Palo Alto Networks: Stay Safe This Holiday Shopping Season With Good Cyber Hygiene Practices

As the highly anticipated year-end shopping season such as 12.12 Sales draws near, Palo Alto Networks urges heightened cybersecurity vigilance. This period sees a surge in online activities and financial transactions — from scouring for the best shopping deals to holiday travel bookings, ticket purchases, and cross-border money transfers for holiday gifts— this holiday shopping season is a prime time for cybercriminals to take advantage of the unsuspecting digital shoppers through phishing scams, fraudulent websites, and payment fraud.

The impact is evident in the losses reported in the Philippines in 2024, totaling $8.1B due to online scams. With online activity set to surge during the upcoming shopping season, this underscores the critical need for heightened cybersecurity awareness.

Palo Alto Networks Forecasts Asia Pacific’s Cybersecurity Landscape: Predictions for 2025 and Beyond

Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader, today released its 2025 cybersecurity predictions for the Asia Pacific region, outlining five key trends that cyber practitioners can expect to unfold in the coming twelve months and position their organisations for a more secure future.

Organisations across the APAC region have emphasised embedding AI into business processes in 2024. This includes cybersecurity processes, where organisations and their adversaries are engaged in an AI arms race. But alarmingly, according to a recent PwC report, more than 40% of leaders say they do not understand the cyber risks posed by emerging technologies like Generative AI. In 2025, AI will become central to cybersecurity strategy with organisations using AI to proactively mitigate risk. Crucially, they will also seek to secure their own AI models. 

Demand for Managed Service Partners Strong as AI-augmented Cyberattacks Highlighted as Top Concern for Organisations across Asia Pacific and Japan

Sophos research finds 83% of organisations’ cybersecurity budgets will increase in the coming 12 months, and 50% will increase spend with MSPs 

Sophos, a global leader of innovative security solutions for defeating cyberattacks, recently released its Cybersecurity Playbook for Partners in Asia Pacific and Japan in collaboration with Tech Research Asia. The report analyzed the priorities for businesses over the next 12 months, and the opportunities for partners to support these ambitions. 

“The ongoing prevalence of cyber threats has forced organisations to address a variety of their cybersecurity measures,” said Cameron Reid, director, Channel Sales MSP, Sophos Asia Pacific and Japan. “The report found that the top three areas of importance for businesses are strengthening cybersecurity posture around financial operations, improving risk management capabilities, and ensuring cybersecurity is robust enough to support digital transformation programs. Evidently, when businesses invest in new technologies, it is front of mind that this is done in a secure manner to ensure potential attack surfaces are protected.” 

Palo Alto Networks: 1 in 3 SMEs not confident in hybrid work security

Global cybersecurity leader Palo Alto Networks revealed in its 2023 State of Cybersecurity in ASEAN Report that one out of three small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines and Southeast Asia is not confident in tracking cybersecurity breaches amid a hybrid work environment. With 41% of their infrastructure and processes running in the cloud for onsite and work-from-home setup, SMEs are most concerned about password attacks (63%), malware attacks (56%), and account takeovers (53%).

Steven Scheurmann, Vice President for ASEAN at Palo Alto Networks, shared, "In observance of Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, we are reinforcing our mission of  empowering SMEs with a stronger cybersecurity posture, recognizing their pivotal role as the backbone of our economy. It's crucial to remember that SMEs, just like larger organizations, hold valuable data sought after by cyber attackers for financial gain.”

Gigacover: Bringing insurance closer to MSMEs through insurtech

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) comprise 99.6% of business in the Philippines, employing around 63% of the country's workforce. Despite its significant contribution to the economy, MSMEs often lack insurance, leaving both employers and employees vulnerable to risks in times of emergency. 

This is not to say that MSMEs do not care for insurance. A recent study by Manulife found 36% of small business owners in the Philippines found medical, health, or accident insurance a top priority among financial products. Entrepreneurs in this sector are interested in financial protection products but find them unaffordable and complex. 

