The Philippines ranked fourth as the country with the most ransomware attacks in Southeast Asia, according to recent data from a cybersecurity firm.
Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity firm, released data in a product launch on August 28 that showed the increased ransomware amid the shift to online platforms as the “new normal” in different parts of the world.
Based on the data, the Philippines is now in fourth place on the list of Southeast Asian countries that received the most ransomware attacks from only sixth place in 2020.
Trend Micro defines ransomware as “a type of malware that prevents or limits users from accessing their system, either by locking the system’s screen or by locking the users’ files until a ransom is paid.”
Phishing, which has been a common complaint among users recently, is a ransomware threat.
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In relation to this, a global survey that Trend Micro recently conducted showed that more than half or 54% of respondents in the Philippines stated they would like to move to a single unified platform model.
The firm reported survey results showing that 93% of the respondents are worried about their “growing attack surface” and 69% of them stated that they have “blind spots” that hamper their security.
On a global scale, 73% of global organizations also worry about their attack surfaces.
Of these, 43% stated that their respective attack surface is “spiraling out of control.”
Meanwhile, 37% of the respondents that it is “constantly evolving and messy.”
The firm did not disclose the number of participants in the global survey and when it was conducted.
Meanwhile, WhatIs.com, an online tech dictionary, defines an attack surface as “the total number of all possible entry points for unauthorized access into any system.”
The need for a unified system
Trend Micro offers its new product that can help organizations with their cybersecurity concerns through a unified system called the “Trend Micro One.”
Ian Felipe, Trend Micro Philippines country manager, said that cybersecurity professionals built this platform for cybersecurity experts of different organizations.
“Trend Micro One is the product of 30 years of experience and innovation in cybersecurity. It is a platform developed by cybersecurity professionals for cybersecurity professionals, so organizations can be their most resilient,” Felipe said in a statement.
“Trend Micro One is designed to help businesses discover the ever-changing attack surface, assess and prioritize the most pressing risks and vulnerabilities, and subsequently mitigate them. It functions as a security platform and an expanded security team, so business leaders in the Philippines can focus on driving their business forward,” he added.
So far, the cybersecurity firm will focus on offering the product to three key industries:
- Banking
- Government
- Manufacturing
Felipe said that they chose these areas because they are the “biggest owners of data.”
“Our solution cuts across all industries. Definitely, all industries need the solutions that we are offering. We just mentioned the focus on banking, manufacturing and government because these are the industries that are the biggest owners of data,” he said.
In an overview, Trend Micro One can help customers do the following:
- Discover the attack surface: Identify, monitor, and profile cyber assets in customers’ environments
- Understand and continuously assess risk: Analyze risk exposure, the status of vulnerabilities, configuration of security controls, and types of threat activity.
- Effectively mitigate risk: Ensure the right preventative controls and take swift action to mitigate risk and remediate attacks across the enterprise by leveraging Trend Micro’s threat and risk intelligence
