A worldwide overview on the information security posture of online public services

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the security of online public services worldwide, revealing significant gaps in security practices that pose risks to citizens and government infrastructure across all regions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive assessment of the security posture of government online platforms across 3068 domains globally, highlighting areas needing improvement.

Findings

Many government services lack support for secure communication protocols.

Widespread issues with digital certificate trustworthiness.

Services are exposed to known vulnerabilities.

Abstract

The availability of public services through online platforms has improved the coverage and efficiency of essential services provided to citizens worldwide. These services also promote transparency and foster citizen participation in government processes. However, the increased online presence also exposes sensitive data exchanged between citizens and service providers to a wider range of security threats. Therefore, ensuring the security and trustworthiness of online services is crucial to Electronic Government (EGOV) initiatives' success. Hence, this work assesses the security posture of online platforms hosted in 3068 governmental domain names, across all UN Member States, in three dimensions: support for secure communication protocols; the trustworthiness of their digital certificate chains; and services' exposure to known vulnerabilities. The results indicate that despite its rapid development, the public sector still falls short in adopting international standards and best security practices in services and infrastructure management. This reality poses significant risks to citizens and services across all regions and income levels.