From the 500 survey respondents of Palo Alto Networks’ latest report, 92% believe that cybersecurity is a priority for their business leaders today. Cybersecurity has never been more crucial than the time of the pandemic when work shifted to remote exposing company data to threats and attacks.

In the Philippines, 56% of respondents are conducting high-level cybersecurity discussions on a regular basis.

The Palo Alto Networks study “The State of Cybersecurity in ASEAN” surveyed 500 respondents representing businesses across the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand on their response to the cybersecurity challenges in 2021 and outlook for the future.

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Along with discussions are steps taken to ensure that cybersecurity postures are in place. The study found 96% of organizations maintain a dedicated in-house IT team responsible for managing cyber risks. Over two-thirds (68%) are also planning to increase their cybersecurity budgets in 2022, driven by the adoption of next-gen security capabilities (48%); the need to address existing cybersecurity gaps (46%); and the need to optimize operations (44%).

“Philippine organizations perceive the highest level of risks to cyber threats (48%) among Asean countries,” the study states. “It is, therefore, unsurprising that 64% of Philippine organizations indicate that they have increased their budget for cybersecurity in 2022.”

Online financial transactions

Apart from remote work, there was the increase in digital transactions which include digital payments. This opened more vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit. The study found among all industries surveyed, financial services (45%) and fintech (42%) perceived themselves to be most at risk of cyberattacks. This prompted 54% of respondents to procure an array of cybersecurity solutions to protect themselves from cyberthreats.

“Philippine organizations should continue to focus on post-COVID-19 cyber protection in order to stay ahead of the evolving cyber threats,” said Oscar Visaya, country manager, the Philippines, Palo Alto Networks.

Palo Alto Networks shares some best practices and recommendations for enterprises to stay ahead of cybersecurity threats:

• Conduct a cybersecurity assessment to better understand, control, and mitigate risks. This will help organizations to prioritize countermeasures and identify where resources are needed to defend against sophisticated attacks.
• Adopt a Zero Trust framework to address the cybersecurity threats of today and design architecture with an “assume-breach” mindset. Deploy technology to continuously validate the legitimacy of digital interactions and establish rapid response capabilities to quickly address the early signs of a breach.
• Choose a partner, not a product. A good cybersecurity partner can provide the latest threat intelligence and offer practical advice on how to build a cyber-resilient architecture across all environments (e.g., on-premises, cloud, edge).