Only 1 percent of Philippine firms ready for cyberthreats

MANILA, Philippines — Software giant Cisco has found that almost every company in the Philippines is not ready to fend off new forms of cyberattacks.

According to Cisco’s Cybersecurity Readiness Index for 2024, only one percent of organizations in the Philippines are equipped to respond to modern cybersecurity risks.

Cisco said 64 percent of companies fall into the beginner level of readiness, meaning most of the firms in the country are in the process of building up their digital defenses.

Despite this, Cisco said the Philippines is no lonely island in terms of lagging in the readiness index.

Globally, just three percent of organizations are at a mature level of readiness, indicating the need for companies to reinforce their online security.

More than two-thirds of companies anticipate a cybersecurity incident to disrupt their operations within the next 12 to 24 months.

Further, three in every five firms said they were attacked in the past 12 months, costing some of them as much as $300,000 in losses.

Further, there is a growing concern over the management of devices within the workplace, as 85 percent said their employees access their company accounts from unsecured locations.

Worse, organizations are suffering from a shortage in cybersecurity talents who can address these emerging risks.

“In fact, 36 percent of companies said they had more than 10 roles related to cybersecurity which are unfilled in their organization at the time of the survey,” Cisco said.

In response, at least two in three companies will upgrade their security solutions within the next 12 to 24 months.

Moreover, almost all organizations plan to increase their cybersecurity budgets for the year to acquire the necessary services and talents to combat cyberthreats.

Cisco Philippines managing director Zaza Soriano-Nicart said companies in the country have to procure a cybersecurity platform that can protect them from digital risks. Or else, Nicart warned, they may fall victim to online attacks that could compromise their data.

“The threat landscape today is more complicated than ever and organizations globally, including those in the Philippines, continue to lag in their cyber resilience,” Nicart said.

The index covered the insights of about 8,000 executives from across 30 markets globally and was conducted by a third party assessor commissioned by Cisco.