A cybersecurity expert of a major data and application-security solutions company recently lamented the low adoption of cyber hygiene in the country, even though it has experienced cyber attacks in 2017.
“The Philippines is also a magnet for cybercrimes. It is not just a perception but a reality. Cybercriminals don’t really recognize nationalities,” Andrew Draper, area vice president for Asia of Imperva Inc., said in a news conference on March 1 in Makati City.
However, Renato Garcia, Philippines country manager of Exclusive Networks Ltd. (ENL), said the Philippines is taking proactive steps in security though the government’s “National Cybersecurity Plan 2022.” This five-year strategy from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) seeks to raise the country’s cybersecurity awareness and capabilities to global standards.
Imperva is entering the Philippines through ENL, a value-added security and technology company. Draper also announced during the forum the Redwood Shores, California-headquartered Imperva’s acquisition of Transition Systems Asia Pte. Ltd., a value-added distributor, as part of its expansion into Asia.
Garcia noted the Philippines’s cyber-hygiene level was exposed during the attack of the WannacCry virus, which hit local companies last year.
“One of the major local banks also experienced a distributed denial of service attack last year that raised concern in the financial sector,” Garcia said.
As a result, Garcia added a lot of business organizations are now searching for chief information security officers to protect their networks.
WannaCry is a ransomware worm that caused panic in the global financial system, when it spread swiftly through across a number of computer networks in May of 2017. After infecting a computer running on Microsoft Windows, the worm encrypts files on the PC’s hard drive, depriving users to access. A ransom payment in Bitcoin is demanded in order to decrypt them.
Still, Garcia noted the Philippines may have learned from this attack, hence, the national plan for cybersecurity protection.
By expanding its operations in Asia and the Philippines, in particular, Garcia said ENL is using its unique capabilities to enhance the region’s cybersecurity posture and foster its own transformative strategy through traditional distribution channels.
He added the firm’s partnership with Imperva offers complementary strengths to mitigate and detect threats and also address the needs of their resellers. “Our expansion into Asia and the Philippines is part of our overall strategy to be a global leader for various areas of information technology, including cybersecurity,” he said. “We believe this presents an excellent opportunity for us to promote and establish our disruptive distribution strategy in new markets.”