Gigacover, a regional insurtech firm, shared insights on the fundamental ways technology can change traditional insurance for MSMEs, including tailored-fit digital policies that are more affordable and simple to use.

Ransomware Attacks in the Philippines surge by almost 60% in 2022, New Report from Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Finds

The report reveals insights into the latest tactics of ransomware gangs; financial, geographical, and industry impacts based on data gathered from Unit 42 investigations.

Palo Alto Networks found that ransomware and extortion cases in the Philippines increased by 57.4% in 2022 with 11 reported cases across key sectors. Threat actors are utilizing more aggressive tactics to pressure organizations, with harassment being involved 20 times more often than in 2021, according to Unit 42™ incident response cases. 

Rimini Street Launches Rimini Consult™ to Help Organizations Optimize, Evolve and Transform Their Enterprise Software

New suite of professional services delivered by highly specialized team of global experts for Oracle, SAP and Salesforce systems

Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a global provider of enterprise software products and services, the leading third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP software products, and a Salesforce partner, recently announced the launch of Rimini Consult™, a suite of packaged and project-based professional services available for clients’ enterprise software customization, configuration, implementation, integration, interoperability, migration, staff augmentation and other project needs, delivered by experienced professionals.

Rimini Consult also provides specialized advisory services, software resources planning, development services and technology and application roadmap planning designed to help clients successfully complete digital transformation and other innovation initiatives.

Globe & Yondu Fortifies Cybersecurity Through Security Ops Center

As part of the company’s steadfast commitment to protecting enterprises against constantly evolving security threats, Globe Business and its managed ICT services partner, Yondu, have officially launched a dedicated state-of-the-art Security Operations Center (SOC) last February 23 at Taguig City.

The advanced technology and secure operations of this local SOC provides fortified cyber intelligence, enhancing the management and maintenance of a large number of controls for clients who partner with Globe Business for their cybersecurity needs.

Globe Business and Palo Alto Networks Utilize AI for Cybersecurity

As industries continue to adapt to hybrid work structures, the potential grows for cyber threats to spread across multiple digital spaces used by remote workers. Yet with 91% of Filipinos favoring the work-from-anywhere setup, more and more businesses practicing hybrid work recognize the need to take a proactive approach to their organization’s cybersecurity. With this in mind, Globe Business has dedicated itself to enhancing enterprise cybersecurity by partnering with Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader.

“Globe Business redefines security by offering a formidable, end-to-end, and easy-to-use defense platform to help prevent attacks before they happen. Our partnership with Palo Alto Networks enables us to develop a solution that detects and helps to avoid these possible issues,” shared Francisco “Cocoy” Claravall, Vice President for Partner Ecosystem for Globe Business, Enterprise Group.

Eastern Communications, global partners tackle cybersecurity trends and tips for 2022

Cybersecurity is a factor that enterprises must take into consideration as business operations become more dependent on digital. According to a recent survey by multinational cybersecurity solutions provider Fortinet, 73% of the organizations had at least one breach over the past year that can be partially attributed to the lack of enhanced cybersecurity skills.

Dedicated to helping businesses emerge stronger in the next normal, Eastern Communications together with global IT partners, Trend Micro and Fortinet, recently tackled cybersecurity trends, challenges, and tips. 

The sessions were part of Eastern’s “E-Huddle 2022,” an industry webinar series graced by various key opinion leaders in tech in an effort to promote digital transformation among businesses in the country.

Eastern Communications ramps up cybersecurity solutions as it partners with Fortinet

Eastern Communications, one of the premier telecommunications companies in the country, continues to strengthen its world-class ICT services as it sealed a partnership with multinational cybersecurity solutions provider, Fortinet. 

Fortinet, a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, has been a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity, helping organizations protect against the growing digital attack surface, secure critical devices, data and technology infrastructures. 

