By Dala Calanog / Special to the BusinessMirror
ENTERPRISES—ranging from large to micro businesses—now require stronger data-security measures to ward off the slew of data breaches and hacking sprees besieging businesses worldwide.
But cybersecurity is not the only issue that local companies face. These organizations also confront implementation issues, such as technology complexity, lack of technical expertise and high cost.
ePLDT Inc. COO Nerisse Ramos said information-technology (IT) security, in general, has become “a very big concern among organizations because of recent data breaches and hacking incidents.”
“Many seek to implement some form of IT security solution or strengthen their existing IT security framework, but, at some point, are held back by a number of challenges,” she said.
Data from the Global State of Information Security Survey 2016 published by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed 91 percent of organizations worldwide have adopted a risk-based cybersecurity framework, while 58 percent of businesses said they make every effort to ensure they are kept abreast on IT security information.
Nico Alcoseba, who heads PLDT Inc.’s disruptive business segment, expressed the need to acquire IT security services as online-security threats can hinder the potential growth of enterprises.
Despite vast improvements in security technologies and skills, he said there are still concerns, also expressed by potential customers that limit the full effect of these cybersecurity services.
“First, the complexity of executing IT, particularly cybersecurity solutions on both the hardware and software levels for an entire network, is a big headache on its own. Paired with lack of technical expertise and budgetary constraints, some companies become hesitant in carrying out their plans,” Alcoseba said.
His group is offering security options on monthly subscription and on a fully managed service that includes devices, systems, processes and expertise, all of which are patterned after the National Institute of Standards and Technology model.
It assures that each company will get the best service, the most suitable form of protection for their respective companies as it performs vulnerability assessment on the client’s infrastructure to uncover vulnerable applications, malware-infected machines, exploitable weak points and easily identifiable sensitive data.
Alcoseba said his group is continually upgrading its technologies by “beefing up our personnel with training, certifications and expertise” that would ensure quality service as the demand for these services increase.
Ramos hopes local companies would see the significance of cybersecurity in their own businesses, given the rapid growth in today’s economy and the business sector.
“Much like any insurance plan, you shell out money for something with benefits you don’t immediately feel until an attack happens. Only then will you be thankful you deployed the right security measures to secure your business,” she said.