Global Cybersecurity Index marks Sri Lanka as an ‘advancing’ country
The Morning: Sri Lanka has been recognised as an ‘Advancing’ country in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), which highlights its commitment to enhancing cybersecurity practices across multiple pillars.
The Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) serves as a trusted benchmark for assessing countries’ commitment to cybersecurity on a global scale.
The fifth edition of the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2024 provides a comprehensive assessment of countries’ commitment to cybersecurity across five key pillars namely (a) Legal, (b) Technical, (c) Organisational, (d) Capacity Development, and (e) Cooperation.
In the 2024 report, 193 countries have been categorised into five tiers as Tier 1 (T1) – Role-modelling, Tier 2 (T2) – Advancing, Tier 3 (T3) – Establishing, Tier 4 (T4) – Evolving, and Tier 5 (T5) – Building based on their efforts to safeguard the cyberspace. Sri Lanka has been classified as a Tier 2 – Advancing country, achieving a score of 85-95 out of 100.
A ‘T2 Advancing’ country shows a strong commitment to cybersecurity through coordinated, government-led actions. This includes assessing, setting up, or implementing widely recognised cybersecurity measures across at least four pillars or many key indicators.
This result demonstrates the effectiveness of the implementation of National cybersecurity strategy by Sri Lanka CERT during the past several years. Sri Lanka was ranked 83rd in the 2020 GCI report and in 84th in the 2018 report prior to the implementation of the nation’s first cyber security strategy.
The report further highlights that Sri Lanka’s strength lies in its legal measures, technical measures, and capacity development, where it scored highest. However, the organisational and cooperation measures are identified as areas for potential growth.
Notably, Sri Lanka’s performance surpasses the average score for the Asia-Pacific region, indicating a robust commitment to advancing cybersecurity initiatives. The report encourages continued efforts in enhancing organisational frameworks and fostering international cooperation to further strengthen the country’s cybersecurity landscape.
Sri Lanka CERT is actively working to enhance the country’s cybersecurity standing and position itself to a T1: role modelling in the future. To achieve this, Sri Lanka CERT has launched several key initiatives, including the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Strategy (2025–2028), the establishment of the National Certification Authority, and the operationalization of the National Cybersecurity Operations Centre.
Additionally, the country is advancing the implementation of a national information and cybersecurity policy, alongside various capacity-building activities aimed at strengthening the nation’s overall cybersecurity framework.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s ICT and digital infrastructure development sectors are two of the fastest growing sectors in the country given the overall economic activities and the target of achieving hub status in the South Asian region. The growth and profits recorded by local businesses engaged in the ICT and digital infrastructure development sectors are indicative of the growing business potential in these sectors. The expanding business/investment opportunities in the field of ICT and related sectors present a host of lucrative opportunities for foreign businesses/investors. With Sri Lanka on a steady growth path, the business/investment opportunities in these sectors would also see a continuous expansion programme. Apart from the direct opportunities, there are also many indirect opportunities related to the ICT and digital infrastructure development sectors given the fast-evolving nature of the global ICT platforms as well as the Sri Lankan government’s focus on digitalization and transforming the country into an e-economy. Foreign businesses/investors could take into consideration all these developments and explore the expanding business/investment opportunities.
Article Code : | VBS/AT/26112024/Z_1 |