Measuring National Cybersecurity Preparedness: A Comparative Analysis Using the Global Cybersecurity Index

Abstract

As the dependency on technology infrastructure increases, so does the necessity for strong cyber-preparedness frameworks at the national level. This paper examines a comparative approach to global cybersecurity readiness through the use of the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) from 2020 to 2024. A quantitative research methodological approach is applied, with the combination of descriptive and distributional statistics, as well as clustering methods, to analyze the cybersecurity preparedness among 194 nations. It was found that there was an increase in the global cybersecurity capacity, reflected by the improved GCI score and a lower number of poorly prepared countries. The pillar analysis revealed that the progress made was mainly as a result of improvements in terms of organizational, legal, and cooperation factors, and on the other hand, there was moderate progress in technical skills and capacity building in addition to human capital development. The findings also showed that there was clear persistence when it came to ranking at the global level, but there were instances of high mobility for some countries. The clustering analysis showed that there were different clusters of countries based on their high, medium, and low preparedness levels, showing that there were structural differences in terms of cybersecurity developments.