35% of cybersecurity tech in Philippines firms outdated – study

by Richmond Mercurio – The Philippine Star, 11 Dec 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Companies in the Philippines need to refresh the technologies and solutions in their cybersecurity infrastructure as more than a third of the cybersecurity technologies they use are considered outdated, a new study by Cisco showed.

Findings of Cisco’s Security Outcomes Study showed 35 percent of cybersecurity technologies used by Philippine companies were considered outdated by security and privacy professionals working at these organizations.

Cisco said 52 percent of the respondents from the Philippines also consider their cybersecurity infrastructure as complex.

The tech giant, however, said the good news is that Philippine companies are investing in modern cybersecurity technologies and approaches to address complexities and improve their security posture.

Some 90 percent of respondents in the Philippines said their companies are investing in “zero trust” strategy, with 51 percent saying their organizations are making steady progress in adopting it and 39 percent saying they are at a mature state of implementing it.

In addition, 87 percent of the respondents said their companies are investing in Secure Access Service Edge architecture, with 46 percent saying they are making good progress and 41 percent saying their implementation of SASE is at mature levels.

Cisco said the two approaches – zero trust strategy and SASE – are key to building a strong security posture for companies in the modern cloud-first and application-centric world.

SASE combines networking and security functions in the cloud to deliver secure access to applications anywhere users work, while zero trust is a concept that involves verifying the identity of each user and device every time they access an organization’s network to reduce the security risk, according to Cisco.

“Businesses across the globe, including here in Philippines, have seen a huge change in their operating models, driven in large part by the pandemic,” said Kerry Singleton, managing director cybersecurity Asia-Pacific, Japan and Greater China at Cisco.

“As they grapple with changes like a distributed workforce and digital-first interactions, it is imperative for them to be able to connect users seamlessly to the applications and data they need to access, in any environment and from any location. They need to achieve this while being able to control access and enforce the right security protection across networks, devices, and locations,” Singleton said.

Cisco’s latest study is based on a global survey of more than 5,100 security and privacy professionals across 27 markets. This includes more than 2,000 professionals from 13 markets in Asia-Pacific.

Cisco said the study aims to determine the most impactful measures teams can take to defend their organizations against the evolving threat landscape.

Respondents, including professionals from companies in the Philippines, shared their approaches to updating and integrating their security architecture, detecting, and responding to threats and staying resilient when disaster strikes.

“In today’s digital led business environment, companies need to ensure they stay ahead of the curve when it comes to cybersecurity. Cisco’s latest study provides great insights for security practitioners on what really works when it comes to building a strong security posture while maintaining seamless user experience, thereby taking the guesswork out of what they should focus on and prioritize to keep the business and users safe,” said Juan Huat Koo, director cybersecurity for ASEAN at Cisco.