Not all corners of the internet are created equal. When we analyzed our database of 760,000+ websites grouped by hosting country, the differences were stark. Some countries have web ecosystems where the majority of sites use HTTPS, configure security headers, and set up email authentication. Others? Not so much.
We looked at five key countries that dominate our dataset — Canada, the United States, Germany, Russia, and the Netherlands — and compared them across every security metric we track. The results tell a story about regulation, infrastructure, and cultural attitudes toward web security.
Most represented hosting countries in our 760,000+ domain database
Here's how each country performs across our key metrics. I'll break each one down in detail, but the overview tells a clear story:
Germany and the Netherlands are clearly leading. Russia lags behind. The US sits right at the global average — which, given how many sites it hosts, makes sense. Let me unpack what's driving these differences.
German-hosted websites have the highest average trust score in our dataset at 68 out of 100. They're five points above the global average, and they lead in almost every category we measure.
The reason isn't mysterious. Germany has some of the strictest data protection enforcement in the world. GDPR isn't just a piece of paper there — the Datenschutzbehörden (data protection authorities) actively fine companies that mishandle personal data. This creates a compliance-driven culture where hosting providers bake security into their default configurations.
German hosting companies like Hetzner, Strato, and 1&1 tend to enable HTTPS by default, often include basic security header configurations, and provide clear guidance on email authentication. When the hosting environment does the heavy lifting, even less technical site owners end up with reasonably secure sites.
89% of German-hosted sites use HTTPS. That's five points above the global average. Their SPF adoption (64%) and DMARC adoption (43%) are the highest among our top five countries. German sites are also more likely to use Cloudflare or native CDN solutions from their hosting providers.
Strong data protection regulation works. When hosting providers are motivated to offer secure defaults, the entire ecosystem benefits. Other countries could improve their web security averages by encouraging (or requiring) hosting providers to enable HTTPS and basic security headers by default.
The Netherlands punches well above its weight. For a relatively small country, it hosts a disproportionate number of websites — Amsterdam is one of the world's most important internet exchange points, and AMS-IX is the largest internet exchange by traffic in Europe.
Dutch-hosted sites have the highest HTTPS adoption at 91%. That's remarkable. Their average trust score of 67 is just one point behind Germany. And their email authentication rates are strong — 62% SPF and 41% DMARC.
What makes the Netherlands special is its infrastructure. The physical internet backbone running through Amsterdam means Dutch-hosted sites tend to be fast and well-connected. The hosting ecosystem is mature and competitive, with providers like TransIP, Antagonist, and Leaseweb offering modern, security-focused hosting by default.
The Netherlands is also a popular location for CDN edge nodes and cloud infrastructure. Many sites that aren't "Dutch" in any meaningful business sense are hosted there simply because of the excellent connectivity. This probably inflates the Netherlands' numbers slightly — international companies choosing Dutch hosting for performance reasons tend to be more sophisticated about security.
Canada doesn't get much attention in web security discussions, but it performs consistently well. Average trust score of 65, HTTPS at 87%, and respectable email authentication numbers. Canadian sites tend to be well-maintained.
Some of this is the Shopify effect. Shopify is based in Canada, and it's one of the most popular e-commerce platforms globally. Every Shopify store gets HTTPS, modern security configurations, and decent defaults out of the box. Given how many Canadian domains run on Shopify, this lifts the country's overall numbers.
Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL) also plays a role. While it's primarily about commercial email consent, it's pushed Canadian businesses to think more carefully about their email infrastructure, which correlates with better SPF and DMARC adoption.
Check how any Canadian site performs with our free analysis tool — you'll see its trust score, security configuration, and technology stack instantly.
The US sits right at the global average in almost every metric. Trust score of 63. HTTPS at 83%. SPF at 54%. DMARC at 33%. It's the most average country in our data — which is interesting because it hosts more websites than any other country.
The variance tells the real story. US-hosted sites include some of the most secure websites on the planet — Google, GitHub, Stripe. These sites score in the 80s and 90s on our trust scale. But the US also has a massive long tail of unmaintained small business sites, parked domains, and forgotten projects that pull the average right back to the middle.
The lack of comprehensive federal data protection legislation (there's no US equivalent to GDPR) means there's less regulatory pressure on hosting providers to enforce security defaults. Some US hosts are excellent — Cloudflare, Vercel, and AWS provide strong security by default. Others don't. The result is a wide distribution that averages out to... average.
US HTTPS adoption is 1% below the global average of 84%, despite hosting the most websites overall
Russia falls below the global average in every metric we measure. Trust score of 57 (six points below average), HTTPS at 76% (eight points below), and notably low DMARC adoption at 24%.
