Awareness of cybersecurity continues to increase because of news on data breaches but there is still an inadequate supply of cybersecurity professionals. The Philippine Institute of Cyber Security Professionals (PICSPro) aims to address this skills gap by providing a venue for the industry to share best practices.

PICSPro, as an organization of Filipino cybersecurity professionals from various industries, was established with a mission of reinforcing public awareness, to have a better understanding of cybersecurity and building cybersecurity professionals with the use of an educational framework that provides adequate training and certification.

“PICSPro’s commitment is anchored on our vision, which is to advocate for the highest level of cybersecurity here in the Philippines,” Angel Redoble, chair, PICSPro. “The best way to do that is to make cybersecurity more accessible and train professionals and hone their skills, to the point where they become globally competitive.”

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Cybersecurity software firm Sophos reported that Philippine organizations have spent an average of P40 million to recover from these attacks – costs that cover the ransom paid and the costs incurred by the downtime. From Kaspersky’s reports, the country has been among the top target of cyber threats not only in Asia but in the world.

With this background, PICSPro believes that strengthening cyber defense begins with equipping cybersecurity professionals with the right knowledge and tools to combat any types of cyberattacks.

PICSPro’s framework of engagement consists of five pillars which include:

• Strategies for development of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation that is interoperable and applicable globally;
• Strategies for the development of a global framework for security protocols, standards, and software accreditation schemes;
• Strategies for the creation of organizational structures and policies to integrate Philippine efforts on cybercrime, threat surveillance, warning and incident response, and a generic and universal digital identity system;
• Strategies to facilitate human and institutional capacity building in pillars 1, 2, and 3; and
• Proposals for a framework for international dialogue, cooperation, and coordination.

Backed by industry leaders such as RSA, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, F5 Networks, and Gigamon as well as commitments of support from various other organizations, PICSPro has been able to establish over 20 chapters nationwide.