Latvia is also included in the world’s first “cybercrime index” / Diena

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The index, published in the academic journal PLOS ONE, shows that a relatively small number of countries pose the greatest threat of cybercrime. Russia tops the list, followed by Ukraine, China, USA, Nigeria, Romania, North Korea, UK, Brazil and India. The second ten are Iran, Belarus, Ghana, South Africa, Moldova, Israel, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands, and the last of the list – in 20th place – is Latvia.

The data behind the index was obtained from a survey of 92 leading cybercrime experts from around the world who are engaged in cybercrime intelligence gathering and investigation. The survey asked experts to consider five main categories of cybercrime, identify the countries they believe are the most significant sources of each type of cybercrime, and then rank each country based on the influence, professionalism and technical skills of its cybercriminals.

The study assessed five main categories of cybercrime: – technical products/services (eg malware coding, access to botnets, access to compromised systems, tool production). Second – attacks and extortion (eg denial of service attacks, ransom).

The third category was data/identity theft (e.g. hacking, phishing, account compromise, credit card compromise), the fourth was fraud (e.g. advance payment fraud, compromising email to businesses, online auction fraud), and the fifth category was cash withdrawal/ money laundering (eg credit card fraud, money mules, illegal virtual currency platforms).