Philippine firms account for 3% of region’s cyber threats – study

Threats targeting local companies continued to increase in the first half of the year, according to global cybersecurity company Kaspersky, with the Philippines accounting for about 3% of the online attacks recorded in Southeast Asia.

“As businesses and governments in the region continue to embrace digitalization to drive economic growth, their increased reliance on digital platforms broadens their attack surface,” Kaspersky General Manager for Southeast Asia Yeo Siang Tiong said in a media release on Tuesday.

In the six months to June, Kaspersky said it had logged and blocked more than 26 million web threats in the Southeast Asian region, or an average of 146,944 web attacks daily.

Kaspersky said businesses in Southeast Asia face challenges as they navigate the booming digital economy, which can be exploited by cybercriminals.

The majority of the web-based or online threats in the region were recorded in Malaysia, which faced 19.62 million threats in the January-to-June period; Indonesia recorded a total of 3.2 million; while Vietnam and Thailand recorded 1.45 million and 1.06 million web attacks, respectively.

The Philippines ranked second to last in the region with 846,837 recorded threats, accounting for 3.25% of the over 26 million web attacks recorded in the first semester. Singapore, on the other hand, logged 574,292 attacks.

In a previous report, Kaspersky said web threats targeting Philippine companies reached a total of 1.69 million in the full year 2023, up from nearly 500,000 in 2022.

“This leads to more opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit vulnerabilities in unprotected systems, which can cause disruptions to supply chains, financial institutions, and critical infrastructure such as healthcare and energy,” Mr. Yeo said.

Ronald B. Gustilo, national campaigner for Digital Pinoys, said cybercriminals will always take advantage of any country’s digital activity regardless of the strength of its digital infrastructure.

“The Philippines remains a good target for them because we are among the countries that are still catching up with the fast-paced development of digital technology,” he said.

Kaspersky said increasing cyber threats damage productivity and make the public suspicious or mistrustful of digital technology, which in turn could lead to financial losses.

“While there has been a significant improvement compared to previous years, many Filipinos are still challenged with digital literacy, hence the high number of cybercrime victims,” Mr. Gustilo said.

The Philippine digital economy is expected to maintain its growth trajectory, driven by e-commerce and the continued development of digital infrastructure, according to the e-Conomy SEA report by Google, Temasek Holdings, and Bain & Co.

It also said that the country’s digital economy is projected to grow by 20% to $31 billion in terms of gross merchandise value this year, making it the fastest-growing digital economy in Southeast Asia.

Mr. Yeo said that cybercriminals in the region are getting more sophisticated by leveraging tools like artificial intelligence and other technologies.

Kaspersky said that local companies must ensure continued vigilance and investments in strengthening their cybersecurity posture and must leverage technologies to help combat threats. — Ashley Erika O. Jose