The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) has formulated a new study in which they ranked the nations based on their cyber capabilities. The research contained seven basic categories: strategy and doctrine, governance, command and control, core cyber-intelligence capability, cyber empowerment and dependence, cybersecurity and resilience, global leadership in cyberspace affairs, and offensive cyber capability.
IISS ranked US as a top-tier nation, whereas China, Russia, the UK, Australia, Canada, France, and Israel were in the second tier. While India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, North Korea, Iran, and Vietnam were way behind in cyber power.
“This report is intended to assist national decision-making, for example, by indicating the cyber capabilities that make the greatest difference to national power. Such information can help governments and major corporations when calculating strategic risk and deciding on strategic investment,” wrote the researchers.
In the report, IISS mentions why the US has been selected as the top tier nation in cyber force especially among countries like China and Russia. It stated that the US is the only country with worldwide supremacy in civil and military applications of cyberspace. Since 1990 the country is striving to make a global footprint in cyberspace. Also, this cyber dominance has made the US capable of responding to threats from countries like China and Russia.
When it comes to acknowledging one’s flaws and shortcomings, US has always recognized its national infrastructure in cyberspace but at the same time, it can be defensive when required. It’s been more than two decades that the country has marshaled the international community to create basic security principles in the cyber world.
The research also made some shocking discoveries; for instance, China is way behind in cyber power, and it would take the country forever to meet its cyber capability objectives. The reason is its lack of security and inefficient intelligence analysis. According to IISS, China is less mature than US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
Before this research, China was considered to be in the top tier but why?
Because China has mastered other sorts of cyber skills and made some promising revelations in AI, this does not imply that the country is ahead of everyone in cyberspace capabilities.
“On every measure, the development of skills for cybersecurity in China is in a worse position than it is in many other countries,” Greg Austin, an expert in cyberspace, said.