India ranks 10th in the list of cybercrime worldwide, according to a study published by the Department of Sociology, University of Oxford. Russia topped the list followed by Ukraine, China, and the US.
According to a team of researchers at the Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, a new study ranks India 10th worldwide in cybercrime. The compiled 'World Cybercrime Index' lists around 100 countries and also determines the key hotspots and types of cybercrime, such as ransomware, credit card frauds, and cyberscams.
The research was published in the PLoS One journal. Russia is number one on the list followed by Ukraine, China, the United States of America, Nigeria, and Romania. South Korea also made the list in seventh place followed by the UK in eighth and Brazil in ninth position.
As per the report, the survey was performed by contacting 245 individuals to participate out of which 92 of them completed the survey via an invitation link. "Overall, participants represented all five major geopolitical regions (Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America and South America), both in nationality and residence, though the distribution was uneven and concentrated in particular regions/countries." stated the report.
The participants in the survey were given five major categories of cybercrime and chose the countries they considered prominently involved in the categories. The categories were:
1. Technical products/services (such as malware)
2. Attacks and extortion
3. Data/identity theft (such as hacking or phishing)
4. Scams (such as business email compromise or online auction fraud)
5. Cashing out/money laundering (such as credit card fraud)
The report showed different countries being involved in different levels of cybercrime. Only six countries; China, Russia, Ukraine, the USA, Romania, and Nigeria were in the top ten in each category.
Countries like Russia and Ukraine have more highly technical cybercrime hubs and Nigerian cybercriminals are engaged in less technical crimes. According to the study, "In this sample of countries, India (-6.02) somewhat specialises in Scams but is otherwise a balanced hub."
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