PH companies consider cybersecurity risks as low, moderate

The increased investment is also a result of their cyber risk assessment, he added. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA – Executives of Philippine corporations consider their entities’ risk to cyberthreats to be “low” to “moderate” given the increased investments on cybersecurity.

This is among the results of the survey conducted by global cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks from February 6-15, 2020 in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore to check on businesses’ attitude towards cybersecurity.

In a virtual briefing Friday, Oscar Visaya, Palo Alto Networks country manager for the Philippines, said the result of the survey showed that one in two companies in the Philippines alone hiked their cybersecurity budget this year compared to last year.

He said 43 percent of the officials from surveyed businesses said bulk of their information technology (IT) investments are allocated for cybersecurity, particularly to upgrade their security frameworks to automated technologies, as well as to increase securities on rising volume of cyberthreats.

The increased investment is also a result of their cyber risk assessment, he added.

The higher investments for this purpose are encouraging, he said, adding this will prevent cyberattacks and disrupt business operations.

“However, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses will now need to navigate the newfound risks brought about by remote work and other Covid-19-themed threats. This will require a relook at cybersecurity existing strategies and investments,” he said.

In terms of products that companies use to further strengthen their cybersecurity capacity, Visaya said 86 percent said they use anti-malware and antivirus tools, 59 percent said they use next-generation firewalls, and 47 percent said they have started to invest in cloud native security.

He said emerging solutions like software-defined wire-area network security have also become popular as more firms connect to cloud solutions.

Despite the increasing awareness among companies, the survey results showed that challenges remain and these include employees’ lack of awareness on cybersecurity and risks from third-party service providers and suppliers.

“When it comes to cybersecurity it’s everybody’s responsibility. And I think it’s not just about ordinary employees but across all organizations, even the Board level,” he added.

Visaya said the lack of cybersecurity experts is a problem not only in the Philippines but around the world.

He does not have a figure on the shortage in the local setting, but said it is about three million globally.

“And this is the reason why even locally, the customers surveyed, they’re feeling the pressure of the difficulty in hiring cybersecurity people,” he added.

Visaya said they, along with the Asia Pacific College, have teamed up with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the establishment of the Palo Alto Network Cybersecurity Academy in the country last year.

He said the goal is to “churn out cybersecurity professionals to be absorbed in the workforce and to supply the current skills requirements of businesses.”

Visaya said the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) also has cyber security education programs since the government also lacks cybersecurity professionals.

He added the national government and local governments have partnered with schools to address the lack of cybersecurity experts not just locally but hopefully overseas.