India has moved up 37 places to be ranked 10th in the Global Cybersecurity Index 2020 (GCI), says a report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency for information and communication technologies (ICT).
Permanent Mission of India to the UN said that the country jumped from 47th rank to make it in top 10 GCI rankings. “In a big leap, India jumps 37 places to be ranked 10th in Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020 launched by ITU,” it tweeted on June 29.
The United States has topped the list, followed by the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia that tied for the second position. Estonia ranked third while three countries -- Korea, Singapore and Spain -- secured the fourth spot in the list. The fifth spot was also shared by three countries, which are Russia Federation, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.
Lithuania ranked sixth, Japan seventh, Canada eighth and France ninth in the GCI 2020.
The country has been ranked at fourth position in the Asia-Pacific region with an overall score of 97.49. Korea and Singapore tied for the first position with a score of 98.52 each. Malaysia (98.06) ranked second and Japan (97.82) third in the region.
In a big leap, India jumps 37 places to be ranked 10th in Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020 launched by @ITU
4th in Asia-Pacific,
demonstrating India's success and commitment to cybersecurity. @PMOIndia @DrSJaishankar @GoI_MeitY @MEAIndiahttps://t.co/DvBcw4RVIG pic.twitter.com/xnXo2qRpdkRelated stories
— India at UN, Geneva (@IndiaUNGeneva) June 29, 2021
The GCI is a composite index produced, analysed and published by ITU, to measure the commitment of its 194 member states to cybersecurity by raising awareness.
“The GCI is a trusted reference that measures the commitment of countries to cybersecurity at a global level—to raise awareness of the importance and different dimensions of the issue,” according to its website.
As cybersecurity has a broad field of application, cutting across industries and various sectors, each country’s level of development or engagement is assessed along five pillars— legal measures, technical measures, organisational measures, capacity development and cooperation measures — and then aggregated into an overall score.
“For each of the pillars, country commitment was assessed through a question-based online survey, which further allowed for the collection of supporting evidence. Through consultation with a group of experts, these questions were weighted in order to arrive at an overall GCI score,” it said.
The latest report is the fourth GCI edition by the ITU. The first edition was launched six years ago. “This latest iteration of the Global Cybersecurity Index will help promote further action towards secure digital ecosystems needed for recovery and growth. We hope it will also help address the growing cybercapacity gap between developed and developing countries by fostering knowledge, upskilling, and building competencies,” it added.
