Palo Alto Networks at Ignite on Tour Philippines 2024: Secure the way forward with AI-driven security solutions

Steven Scheurmann, Regional Vice President for ASEAN at Palo Alto Networks, delivers his keynote speech about Cybersecurity in the Age of AI

Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader, held its flagship event Ignite on Tour in the Philippines on 4 June 2024 at the Grand Hyatt Manila. With the theme Cybersecurity for the AI Era, the event was attended by industry partners, customers, and cybersecurity experts to discuss the increasing impact of artificial intelligence on the cybersecurity landscape alongside evolving threat tactics in the Philippines. 

Palo Alto Networks Asia Pacific Cybersecurity Predictions 2024

Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader, has recently released its 2024 cybersecurity predictions for Asia Pacific – 5 key insights from industry leaders to help organisations ensure a secure future.

2023 saw organisations witness unprecedented levels of cybercrime. Palo Alto Networks’ State of Cybersecurity Report found that the Philippines experienced the highest number of disruptive attacks in Southeast Asia, with 29% of local organisations experiencing a 50% or more increase in incidents. Furthermore, the firm also received the most number of calls to its incident response team ever in October 2023. Cybercriminals have used ransomware to target critical infrastructures and found novel techniques to exploit emerging technologies like generative AI to ill-effect. 

Predicting cybersecurity trends for 2024 will be especially important if organisations want to get ahead of modern cyberattackers. With stakes higher than ever, organisations need to take a holistic approach – accounting for macroeconomic factors, emerging technologies, and cloud risks among others. 

Palo Alto Networks Adds "Bring Your Own AI" Capability To Cortex XSIAM AI-driven Security Operations Platform

Cortex XSIAM now enables customers to add their own custom AI models on the XSIAM data lake in addition to the already existing 1,300+ models

It used to take an attacker 44 days on average to exfiltrate data from an organization once it was compromised — now it’s a matter of hours — and with companies taking an average of 5.5 days to initially contain an incident, legacy security operations solutions no longer work. Since its debut, Cortex XSIAM® has helped customers revolutionize their security operations center (SOC). One services company improved its median time to resolution from days to minutes — 270 times faster than before. Further improving the award-winning AI-driven security operations platform, Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) recently unveiled Cortex XSIAM 2.0, which includes a new bring-your-own machine learning (BYOML) framework. 

Palo Alto Networks Launches Strata Cloud Manager, Industry’s First AI-Powered Zero Trust Management and Operations Solution

Additional innovations include advanced security capabilities and new Next-Generation Firewalls

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) recently introduced Strata™ Cloud Manager, the industry’s first AI-powered Zero Trust management and operations solution. With these innovations and over 4,400 machine learning models, Palo Alto Networks is well-positioned to prove the combination of AI and Zero Trust can best protect today’s customer needs. The world’s cybersecurity leader also announced a suite of advanced security capabilities in addition to five new Next-Generation Firewalls to address the use cases of modern enterprises. 

Palo Alto Networks Revolutionizes Cloud Security With Industry-First Integrated Code to Cloud Intelligence

Prisma Cloud’s “Darwin” release simplifies cloud security and improves productivity and collaboration across code, infrastructure and runtime security for developers, operations and security teams 

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.”

NodeStealer 2.0 - The Python Version: Stealing Facebook Business Accounts

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 researchers have unveiled a new phishing campaign named NodeStealer 2.0, aimed at Facebook business accounts. The campaign entices victims with free business tools, like spreadsheet templates, to completely take over the accounts. This strategy indicates a concerning trend among threat actors, who have been increasingly targeting Facebook business accounts which emerged around July 2022.

In May 2023, Meta released a report on NodeStealer, a new information-stealing malware initially compiled in July 2022. The report highlighted malicious activities involving NodeStealer that were identified in January 2023. In December 2022, a campaign featuring a new version of Nodestealer emerged. This new campaign involved two Python-written variants with enhanced capabilities, including cryptocurrency theft, downloading abilities, and a complete takeover of Facebook business accounts.

Android Malware Disguised as ChatGPT Apps Targeting Smartphone Users : Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Research

Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader, has recently found a surge in Android malware that is pretending to be the popular AI Chatbot ChatGPT. The malware emerged following the release of OpenAI's GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, targeting users interested in using the ChatGPT tool.

