, digital privacy awareness, and digital risk. Singapore was the only non-European country to rank in the top ten, with 69 points for seventh place. Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates were behind, both with 67 points. The United States obtained 67 points, which places it in 21st place in the world ranking.
The overall mean score was 65 points, and respondents performed better in recognizing and avoiding digital risks, with an average score of 82 points. 69 points was the average score for knowing how to better protect yourself from malware, and only 47 points on average for knowing how to protect data by using privacy tools and online services correctly.
Source: TechRadar