Several factors contribute. The Russian hosting ecosystem includes many older, budget providers that don't enforce modern security defaults. A significant number of Russian-hosted sites run on legacy infrastructure — older CMS versions, outdated server software, and minimal security configuration.
That said, major Russian internet companies like Yandex and VK run highly secure infrastructure. The gap in Russia is between these tech giants and the broader web ecosystem, which lags further behind than in Western European countries. There's also a portion of Russian-hosted sites that are intentionally opaque — low trust scores, minimal configuration, limited transparency about ownership. These sites pull the averages down further.
We should note that our data reflects hosting location, not the nationality of the site owner. Some Russian-hosted sites serve international audiences, and some sites targeting Russian users are hosted elsewhere.
Regardless of country, security header adoption is poor everywhere. Even Germany, the leader, only has 26% of sites with Content-Security-Policy headers. That means 74% of German-hosted sites lack CSP — and they're the best performers.
HSTS follows a similar pattern. The best country (Netherlands, at about 33%) still has two-thirds of sites missing this header. Globally, 80% of sites lack CSP and 72% lack HSTS. This is a universal problem, not a country-specific one. We covered this in depth in our HTTPS adoption analysis.
The problem is that security headers require explicit configuration. Unlike HTTPS (which hosting providers can enable automatically), headers need someone to actually add them to the server configuration or application code. Most site owners — in every country — simply don't know they should.
We also see interesting differences in technology preferences by country:
WordPress adoption is highest in the US (23%) and Canada (22%), and lowest in the Netherlands (16%). WordPress sites tend to have lower security scores, which slightly drags down the averages for countries with higher WordPress usage. We covered this in our WordPress security analysis.
Cloudflare usage is fairly consistent at 20-24% across all countries except Russia (15%). Cloudflare's global CDN network means it's useful regardless of location. Dutch and German sites show slightly higher Cloudflare adoption, contributing to their faster response times.
Modern JavaScript frameworks (React, Vue, Angular) have higher adoption in the Netherlands and Germany, and lower adoption in Russia. This correlates with the technology sector maturity in each country and the age distribution of hosted websites.
Our top five countries account for the majority of our dataset, but we have data on sites from dozens of countries. Some notable mentions:
You can explore any country's data by visiting our country pages, which show detailed breakdowns of trust scores, technologies, and security metrics for sites hosted in each country.
The single biggest predictor of a country's web security metrics isn't technical capability or internet infrastructure. It's regulation. Countries with strong data protection laws — Germany, the Netherlands, Canada — consistently outperform those without.
GDPR has had a measurable effect on European web security. Hosting providers in the EU are more likely to enable HTTPS by default, provide security configuration tools, and educate their customers about compliance requirements. This trickles down to every website hosted on those platforms.
The US, without federal data protection legislation, relies on a patchwork of state laws and industry self-regulation. This produces great results at the top (US tech companies are among the most secure in the world) but leaves a long tail of sites with minimal security.
Russia's regulatory environment focuses more on content control than data protection, which is reflected in the security metrics. Sites are more likely to comply with content regulations than implement technical security measures.
Hosting country is one signal among many. A well-configured site hosted in Russia is more trustworthy than an abandoned site hosted in Germany. Always look at the full picture — HTTPS, security headers, email authentication, domain age, and overall trust score. Use Bitverzo to check any specific site.
Germany and the Netherlands set the standard for web security in 2026. Canada performs well above average. The US is average. Russia has room for growth. But the really important insight is that country-level averages mask enormous variation within each country. The best US sites are as secure as anything in Germany. The worst German sites are as neglected as anything in Russia.
If you're choosing where to host your website, consider the hosting provider's security defaults more than the country. A good host with automatic HTTPS, security headers, and easy DNS management will put you ahead of 70% of the web regardless of where their servers sit.
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Analyze a Website →Based on Bitverzo's analysis of 760,000+ domains, Germany leads with an average trust score of 68/100, followed closely by the Netherlands at 67/100. Both countries benefit from strong data protection laws (GDPR), mature hosting infrastructure, and providers that enable security features by default.
US-hosted websites sit right at the global average — 83% HTTPS adoption and a 63/100 average trust score. The US has enormous variance: top tech companies score 80+ while the long tail of small business and personal sites pulls the average to the middle. The lack of comprehensive federal data protection law contributes to inconsistent security defaults.
Indirectly, yes. Countries with strong data protection laws have hosting providers that enforce stricter security defaults — automatic SSL, security headers, and modern configurations. The country itself doesn't make a site secure, but the regulatory and infrastructure environment sets the baseline. Choose a hosting provider with good security defaults regardless of country.
Data in this article is based on Bitverzo's analysis of 760,000+ domains as of July 2026. Country determination is based on server IP geolocation. Browse all countries or see the top-rated websites.