The United States is considered one of the most advanced nations in the world for technology, medicine, and overall living. It’s been the case for the past few decades, but with the emerging field of cybersecurity, how secure are we? According to nextgov.com, as study in 2019 performed by tech research firm Comparitech.com, the United States only ranks 5th on a list of 60 nations most involved in cybersecurity. Only Japan, France, Canada, and Denmark rank higher than the United States. The least cyber secure nation on the list was Algeria.
The study was based on 7 criteria:
-Percentage of mobile phones infected with malware
-Percentage of computers infected with malware
-The number of financial malware attacks
-Percentage of telnet attacks by originating country
-Percentage of attacks by crypto miners
-The best prepared nations to deal with cyberattacks
– The nations with the most up-to-date legislation

Since the study in 2019, the United States has dropped from 5th on the list to 17th. Why is this you may ask? America has one of the fastest growing technology based work forces in the world. Threats and vulnerabilities are always changing and there just aren’t enough workers to counter these threats. According to cybersecurityventures.com, there will be an estimated 3.5 million unfilled positions in cybersecurity by the end of 2021. In 2014 this number was just 1 million. And of the candidates who apply for these positions, fewer than 1 in 4 are even qualified. Robert Herjavec, founder and CEO at Herjavec Group, said “Unfortunately the pipeline of security talent isn’t where it needs to be to help curb the cybercrime epidemic. Until we can rectify the quality of education and training, we will continue to be outpaced by Black Hats.”
The United States really needs to step its game up if we are to cemented back into the top 5 for most cyber prepared nations in the world.