The final results of the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) have been officially announced at the ITU Telecom World 2014 taking place in Doha, Qatar. The GCI ranks the United States as the country with the highest national cybersecurity commitment, followed by Canada in second place.

Jointly in third position are Australia, Malaysia, and Oman. The GCI is a joint project between private sector firm ABI Research and the UN specialized agency, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The aim of the project is to drive the issue of cybersecurity to the forefront of national agendas. The GCI provides insight into the cybersecurity engagement of sovereign nation states.

Rooted in the ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Agenda (GCA), the GCI looks at the level of commitment in five areas: legal measures, technical measures, organizational measures, capacity building, and cooperation. The result is a country-level index and global ranking of cybersecurity readiness. The ultimate goal is to help foster a global culture of cybersecurity and its integration at the core of information and communication technologies.

The GCI offers valuable insights into national projects and best practices. India, for example, has a nation-wide Information Security Education and Awareness Programme in place as well as a number of regional cybersecurity training facilities for law enforcement agencies. The Republic of Korea has developed a National Information Security Index, an objective and quantitative measure for assessing the information security level of the private sector (enterprises and individual Internet users).

In Rwanda, through the National CSIRT, the government has established a system for sharing information between government agencies known as the Cyber Security Governance Framework, as well as a public private partnership in the field of cybersecurity for sharing and disseminating information related to cybersecurity issues between the public and private sector.

"The GCI represents a significant step forward not only in terms of international cooperation and public-private partnership, but also in promoting the importance of cybersecurity at the global level. The project can only benefit from increased collaboration and we are pleased that the GCI will find a 2.0 iteration," says Michela Menting, practice director at ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).