Phishing and Ransomware were the most predominant cyber threats in the Philippines in 2023, according to an IDC survey commissioned by cybersecurity vendor Fortinet. More than 50% of respondent-organizations in the poll ranked the two issues as their top concerns, followed by unpatched vulnerabilities, identity theft, and insider threats.
In 2023, reported incidents of ransomware doubled across the country—with 56% of the organizations reporting at least twice increase compared to incidents in 2022. Phishing and malware were the primary attack vectors, which also included social engineering attacks, insider threats, and IOT vulnerabilities.
Moreover, about 82% of the respondents think remote work has contributed to the increase in insider threats within the organizations. Insufficient training, lack of employee cars, and inadequate communication were also identified by organizations as factors that possibly resulted to the surge, highlighting the need to address human factors in cybersecurity.
Unfortunately, only half of the businesses polled have allocated IT resources for their respective cyber security measures. This augments the issues hounding organizations in strengthening their security programs. Hybrid work, artificial intelligence (AI), and IT/OT convergence also pose challenges. Cloud technology adoption is seen to be a primary challenge that impacts vulnerability to cyber threats.
Fortinet Systems Engineering Manager Nap Castillo during SecOps media roundtable on January 16, 2024 at Discovery Primea in Makati City
The commissioned IDC poll had 550 IT leaders across Asia Pacific as respondents, who were contacted from October to November 2023. The survey provides valuable insights into the current Security Operations (SecOps) landscape, emphasizing the role of AI and automation in businesses. The study also explored various aspects, including prevalent security practices, attack frequency and impact, detection and response times, alert fatigue, statuses, and impact of automation in SecOps workflows.
“In the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape, 70.7% of organizations prioritize faster threat detection through automation,” said Fortinet Philippines Country Manager Alan Reyes. “At Fortinet, we recognize the imperative of swift detection and response as the cornerstone of an enhanced cybercsecurity posture.”
“Automation plays a crucial role in promptly identifying and responding to cyber threats, minimizing the window of vulnerability. Our customers’ experiences underscore this urgency, with a transformative reduction from an average of 21 days to just one hour for detection, driven by AI and advanced analytics. This signifies a fundamental step in fortifying cybersecurity defenses, where time to detect and respond is paramount. Automation, in this context, emerges as the linchpin in navigating the challenges of today’s dynamic threat landscape,” he added.
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