A Meterpreter Trojan disguised as a "SuperGPT" app and a "ChatGPT" app are found to send premium-rate text messages, resulting in charges for the victims that are pocketed by threat actors. Considering that Android users can download applications from various sources other than the official Google Play store, there is potential for users to obtain applications that have not been vetted by Google.

Stay safe from phishing attacks as SIM Card Registration Deadline Approaches—Palo Alto Networks

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) has clarified that there will be no further extension for SIM card registration in the Philippines. With the July 25, 2023 deadline set by the national government looming, only 60.75 percent of the total 168 million SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards have been registered so far, leaving over 40% of Filipinos at risk of deactivation and social engineering tactics such as phishing. Scammers are taking advantage of the situation, employing SMS messages to lure users into sharing personal information via bogus registration links, posing a persistent and dangerous threat.

World Social Media Day: How threat actors are weaponizing social media, from phishing to AI-powered deepfakes

The Philippines is one of the most active social media communities worldwide, according to the Digital 2023 report. With 72.5% of the population on social media, Filipinos spend an average of 3 hours and 43 minutes on these channels to keep in touch with family and friends, read news stories, and find content.  As social media continues to exert its influence on everyday lives, it becomes increasingly crucial for Filipinos to remain vigilant regarding the evolving dangers associated with its usage. Recent technological advancements, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence, have further exacerbated these risks, necessitating heightened awareness and precautionary measures.

With World Social Media Day around the corner, here are three ways social media is putting individuals and organizations at risk.

66.6% of total malware is delivered through PDF files attached to malicious emails: Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 Research

Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader, recently released the Unit 42 Network Threat Trends Research Report Vol.2. The report highlights the current trends in malware while providing a detailed analysis of the most common types of malware and their distribution methods.

According to the research, 66.6% of total malware is delivered through portable document format (PDF) files attached to malicious emails. PDF files are commonly used in a business environment, and victims are less likely to be wary of an expected file type, versus unexpected file types like EXEs. They could also simply be unaware that this type of file could be used for nefarious purposes.

World Password Day: May the cyberforce be with you?

Weak passwords are a huge threat vector and one of the big points to attack and can lead to  data breaches, phishing scams, and ransomware attacks. 

The invention of passwords in the 1960s changed the digital world as we know it. Passwords are now an unconscious standard practice in our lives; from your first pet to the street you grew up on, they are deeply ingrained in our minds. Passwords today are the primary guardians of our privacy, personal data, and finances.

Despite this knowledge, passwords are often viewed complacently, even though simple, easy-to-guess passwords are insecure. Your dog’s name, spouse’s name, birthdate, and other words and phrases related to your life that are easily discoverable on your social media profiles are easy for attackers to discover.

Public charging stations may expose Filipinos to “juice jack” attacks

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States recently warned consumers against using USB ports for charging in public spaces such as airports, malls, and hotels, as attackers can "juice jack" data or insert malware into one’s phone or device for theft.

While the public service announcement released on Twitter was meant for Americans, many other countries, like the Philippines, also have public establishments with free charging stations as emergency assistance to consumers. The threat of a juice jack attack exists everywhere people plug their devices into untrusted ports, like in public charging stations.

Palo Alto Networks warns of travel-related scams to watch out for this Holy Week

Holy Week is one of the peak travel seasons in the Philippines. The Civil Aviation Authority anticipates two million passengers to fly domestically to observe the holiday. With this many prospective Filipinos travelling simultaneously, there is expected to be fierce competition for travel tickets and bookings and good deals through online travel agents and apps. Meanwhile, scammers see this as an opportunity to be exploited, particularly through social engineering and phishing. Attackers target individuals and groups during this time as individuals are focused on family time and religious practice, and organizations have lesser manpower for security. In response, Palo Alto Networks, the global cybersecurity leader, shares insights and solutions to address this increasing cyber risk during Holy Week.

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. 

Palo Alto Networks appoints KP Unnikrishnan as New Chief Marketing Officer

Lisa Sim assumes the role as Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific & Japan

Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) marketing veteran KP Unnikrishnan (Unni) has been elevated to the position of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). He will be based in the company’s Santa Clara, California headquarters and report directly to Palo Alto Networks Chairman and CEO, Nikesh Arora.

A seasoned executive with broad international experience, Unni has a proven track record of helping organisations envision their marketing strategy and develop an economic business case. He most recently served as Vice President, Marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan for almost a decade. A transformative marketer with a growth mindset, Unni will lead the global marketing team to further strengthen the positioning of Palo Alto Networks as the distinctive leader in cybersecurity.

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.