About the research
The Cyber Hub provides an overview of the digital arena. As governments and businesses strive to remain competitive in a cyber era, the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton, has set out to understand the significance of cyber power today. The research is built on several integral parts: an interactive index that assesses specific aspects of the cyber environment of the G20 countries, and a series of research papers that examine the implications for the business community.
About cyber power
Cyber power is created when a complex digital information network is combined with a secure and robust physical infrastructure and developed by a skilled workforce. While in the physical realm, the size of something is constrained by various factors, in the virtual realm, size becomes irrelevant. As a result, information and the power it generates can expand almost without limits. This allows small businesses, individuals and countries with limited resources to use cyber power to compete with the traditional big players—and challenge the rules that govern the global economy today.
About the Cyber Power Index
The purpose of the Cyber Power Index is to benchmark the ability of the G20 countries to withstand cyber attacks and to deploy the digital infrastructure needed for a productive economy. In doing so, the index measures both the success of digital uptake and the degree to which the economic and regulatory environment promotes national cyber power.
The index is developed as an interactive quantitative and qualitative scoring model constructed from the following four categories:
- Legal and Regulatory Framework
- Economic and Social Context
- Technology Infrastructure
- Industry Application
Each category score is calculated from the weighted means of underlying indicators and scaled from 0-100, where 100=most favorable. Each country’s overall score is a weighted mean of its category scores.
Executive summary
It is well established that strong digital development increases cyber power potential, yet a rise in dependency also results in greater security risks. As illustrated by the Cyber Power Index, many countries struggle with this inherent contradiction, while leading countries meet these new challenges. Cyber power is defined here as the ability to withstand cyber attacks and to deploy the digital infrastructure necessary for a productive and secure economy. The concept of cyber power therefore encompasses both the benefits and the potential challenges of reliance on digital resources.
The global rise in the importance of information and communication technology (ICT) to economic development is well documented; however, relatively little attention has been paid to the potential negative consequences of our rising cyber reliance. Moreover, understanding the factors behind cyber power and the ways in which they affect organizations at all levels is increasingly important as countries become more interconnected and emerging markets play a bigger role in cyberspace. According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the UN, the proportion of households with Internet access in the developing world has risen tremendously, from 4.6% in 2002 to 15.8% in 2010.
To gain a better understanding of factors influencing cyber power globally, the Economist Intelligence Unit has developed the Cyber Power Index, sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton. The index is a dynamic quantitative and qualitative model, constructed from 39 indicators and sub-indicators that measure specific attributes of the cyber environment across four drivers of cyber power: legal and regulatory framework; economic and social context; technology infrastructure; and industry application, which examines digital progress across key industries.
This benchmarking exercise covers 19 countries of the Group of 20 (G20), excluding its last member, the EU. Each country was evaluated relative to others by an Economist Intelligence Unit analyst; categories and individual indicators are weighted according to assumptions of their relative importance. Details on the methodology, including weighting, can be found in the appendix of this paper.
Overall, the top five countries exhibiting cyber power, as measured by the index—the UK; the US; Australia; Germany; and Canada—illustrate that developed Western countries are leading the way into the digital era. One reason for this is the depth of Internet penetration in these countries. In 2010, the percentage of households with access to the Internet in the developed world stood at 65.6%, over four times the penetration in the developing world. The top five performers also rate highly across the board, ranking in the top seven in all four categories.
The leading emerging market countries, Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRICs), have some room for improvement; out of the 19 economies, they rank 10th, 14th, 17th, and 13th, respectively. There is also a wide discrepancy between the top and the bottom of the index. The UK, the top performer, scores around three times the amount of points on a scale of 0 to 100 as the worst performer, Saudi Arabia.
Other key findings from the index include:
- Germany's comprehensive cyber policies are a key to its success. Germany leads the legal and regulatory framework category with a near perfect score (99.3 out of 100), followed by other Western countries that also performed well in the overall index. Germany is one of only five countries (the others being the UK; the US; France; and Japan) to have both a comprehensive national cyber plan and a comprehensive cybersecurity plan.
