Kaspersky tapping Cebu as growth driver on Phl

CEBU, Philippines - Recognizing Cebu’s stronghold as one of the world’s premier BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) destinations, and growing number of technology savvy consumers, European anti-virus company Kaspersky Lab considers Cebu as its growth driver in the Philippine market.

Kaspersky Lab is tapping several resellers in Cebu as well as in nearby localities to widen its market base in potential economic growth areas and expects about 15-20 percent channel growth in this part of the country.

Apart from ICT industries, Kaspersky Lab is also targeting practically all other industries in this city, which include manufacturing, retail, financial, transportation, and communications.

In keeping with its core targets of providing the best solutions to all types of businesses, the company has started an extensive campaign to reach out to business and consumer markets in Cebu.

Kaspersky Lab South East Asia Channel Sales Director Jimmy Fong said business growth is expanding to areas outside Metro Manila, with Cebu being the first to be recognized as the most relevant new location with more growth prospects.

Fong was in Cebu recently to talk to technology resellers and users on the risks associated with growing viruses over the world-wide-web.

 With such growth come risks against unwanted intrusion. Fong points out to incidences involving businesses that have fallen victims to hackers and cybercriminals who have stolen confidential business data or stealthily conducting corporate espionage using Trojans and worms that infect PCs of corporate employees.

“Businesses have to be several steps ahead in thinking of how to protect their investments, especially against malicious attacks and theft. Companies in Cebu are no exception especially when there is so much growth to be seen in this part of the Philippines,”said Fong.

One of Kaspersky Lab’s major solutions targeted towards the enterprise market which it now offers in the Philippines, including Cebu, is the updated version of Kaspersky Open Space Security (KOSS).

KOSS is a full security suite that covers multiple IT platforms. It provides protection against all types of Internet threats and can be installed in Microsoft Windows and Linux-based servers, as well as Macs.

KOSS also provides antivirus and mail-gateway protection for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and Lotus Domino.

A unique feature of KOSS is its support for the most popular smartphone operating systems, such as Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian 60. This can effectively stops cybercrime from the smartphone endpoint especially when businesses, through their employees, use mobile devices to input sensitive data.

Fong stressed the new KOSS provides businesses with a new level of protection from malware and other threats.

“By providing protection to complex and multi-platform networks of just about any size, KOSS is ideal for the way we do business today, where we transact using critical data through laptops and even our smartphones. Everyone now enjoys a mobile working lifestyle where we just work from anywhere and anytime. With KOSS, businesses can enjoy convenient and hassle-free computing without compromising important data from all types of malware attacks,” Fong added.

“We believe there are a lot more opportunities now especially with all types of companies now becoming more proactive in securing their businesses from high-tech attacks,” Fong said.

Fong said many cybercriminals are veering away from attacking individual PCs due to the lower profit margins they get from single users. Instead, they are putting more effort in infiltrating enterprises as this sector offers more financial gains.

“Most companies are not aware of these types of weapons used by organized cybercriminals simply because they’re new. Nevertheless, business owners will always want to be secured and many of them are approaching us specifically for this end,” Fong said.

“We will continue to support these cities as we see Cebu to have major outputs in terms of outsourced services in the coming years. Kaspersky Lab will also dedicate itself in providing products to as many enterprises as possible in Cebu to accommodate the network security requirements of local companies here,” Fong concluded. (FREEMAN)