U.S. gets middling rank in cybersecurity; Belgium No. 1

The U.S. is not number one for cybersecurity. It's not even in the top 10. Worldwide, it ranks, with a score of 69.94, number 44 — not terrible, but not great either. It ranks below Thailand and above Paraguay.

This is according to the National Cybersecurity Index, which today updated its list to now include Haiti, Solomon Islands, Switzerland and Tuvalu. There are now 175 countries on the list. The top five countries in the index are all in Europe. They are:

1. Belgium (headquarters of the European Union)
2. Lithuania
3. Estonia
4. Czechia
5. Germany

Meanwhile, the bottom five countries in terms of cybersecurity (in descending order) are:

1. Vatican City
2. Marshall Islands
3. Federated States of Micronesia
4. Palau
5. South Sudan

Cybersecurity solutions provider SurfShark noticed that while Belgium topped the index, Baltic region states and Ukraine showed a higher performance than all of the "western world" nations on average. The average for western countries was 73.59. Lithuania and Latvia's score was 93.51; Ukraine and Latvia, meanwhile, scored 75.32.

"The invasion of Ukraine has sparked global concerns regarding the rise of Russian cyberattacks," said the SurfShark study. "However, countries that reclaimed independence from the USSR, including Ukraine, have long been combating this persistent threat."

In terms of the index, Russia ranks 30, below the Dominican Republic and above Singapore.