Baseline Assessment It is imperative when designing a strategy at the national level that an assessment is undertaken to ensure, not only that the right areas of focus are identified, but also to determine what is being done well and where the deficiencies lie. As such, in the development of the National Cybersecurity Strategy, the level of connectivity to the Internet was consider to determine the scope of the problem, cybersecurity capacities that exists was measured and finally, the volume of cybercrimes that are committed in Belize was taken into account. In terms of connectivity, there has been a steady growth in the level of Internet penetration and connectivity”. The more connected people become the more avenues that open for opportunities for cyberattacks. As of 2018, the Internet penetration rate of Belize was recorded as being over 50% of the population, an increase of over 40% since 2000 (See Table). Table 1 sxe) elul(ola loyal ee Cc 2000 245,800 15,000 6.10% 2005 291,904 35,000 12.00% 2008 301,270 32,000 10.60% 2012 327,19 74,700 22.80% 2013 340,844 108,048 31.70% 2018 382,444 200,020 52.30% Source: World Bank and ITU The primary goal of information such as this is to implement measures to reduce risk. Ensuring an understanding of ‘whatis at risk’ helps to shape prioritization and resourcing for implementation. Additionally, to measure existing capabilities to address the threats, in 2018, the Cybersecurity Capacity Maturity Model for Nations (CMM) assessment was undertaken, and the results indicated that Belize, since it was last applied in 2016, was still between a start-up and a formative level of maturity in regards to cybersecurity along the five dimensions of capacities that were assessed. Thus, indicating the need for the development of this comprehensive framework. National Cybersecurity Strategy - Towards A Secure Cyberspace 2020-2023