By Archie Tolentino, President, Information Security Officers’ Group (ISOG)

For many Filipinos, it was a challenging start to the year in terms of health and livelihood. As COVID-19 cases in the country surged once more, many are back to staying at home and doing their usual activities in the digital world. It’s a good reminder for us not to be complacent in securing our safety and health. As the pandemic’s end is not yet in sight, one thing we are certain of is that all of us will remain active in the cyber world. That’s why as much as we protect our physical safety, we also must safeguard cyberspace.

Nowadays almost everyone is working remotely and doing online financial transactions, we are all exposed to cyber risks. Organizations, enterprises, and individuals are all vulnerable targets of a growing list of threats and intrusion. We are all aware of the damage that can result from phishing, internet fraud, identity theft, and unauthorized system access. These are just some of the threats that continue to haunt individuals, businesses, government agencies, and our country.

With the changing needs of society and the continuous evolution of technology, it’s not surprising that the digital world we are now in will continue to evolve. One tech buzzword that has been making waves recently is “metaverse”, a concept of a virtual world where people can buy and sell virtual products, own digital assets, and many more. While this concept promises many advantages, the metaverse will also surely come with new challenges that can risk our privacy and data.

ISOG traversing 2022 with new cybersecurity awareness programs
ISOG closes 2021 with successful cybersecurity campaign

Ensuring cyber resilience in today’s digital world and preparing for the new threats that may arise in the future all rest on the shoulders of information security professionals. And we, at the Information Security Officers’ Group (ISOG), are determined to continue empowering our fellow security leaders by sharing best practices in the cyberverse and providing avenues for collaboration and camaraderie.

In our mission to strengthen information security in the Philippines, we will carry out once again our awareness and education programs and promote community fellowship among information security leaders. In our journey toward setting the standard for a sustainable and safe information security environment, ISOG will continue to uphold its three pillars. These basic tenets are education and awareness of information security practices for our members and clients, inter-institutional incident response, and intelligence sharing on critical information such as the latest operational methods to counter cybercriminals.

This 2022, we are all geared up to roll out new I AM SECURE programs that aim to achieve the basic tenets of our organization. From quarter two to three, we will hold the Metaverse Forum 2022. The series will be a good opportunity for information security professionals to learn about the recent developments in the metaverse ecosystem and gain insights that will help us plan for cybersecurity measures of the future, particularly in the banking industry.

Another event that awaits us this year is the first ISOG Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, which will be held in October, during cybersecurity month. It’s about time that we put the spotlight on cybersecurity leaders who have shared valuable contributions to the local and global security landscape. Through this, we will recognize outstanding cybersecurity experts, products, and institutions.

As we look forward to the exciting activities in the pipeline, we also count on the support of our dedicated members, our valued partner organizations, stakeholders, and government agencies in bringing all our plans to fruition.

We might have a tough start to the year, but we have the rest of 2022 to make things for ourselves, our community, and our country better. For ISOG, we are all set to spend the remaining months of the year strengthening cybersecurity in the Philippines.