Cybersecurity In Europe And The U.S. Compared: European Organizations Experience More Cyber Incidents

Despite the growing threat of cyberattacks, many companies fail to strengthen their security measures. According to data presented by Cybernews Business Digital Index, 65% of analyzed North American companies scored D or worse for their cybersecurity efforts. Meanwhile, 48% of such companies are in Europe.

Just 7% of North American organizations scored A

Business Digital Index statistics show that 21% of European companies scored F, and 27% were graded D. But the situation in North America is even worse—34% of analyzed companies worldwide scored F, and 31% were graded D.

However, there is also a positive trend in Europe, as 13% of businesses got an A score, and 20% earned a B grade for cybersecurity efforts. What is concerning is that only 7% of North American organizations are equipped with A-rated protection, and 8% are graded B.

In Europe by industry, technology companies showed slightly better data security than financial institutions. Among tech firms, 40% achieved top ratings (A or B), while 45% received poor grades (D or F). The financial sector performed worse, with 35% earning A or B ratings and 46% receiving D or F scores.

When viewing North America from an industry perspective, finance companies are better at data security than healthcare organizations. Only 3% of healthcare entities got an A score, while 9% of finance businesses got this rating. However, these numbers are nothing to celebrate as the majority (34%) of financial companies were rated D, and 45% got an F in the healthcare industry.

34% of European and 32% of North American companies had recent data breaches

The Business Digital Index shows that the most common security issue is related to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) configuration, with over 50,000 issues found in Europe and over 150,000 in North American businesses.

In addition, North American organizations lost over 430K corporate credentials, almost eight times more than in European countries, where organizations lost over 56,000 corporate credentials.

The Index data shows that companies in Europe combine for over 2000 critical and high-risk vulnerabilities. For comparison, companies in the US and Canada combine for nearly 8000 critical and high-risk vulnerabilities.

In addition, 34% of European and 32% of North American companies have high-risk vulnerabilities and have been affected by recent data breaches. Besides, 30% of employees in Europe and 29% in North America reuse already breached passwords, making it even easier for cybercriminals to access a company’s network.