The Philippines is one of the countries susceptible to cybersecurity attacks. From hacking of government websites before elections to online bank cyberheist, the country’s defenses against these attacks have yet to be secured. Recognizing this need, the Philippine government created the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to establish a system that will safely provide Filipinos access to vital information and communication technology (ICT) structures and services.

Through the formulation of the National Cybersecurity Plan 2022, the DICT aims to assure continuous operation of nation’s critical infostructures, implement cyber resiliency to respond to threats, coordinate with law enforcement agencies and cyber-secure educated society. Echoing the government’s mission, ICT company Acer Philippines calls on institutions that are highly vulnerable from cyber threats, like businesses, to strengthen their data security through maximizing available hardware and software.

“Technological advancements will continue to bring security issues if we don’t know how to utilize them,” said Sue Ong-Lim, sales and marketing director of Acer Philippines. “Cybersecurity has always been a problem in the country and it’s about time we do something about it. Globally, 43 percent of cyber-attacks are aimed at small businesses and with 230,000 new malware samples created every day, the number of data breaches is expected to rise in the coming years.”

Online threats are not the only issues Filipinos should be wary of. One can spread malware through unsafe transport of data through corrupted hard drives and USB devices. Viruses can ride on physical devices through manual transmission and connection.

“Protecting your company’s information is not just an online activity but also a proactive offline effort,” said Ong-Lim. “Threats are not just found online or within the software component of your devices but also in the physical parts of unprotected computers. We always recommend to our clients and business partners to choose hardware that provides security features.”

As an ICT company, Acer puts thought into their designs of both software and hardware. Designed to protect companies’ assets from harm and theft, the company developed the Acer Security Suite. It is a complete hardware and software package that encrypts any program file, computer, and user-set passwords and can leverage the trusted platform module technology for secure computing.

Aside from the Suite, Acer also offers commercial desktops such as Acer Veriton, that is designed with durable security locks that companies can utilize for protection. At the same time, it is also equipped with security command plug-ins that will give users the liberty to move storage of important information and the urgency to act upon any threat.

“Aside from updating your software, purchasing tools and devices that can protect businesses from cyber threats is a worthwhile investment. Businesses might not be aware but proactively safeguarding their data is less costly than fighting off an attack. Whether it’s a database of their customers or proprietary data, information is a currency for every business and technology should be utilized to stop threats from even reaching them,” said Ong-Lim.