Here's how vulnerable the US is to hackers compared to the rest of the world

Cadence Bambenek

Jun 9, 2016, 22:09 IST

rapid7

Heat map of vulnerable servers

An information security firm created a "heat map of the internet" to identify the countries most vulnerable to hackers.

The firm, Rapid7, scanned the internet for vulnerable servers and then ranked 50 countries based on their exposure to potential cyberattacks.

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Belgium topped the list for the most exposed country in the world. The U.S. came in at number 14.

At the bottom of the list: Vietnam.

Rapid7 scanned every public-facing IP address across the internet and then analyzed the services each offered.

The report found that the vulnerability to hacking attacks is proportional to the number of services offered by a server. In other words, links and portals to other servers act as backdoors through which a hacker can access an otherwise secure site.

Here's the complete list of countries, from most vulnerable to the least:

1. Belgium

2. Tajikistan

3. Samoa

4. Australia

5. China

6. Hong Kong

7. Dominican Republic

8. Afghanistan

9. South Africa

10. Ethiopia

11. Kenya