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Doha – Researchers from the University of Oxford and other prestigious institutions have unveiled the first-ever World Cybercrime Index (WCI) in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, shedding light on the global landscape of cybercriminality.
The study, which gathered data from 92 cybercrime experts worldwide, offers a comprehensive look at the countries most significantly impacted by various forms of cybercrime.
Morocco secured the 48th position worldwide and ranked 7th among African nations on the WCI, with a score of 0.45. The study evaluated countries based on five major categories of cybercrime: technical products/services, attacks and extortion, data/identity theft, scams, and cashing out/money laundering.
The study reveals that cybercrime is not evenly distributed across the globe, with certain countries emerging as cybercrime hubs while others remain relatively unaffected.
Russia topped the index with a score of 58.39, followed by Ukraine (36.44), China (27.86), and the United States (25.01). African nations Nigeria and Ghana also featured prominently, ranking 5th and 13th globally, with scores of 21.28 and 3.58, respectively.
According to the study, countries that are cybercrime hubs often specialize in particular types of cybercrime, showcasing meaningful variation in their impact, professionalism, and technical skill across different categories. The research also highlights a more extensive list of cybercrime-producing countries than typically included in publications on the topic.
Read also: Report: Over 56,000 Cyber Attacks Targeted Phones in Morocco in 2023
The authors emphasized the significance of the study, stating: “By accurately identifying which countries are cybercrime hotspots, the public and private sectors could concentrate their resources on these hotspots and spend less time and funds on cybercrime countermeasures in countries where the problem is limited.”
The WCI provides a valuable tool for policymakers and law enforcement agencies to target their efforts more effectively in combating cybercrime.
“An index of cybercriminality by country would allow for a genuine dependent variable to be deployed in studies attempting to assess which national characteristics–such as educational attainment, Internet penetration, or GDP–are associated with cybercrime,” the authors noted.
The groundbreaking study not only uncovers the global geography of cybercrime but also lays the foundation for future research to identify the factors driving cybercriminality in specific locations.
