Nearly 80% of Philippine firms hit by data breach

MANILA, Philippines — Nearly 80 percent of companies in the Philippines have fallen victim to data breach over the past 12 months, with two in every five firms losing at least $500,000 to digital fraudsters.

In a survey, California-based tech firm Cisco said 77 percent of security leaders polled in the Philippines reported that their organizations suffered a data breach in the past 12 months.

Cisco said the incidence rate in the country exceeded the global average of 57 percent, making it important for local firms to invest in additional capital for cybersecurity.

Worse, Cisco said 69 percent of the respondents said the cybersecurity incident cost them up to $100,000. Another 38 percent reported that they lost as much as $500,000.

Based on the survey, Philippine firms are exposed to the common type of data attacks, including malware and phishing. Cisco said their exposure to cybersecurity risks was aggravated by the shift to hybrid work, as employees used unregistered devices to complete their daily tasks.

“The risks of hybrid work are being significantly amplified with the use of unregistered devices,” Cisco said.

“Over eight in 10 Filipino respondents say their employees are using unregistered devices to log into work platforms, and 75 percent say their employees spend more than 10 percent of the day working from these,” it added.

With these risks, 87 percent of Philippine organizations said they intend to increase their budget for cybersecurity measures by more than 10 percent next year.

Likewise, 95 percent of them expect their digital infrastructure to be upgraded within the next 24 months. These investments should counter future attempts to steal corporate data, especially as 85 percent of Philippine firms believe they can be attacked in the next two years.

Cisco said Philippine organizations should secure their connections and improve credentials to protect their data from possible breaches. It added that in a digital world, firms should be able to verify the identity of a user regardless of where they access, whether at home or in the office.

“Organizations must also be able to prevent and respond to threats from the cloud edge,” Cisco said.

“Lastly, they should look for ways to increase automation, free up resources, and focus security teams,” it added.