- Clear cybersecurity plans are absent in even some of the major economies. Several major economies have no cybersecurity plan at all. In fact, four major countries in the index do not have a cybersecurity plan and do not appear to be developing one (Argentina; Indonesia; Russia; and Saudi Arabia), while another seven are only now in the process of doing so. Yet a core component of a country’s cyber protection policy is a national cybersecurity plan.
- Cyber power relies on a solid foundation that includes technical skills, high educational attainment levels, open trade policies, and an innovative business environment. The US has the most supportive economic and social context for fostering cyber power according to the index. This is driven by high tertiary education enrolment, research and development (R&D) investment, and an open trade environment. Asia’s rising influence is also apparent in this category, as China leads the trade indicator, while Japan and South Korea fill the number one and two positions, respectively, in technical skills.
- Government prioritisation of ICT access is higher in the developed world. There is a clear divide between developed countries and emerging markets as measured by access to ICT. The UK, US, and Germany top the indicator, while Mexico, Indonesia, India, China, and South Africa have the lowest access scores. An exception is South Korea, which is fifth, despite having strong government policy towards improving access.
- The G20 countries exhibit limited technological progress within key industries. Australia is the top performer within the industry application category, which measures the ability of different industries (energy, health, transportation, government, and e-commerce) to leverage ICT developments. As an indication of uneven technological development across industries, Australia ranks first in the category overall, but only leads within the e-health indicator.
To learn more about the index findings, methodology, or definition of inputs, see Findings and Methodology Paper.
Index FAQ
What is cyber power?
Cyber power is the ability to withstand cyber attack and to deploy a secure digital infrastructure that supports a productive economy. Cyber power is created when a complex digital information network is combined with a secure and robust physical infrastructure and developed by a skilled workforce. While in the physical realm, the size of something is constrained by various factors, in the virtual realm, size becomes irrelevant. As a result, information and the power it generates can expand almost without limits. This allows small businesses, individuals and countries with limited resources to use cyber power to compete with the traditional big players—and challenge the rules that govern the global economy today.
What does the Cyber Power Index do?
The Cyber Power Index allows you to compare the cyber power rankings of the G20 countries on a scale of 0-100, where 100=most favorable. Each country's overall ranking is displayed on the Index Arc. Roll your mouse over a country's name to see details; click two or more countries to compare individual strengths and weaknesses.
How was each country's overall ranking assessed?
Each country's ranking is a weighted mean of scores from four categories: Legal and Regulatory Environment; Economic and Social Context; Technology Infrastructure; and Industry Application. Each category features at least four underlying indicators, many of which are composed of sub-indicators. Read more about the Index methodology.
How do I get started?
Click the countries you are interested in comparing. (High-ranking countries are highlighted in dark blue, lower-ranking countries in light blue.) Their cyber-power rankings will display below the Index Arc, along with bar charts of the category scores. To see the categories' numerical rankings, roll your mouse over the bar charts.
I've clicked a country, and I see the four categories that determine the country's overall ranking. How do I find the indicators and sub-indicators that make up these categories?
- On the bottom half of the screen, click the arrow to the left of a category name. To see a description of an indicator, click the "i" to the right of its name.
- To see how all countries, sorted by cyber-power ranking, score in a category, click the "Show row" arrow to the right of the category name. To sort the row by category ranking, strength of cyberprotection policy, or by country name, click their respective radio buttons.
- To close the expanded view, click the arrow to the left of the category name.
How do I learn more about a particular country's strengths and weaknesses?
- In the Index Arc display at the top, click on a country to select it; then click the gray Details tab above that country's name. A country card will appear, giving that country's overall cyber-power ranking and its underlying category rankings and scores, as well as the average scores among the G20. (These are the same categories that display in the bar charts below the Arc when a country is selected.) A score of 66 or higher is considered strong, 33-66 is average, and less than 33 implies a weak performance.
