Interest in keyword ‘cybersecurity’ on Google Search hits an all-time high

William S. | September 29, 2021

Cybersecurity lately has become a hot topic for many governments and businesses around the world. Cybercriminals used the pandemic and remote work to launch cyberattacks against unprepared organizations, suddenly making big headlines and getting everyone’s attention.

According to the data presented by the Atlas VPN team, interest in ‘cybersecurity’ reaches an all-time high on Google Search, according to Google Trends data. Furthermore, the statistics show that Singapore is a leading country in cybersecurity interest, followed by Saint Helena and the United States.

The numbers of ‘cybersecurity’ searches worldwide were acquired over the last ten years using the Google Trends tool. Google Trends provides numbers that show search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. While the score of 50 means it is half as popular.

The first significant rise of cybersecurity interest happened in February 2016, as it held a score of 49. However, the increase seemed to be temporary as the following month value dipped to 27. The score stayed in the 25-35 value range for the rest of 2016.

Cybersecurity keyword interest came back up to a score of 49 again in October 2017. Since then, it has been steadily going up only with a few set downs. Two years later, in October 2019, cybersecurity interest peaked at a score of 76. Almost two more years after, right now, concern in cybersecurity is at its highest point — 100 value.

Increasing interest in cybersecurity should not be a surprise as more frequent, and more significant cyberattacks occur. In addition, people over the years have become more aware of their privacy online and how to protect themselves against cybercriminals by using security tools. Cybersecurity skills in the job market have also become highly valuable.

Countries with the most interest in cybersecurity

Cybersecurity interest has been growing more in countries that have invested money to spread general awareness. At other times, interest grew because of first-hand experiences when lacking knowledge on the topic caused significant cyber issues.

Singapore stands out among other countries for interest in cybersecurity as they scored 100 points in Google Trends. Singapore’s cybersecurity strategy claims to strengthen the resilience of Critical Information Infrastructure, mobilize businesses and the community to create safe cyberspace, develop a vibrant cybersecurity ecosystem, and forge international partnerships.

The second place for interest in the keyword ‘cybersecurity’ goes to Saint Helena, which collected a score of 59. Important to note that value means a higher proportion of queries and not a higher absolute query count. Most likely, that is why St. Helena island, populated by about 5,000 people, got so high on the list.

On the other hand, the United States earned a score of 48 over the ten years. Multiple cyberattacks on American businesses and government administrations indeed made people turn their heads to cybersecurity. U.S authorities have invested money into cybersecurity and spread more awareness about it in the country to reduce surging threats.

Next up, Kenya reached 4th place for interest in cybersecurity, and Hong Kong followed 5th, collecting 42 and 35 points in Google Trends, respectively.

Cybersecurity and our privacy online have become important topics in the current climate. More and more people understand that anyone could get hacked, and losing your personal information can be costly. So educating yourself about cybersecurity and looking into security products and services can help you become more resilient against cyber threats.

William S.

William S.

Cybersecurity Researcher and Publisher at Atlas VPN. Focused on revealing the latest cybersecurity trends around the world.

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