A recent survey conducted by the IDC on behalf of Fortinet concerning the issue of cybersecurity in the Philippines resulted in a trend that serves as a threat and warning to the country’s organizations.

Part of the findings is also the identification of the relevance of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in the changing cybersecurity landscape.

Looking at the status quo of the Security Operations (SecOps) in the Asia-Pacific region, where the Philippines belongs, the survey laid out the country’s complex cybersecurity landscape, taking into account also the substantial dangers posed by ransomware, phishing, and other possible threats.

Putting concern to over 50 percent of respondent organizations, ransomware and phishing emerged as top cybersecurity threats in the country. The former especially doubled in overall occurrence since 2022, with over 56 percent of the respondents reporting a two-fold increase in the year after.

While the issues are primarily rooted in the widespread malware cases and phishing attacks, other factors such as insider threats, social engineering attacks, and exploits inherent in the Internet of Things (IoT) were also part of it.

A majority—or 82 percent—of the respondents attribute the surge in people having to work remotely. Human factors, such as insufficient training, communication gaps, and inadequate employee care, were also said to have contributed to the issue.

Equally or more so surprising than these findings, the survey also revealed that only 50 percent of organizations in the country have dedicated IT resources for security teams.

In light of these challenges, 90 percent of organizations in the Philippines have embraced automation and orchestration tools in their security measures.

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