- You can scroll among country cards by clicking on the countries displayed on the top-right corner of the card.
- To go back to a high-level view, close the card by clicking on the "x" in the top-right corner.
What are weights and what do they do?
The custom weights allow users to determine the relative importance of Index categories. For example, if a user increases the weight on "Legal and Regulatory Framework," then the countries that score well in this category will fare better in the overall cyber power rankings.
You can change the category weights by moving the sliders to the left of the Index Arc.
- The default view assigns equal weights (25%) to each category, for a total of 100%. If you want to see the effect of adjusting the impact of Technology Infrastructure on cyber power, for example, move that slider to the left to reduce the category's weight or to the right to increase it. You will see the rankings of the country in the radar change to reflect that emphasis.
- To return to the default settings, click "Reset" in the top-right corner of the Category key.
How do I understand the relationship between a country's income level and cyber power?
To the left of the arc, you will see "Filter income levels," with an arrow next to it. Click on the arrow and choose low-, medium- or high-income levels. You will then see that the countries display the pattern corresponding to your choice.
Can I change the order in which countries are displayed?
Yes. You can display countries in the index arc by either cyber-power ranking or alphabetical order. To see those options, click the arrow to the right of "Sort by countries" at the left of the arc.
What is the difference between cyber power ranking and score?
The countries in this study are ranked from 1 to 19. However, each country also has a score, which determines their rank. The score is based on a calculation of 0-100 and allows users to understand the granular differences in performance. For example, the UK ranks first, with a score of 77.7, while the US ranks only slightly lower, with a score of 76.6—making both countries leaders in cyber power.
Where can I get more information about the Index?
You can see an overview of how the Index was created and download an Excel spreadsheet containing all the data in the Index. You can also access this information via the links at the bottom of the Index screen.
About the research papers
The research papers examine how the business community is responding to the opportunities and challenges offered by cyber. The investigation begins with an exploration of how organizations and government authorities can build cyber resilience. It then focuses on the specific challenges created by an increasingly mobile workforce. Both papers are based on surveys of senior executives and interviews with experts.
About Viewpoints
A series of viewpoints by Booz Allen Hamilton's cyber experts will be published at regular intervals to The Cyber Hub. Topics will focus on a variety of subjects, including cyber power; economics; security; and technologies, and the roles that both government and industry play in the transformation of cyberspace.
About Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton is a leading provider of strategy and technology consulting services to the US government in defense, intelligence, and civil markets, and to major corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit organizations. Booz Allen is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, employs more than 25,000 people, and had revenue of $5.59bn for the 12 months to March 31st 2011.
Booz Allen understands that cybersecurity is no longer just about protecting assets; it is about enabling organizations to take full advantage of the vast opportunities that the ecosystem of cyberspace now offers for business, government and virtually every aspect of our society.
Those opportunities can be imperiled, however, by rapidly emerging cyber threats from hackers (hacktivists); organized crime; nation states; and terrorists. We help our clients in both business and government to understand the full spectrum of threats and system vulnerabilities, and to address them effectively and efficiently.
Booz Allen believes the key to cybersecurity is integration—creating a framework that "thinks bigger" than technology to encompass policy, operations, people and management. Through such a Mission Integration Framework, organizations can align these essential areas to address the real issues, and develop cyber strategies and solutions that keep pace with a fast-changing world.
To learn more, visit www.boozallen.com. (NYSE: BAH)
About the Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit is part of the Economist Group, the leading source of analysis on international business and world affairs. Founded in 1946 as an in-house research unit for The Economist newspaper, we deliver business intelligence, forecasting and advice to over 1.5m decision-makers from the world's leading companies, financial institutions, governments and universities. Our analysts are known for the rigor, accuracy and consistency of their analysis and forecasts, and their commitment to objectivity, clarity and timeliness.