IT experts agree – Education, choice of tech are important in fight against cyber attacks

As more businesses embrace work from home setups and students are now into online classes, the threat of cyber attacks increases as well. Studies show that home networks and personal computers are roughly 3.5 times more likely to receive malware attacks compared to offices with enterprise-grade security.

With this, technology leaders HP and Intel held a panel discussion called “Cyber Lockdown” recently to tackle how we can protect our data and devices from cyber attacks amid the pandemic.

The panel featured IT experts HP Senior Security Advisor Junaid UR Rehman, Intel Asia Regional Account Manager Carrie Chow, ePLDT Chief Information Security Officer Angel Redoble, and Manila Bulletin Technology Editor Art Samaniego.

Trend Micro PH Reveals Present and Future Threats or Today's Internet Era

DECODE Annual Cybersecurity Conference tackles Deepfake Technology and other related threats to the global business community.

The evolution of disinformation campaigns—or what people know as “fake news”—is posing a greater threat than what many of us can think of. Aside from being a tool for cyber-extortion, an emerging trend called “Deepfake Technology”—a term used for a collection of different AI based image manipulation techniques—has the potential to produce fake video and audio clips for cybercriminals to illegally connect money from individuals, government institutions, and private companies globally. 

The four types of cyberthreats Filipinos should know

Microsoft Security Intelligence report determines top cyberthreats in the Philippines

Filipinos spend a lot of their time online—whether it be on their personal computers, tablets or mobile phones. In a digital report released by We Are Social and Hootsuite on January 2019, the Philippines was recognized as the country with the highest number of hours spent on the internet per day, with an average internet consumption of 10 hours and 2 mins.

ManageEngine Introduces User and Entity Behavior Analytics in its SIEM Solution

ManageEngine, the real-time IT management company, today announced that it has introduced user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) into its SIEM solution, Log360. With score-based risk assessment, threat corroboration, anomaly detection powered by machine learning, and other new capabilities, the Log360 UEBA add-on helps security professionals identify, qualify, and investigate internal threats and anomalies by extracting more information from logs for better context.

Globe, Sophos team up to help businesses fight cyber threats

(L-R) Julius Suarez-Sophos ASEAN Systems Engineer,
Margaret Acibron - VP Sales for NetPlay Inc., Jett Ching-Sophos
Territory Manager for Netplay Inc. ,
 William Arnaiz - Globe Business Consulting Manager,
 Jojo Rafaeles- Globe Business Industry Sales Head
 at the Globe Business-Sophos Cybersecurity Forum

Globe Business, through its partnership with NCSI Philippines, welcomes Sophos as part of its Cybersecurity portfolio.  Sophos is an English security software and hardware company that arms businesses with the necessary tools to keep their operations secure and protected from cyber threats.

“Providing our customers with Sophos solutions is a step towards seeing 'businesses flourish.'  We recognize that one of the keys to a sustainable business operation is to ensure that customer network and endpoint devices remain secure over the long haul.  Globe and Sophos are here to provide the value of security,” said Peter Maquera, Globe Senior Vice President for Enterprise Group.

Microsoft and Frost & Sullivan Study reveals that Cybersecurity threats to cost organizations in the Philippines US$3.5 billion in economic losses

A Frost & Sullivan study commissioned by Microsoft revealed that the potential economic loss in the Philippines due to cybersecurity incidents can hit a staggering US$3.5 billion. This is 1.1 percent of the Philippines’ total GDP of US$305 billion[1].

The study, titled “Understanding the Cybersecurity Threat Landscape in Asia Pacific: Securing the Modern Enterprise in a Digital World”, aims to provide business and IT decision makers with insights on the economic cost of cybersecurity breaches in the region and identify the gaps in organizations’ cybersecurity strategies. The study involved a survey of 1,300 business and IT decision makers ranging from mid-sized organizations (250 to 499 employees) to large-sized organizations (>than 500 employees). 

The study reveals that more than half of the organizations surveyed in the Philippines have either experienced a cybersecurity incident (18%) or are not sure if they had one as they have not performed proper forensics or data breach assessment (34%).