Top10 most cyber secure European country for business in 2023

By: Trademagazin editor Date: 2023. 06. 28. 09:20

Recent research has shown that 68% of high-revenue growth companies have embraced a hybrid model worldwide. With businesses enjoying remote or hybrid working, benefits including reduced maintenance costs, improved flexibility and extended talent pool, cyber security awareness has become more critical than ever.

With this in mind, Indusface is intrigued to find out the most secure countries for businesses to allow their employees to work from, by creating an index score based on cybersecurity data including DDOS attacks, phishing sites, Malware hosting sites and compromised computers.

Indusface found out that Finland and Belgium share the title of the most secure European countries for businesses to allow employees to remotely work from, each with a cyber security score of 82.45 out of 100.

Top 10 most cyber secure European countries to work from

Rank	Country	DDOS attacks (per 100k Internet users)	Phishing sites (per 100k urls)	Malware hosting sitesé (per 100k urls)	Compromised computers (per 100k Internet users)	Cyber security index (/100)
= 1	Finland	79	320	430	47	82.45
= 1	Belgium	314	280	390	11	82.45
3	Austria	175	260	340	137	80.59
4	Switzerland	203	460	470	17	78.09
= 5	Sweden	94	410	390	736	76.31
= 5	Greece	386	370	440	25	76.31
7	Norway	475	340	490	14	75.51
8	France	50	610	850	31	74.92
= 9	Germany	177	480	570	75	73.89
= 9	Estonia	698	540	440	14	73.89

_{* Total DDOS Attacks were counted between 2015 to 2021.}

_{**Compromised computers = have been infected with the Gamarue botnet (Please see full methodology on www.indusface.com)}

Finland has received the second lowest number of DDOS attacks (79) during 2015 to 2021, only 29 attacks higher than France who has the lowest among the top 10 European countries. This is an important factor for businesses to consider as successful DDOS attacks could block your business sites and bring down all servers and connections you depend on.

Contributing to Belgium’s top ranking is that it has the lowest number of compromised computers per 100,000 internet users (11) in the country. Computers that have been infected with the Gamarue botnet open doors to hackers and make it easier for them to take control of your business data and devices. Belgium also has the joint second lowest malware hosting sites among all top 10 European countries, with an average of 390 sites per 100,000 urls.

Ranking third as the most cyber-secure European country is Austria with an overall cyber security index score of 80.59/100. Boasting the lowest number of both malware hosting sites (34) and phishing sites (260) per 100,000 urls, the country owns less sites that could trick you or contain malware, making businesses less worried about sensitive information being stolen.

In fourth place is Switzerland with a cyber secure index score of 78.09/100. Sweden and Greece rank joint fifth place with a score of 76.31/100.

5 least cyber secure European countries to work from

Rank	Country	DDOS attacks per 100,000 Internet Users	Phishing sites per 100,000 urls	Malware hosting sites per 100,000 urls	Compromised computers per 100,000 internet users	Cyber security score (/100)
1	Bulgaria	167.40	1220	1,170	430	51.82
2	Serbia	173.61	780	790	1,467	53.83
3	Lithuania	560.74	1010	840	38	55.77
4	Romania	118.00	1040	720	1,435	56.01
5	Croatia	724.60	750	340	2,105	56.57

Bulgaria ranks the least secure European countries for businesses to allow employees to remotely work from, with a total cybersecurity score of only 51.82 out of 100. With 1,220 phishing sites and 1,170 malware hosting sites per 100,000 urls, businesses in the country will need to be extra careful when identifying whether a website is genuine.

Serbia owns one of the highest number of compromised computers per 100,000 internet users (1,467) which leads to its low cyber security score of 53.83 – ranking as the second least cybersecure European country.