Kaspersky offers tools to shield businesses against cybercrimes

CEBU, Philippines - With the increasing incidence of online fraud, a developer of secure content and threat management solutions Kaspersky Lab is reaching out to Cebuano businesses by providing tools to help them protect their companies from cybercrimes.

Kaspersky Lab business development manager Bryan Sat was in Cebu recently to lead the company’s information campaign to heighten awareness among companies that online crimes are real and growing very fast.

“Companies and organizations are most vulnerable of falling victims of online crimes than individual Internet users as cyber-criminals today are smarter, more aggressive and more sophisticated in carrying out their attacks,” said Sat in a press conference.

He said this is the age of high-profile targeted attacks directed towards the enterprise sector which means accessing classified, highly-valuable data translates to more money for cyber-criminals than if they were to target individual internet users.

Although in the Philippines, companies are starting to use technologies and tools to protect online attacks, he said small and medium enterprises, which comprise 99 percent of the country’s businesses still have to widen their understanding on how online fraud or cyber-crime will affect their businesses—big time.

Based on the company’s survey, some of the targets that are near the top of the list of every cyber-criminal these days are large utilities, transportation companies and financial firms.

But Sat warned that every industry can be a victim of high-profile attack.

Cebu, which is one of the largest economically progressive cities in the Philippines, potentially faces such business risks if its IT networks and infrastructure will lack enough protection against cybercrime, Sat cautioned.

“Cebu is easily one of the popular cities in the Philippines to do business in, next to Manila. This city is really an emerging investment destination outside Manila and proof of this is the presence of major businesses from various industries that have already set up shop in here,” Sat said.

To stay in the game, Sat stressed that Cebuanos should look into the security aspects of their businesses to avoid falling prey to cybercrime and possibly incurring business losses.

Sat added that there is a continued growth of industries in Cebu and the Visayas region, many of which are using technology as the backbone of their operations.

“Unfortunately, any business, whether it is small or a large one, as long as it has a network that is connected to the Internet will always be vulnerable to online threats. And business in Cebu are not exempt from becoming possible cybercrime victims,” he said.

He said companies here need the right kind of protection that is easily-managed, flexible and cost-effective.

Kaspersky brought into Cebu, in partnership with its distributors and retailers, the Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, the company’s new flagship security platform for businesses, which was built to provide the industry’s best protection from advanced malware (malicious software) and cybercrime and also to combat common enemy of IT security—complexity.

Kaspersky Endpoint Security for Business, Sat claimed, is the first true security platform built from the ground up, offering a business critical combination of deep protection, efficiency and seamless manageability.

“The Cebu businesses will definitely benefit from this unique security solution as it addresses different security needs of companies of every size and budget,” he said.

“Kaspersky Endpoint Security of Business also addresses the IT complexities brought about by recent technological trends where employees’ personal gadgets such as laptops, smartphones and tablets are being allowed by companies to be used to access corporate data to increase work efficiency while staying mobile,” he added. /JMD (FREEMAN)