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Have you ever wondered which countries face the most cybercrime? If you have ever wondered which countries have the most cybercrime, then you may be surprised to know that there are few contributing factors that attract cybercriminals to specific regions of the world. Security research firm, Symantec, has discovered specific factors that determine why a certain country is plagued with cybercrime more so or less than another which allowed them to come up with a ranking for each.

Symantec has ranked 20 countries that face, or cause, the most cybercrime. In compiling such a list, Symantec was able to quantify software code that interferes with a computer’s normal functions, rank zombie systems, and observe the number of websites that host phishing sites, which are designed to trick computer users into disclosing personal data or banking account information. Symantec was also able to obtain data including the number of bot-infected systems which are those controlled by cybercriminals, rank countries where cyber attacks initiated and factor in the a higher rate of cybercrime in countries that have more access to broadband connections. The highest rate of cybercrime was found to be in the United States which may mainly contribute to the broad range of available broadband connections, which are those that allow uninterrupted internet connectivity.

All of the contributing factors allowed Symantec to effectively rank a top 20 list of countries that have the most cybercrime.

List of Top 20 Countries with the highest rate of Cybercrime (source: BusinessWeek/Symantec)

Each country lists 6 contributing factors, share of malicious computer activity, malicious code rank, spam zombies rank, phishing web site hosts rank, bot rank and attack origin, to substantiate its cybercrime ranking.

1. United States of America
Share of malicious computer activity: 23%
Malicious code rank: 1
Spam zombies rank: 3
Phishing web site hosts rank: 1
Bot rank: 2
Attack origin rank: 1

2. China
Share of malicious computer activity: 9%
Malicious code rank: 2
Spam zombies rank: 4
Phishing web site hosts rank: 6
Bot rank: 1
Attack origin rank: 2

3. Germany
Share of malicious computer activity: 6%
Malicious code rank: 12
Spam zombies rank: 2
Phishing web site hosts rank: 2
Bot rank: 4
Attack origin rank: 4

4. Britain
Share of malicious computer activity: 5%
Malicious code rank: 4
Spam zombies rank: 10
Phishing web site hosts rank: 5
Bot rank: 9
Attack origin rank: 3

5. Brazil
Share of malicious computer activity: 4%
Malicious code rank: 16
Spam zombies rank: 1
Phishing web site hosts rank: 16
Bot rank: 5
Attack origin rank: 9

6. Spain
Share of malicious computer activity: 4%
Malicious code rank: 10
Spam zombies rank: 8
Phishing web site hosts rank: 13
Bot rank: 3
Attack origin rank: 6

7. Italy
Share of malicious computer activity: 3%
Malicious code rank: 11
Spam zombies rank: 6
Phishing web site hosts rank: 14
Bot rank: 6
Attack origin rank: 8

8. France
Share of malicious computer activity: 3%
Malicious code rank: 8
Spam zombies rank: 14
Phishing web site hosts rank: 9
Bot rank: 10
Attack origin rank: 5

9. Turkey
Share of malicious computer activity: 3%
Malicious code rank: 15
Spam zombies rank: 5
Phishing web site hosts rank: 24
Bot rank: 8
Attack origin rank: 12

10. Poland
Share of malicious computer activity: 3%
Malicious code rank: 23
Spam zombies rank: 9
Phishing web site hosts rank: 8
Bot rank: 7
Attack origin rank: 17

11. India
Share of malicious computer activity: 3%
Malicious code rank: 3
Spam zombies rank: 11
Phishing web site hosts rank: 22
Bot rank: 20
Attack origin rank: 19

12. Russia
Share of malicious computer activity: 2%
Malicious code rank: 18
Spam zombies rank: 7
Phishing web site hosts rank: 7
Bot rank: 17
Attack origin rank: 14

13. Canada
Share of malicious computer activity: 2%
Malicious code rank: 5
Spam zombies rank: 40
Phishing web site hosts rank: 3
Bot rank: 14
Attack origin rank: 10

14. South Korea
Share of malicious computer activity: 2%
Malicious code rank: 21
Spam zombies rank: 19
Phishing web site hosts rank: 4
Bot rank: 15
Attack origin rank: 7

15. Taiwan
Share of malicious computer activity: 2%
Malicious code rank: 11
Spam zombies rank: 21
Phishing web site hosts rank: 12
Bot rank: 11
Attack origin rank: 15

16. Japan
Share of malicious computer activity: 2%
Malicious code rank: 7
Spam zombies rank: 29
Phishing web site hosts rank: 11
Bot rank: 22
Attack origin rank: 11

17. Mexico
Share of malicious computer activity: 2%
Malicious code rank: 6
Spam zombies rank: 18
Phishing web site hosts rank: 31
Bot rank: 21
Attack origin rank: 16

18. Argentina
Share of malicious computer activity: 1%
Malicious code rank: 44
Spam zombies rank: 12
Phishing web site hosts rank: 20
Bot rank: 12
Attack origin rank: 18

19. Australia
Share of malicious computer activity: 1%
Malicious code rank: 14
Spam zombies rank: 37
Phishing web site hosts rank: 17
Bot rank: 27
Attack origin rank: 13

20. Israel
Share of malicious computer activity: 1%
Malicious code rank: 40
Spam zombies rank: 16
Phishing web site hosts rank: 15
Bot rank: 16
Attack origin rank: 22