Malta is the most exposed country in Europe to cybercrime, despite the fact that Maltese population ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of actual malware and cybercrime encounters.

The ominous finding was published this week by Website Builder Expert (WBE), which studied the extent to which the EU is vulnerable to cybercrime.

Taking into account a number of factors including previous encounters with cybercrime, encounters with malicious programs, commitment to cybersecurity initiatives and the extent to which countries' internet connections are exposed, the results show that Malta is the European nation with the highest susceptibility to cybercrime, with a vulnerability score of 42%.

The study found Malta's exceptionally high percentage of exposed internet connections (73%), lack of cybersecurity legislation and poor international co-operation means that Malta's population, despite encountering cybercrime slightly less than their European neighbours, is actually far more at risk in the long run since there a fewer protective or preventative measures in place.

At the opposite end of the scale, Finland was found to be the most cyber-secure country in the EU with a vulnerability rating of 29%.  Estonia emerged as a close contender of Finland with a vulnerability score of 30%, reflecting changes made to government security strategies, legal frameworks and organisations in response to nationwide cyber attacks in 2007.

Germany, the Netherlands and the UK made up the rest of the top five least vulnerable.