Right talent key to fight vs cyber attacks

MANILA, Philippines – Organizations, particularly in the public sector, are urged to hire the right talent to be prepared for rising cyber security threats, ePLDT Inc. said.

In a statement, ePLDT said hiring the right talent has become more important with government agencies increasingly becoming victims to cyber attacks.

Following the ruling given by the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration on the West Philippine Sea territorial dispute in July last year, at least 68 Philippine government websites were attacked based on official reports.

As hiring talent equipped with the skills to handle cyber security threats is becoming more important, it is also turning into a worldwide dilemma.

A study by Frost & Sullivan conducted on behalf of the International Information System Security Certification Consortium showed there would be a shortfall of 1.5 million cyber security professionals by 2020.

“Because the rapidly increasing demand for information security professionals far outpaces the market supply, there will come a time when even the most up-to-date infrastructure will not be enough to meet the level of security needed in the public sector,” Nico Alcoseba, VP and head of PLDT’s Disruptive Business Group said.

He said there is a need to ensure the right platforms, processes and talents are in place and ePLDT, the digital enterprise enabler of PLDT Inc., could help these organizations.

“Finding, hiring and retaining top security administrators can be difficult and yet is strategically-critical, especially now that the public sector is accelerating its own digital transformation. At ePLDT, we offer the right solutions and the right people, backed with globally-benchmarked security practices, that enable us to manage security policies and systems and help organizations comply to regulatory policies and standards,” said Nerissa Ramos, COO at ePLDT.

Aside from certified security professionals, ePLDT also offers managed security solutions that would enable organizations to put in place necessary measures for cyber security risks without having to shell out a large amount of initial investment.

At present, ePLDT offers customers free vulnerability assessment to identify security gaps and infections within the organization.

By going through the vulnerability assessment, organizations would be able to take the steps to address loopholes and beef up their defenses.

To register for the network vulnerability assessment, interested organizations could visit the website at www.epldt.com/solutions/managed-security.