Businesses urged: Take measures as hackers shift attacks on firms

Businesses are encouraged to adopt the latest cyber security measures as today’s trends show that hackers have shifted their targets for their attacks from credit cards to corporations.

Marlon Cruz, country director of cyber security services provider Trustwave, said that aside from adopting the latest cyber security measures, these measures should also be directly proportional to a company’s innovations.

“As data driven decision making becomes critical, security has to transform. As you innovate, cyber security should be directly proportional to your innovations,” said Cruz in an interview last week.

He also cited the urgent need for companies to adopt these security measures since a Trustwave’s global security study this year, showed the shift of cyber attacks from credit cards to companies.

“In our 2018 Global Security Report, we found that the targets are changing. Previously, targets were credit cards. But not anymore. In 2017, fifty percent of targets are internal and corporate networks,” said Cruz.

Most vulnerable

Healthcare companies have been named as the most vulnerable (companies) for cyber attacks.

Cruz cited an incident in Singpore last July where hackers infiltrated the computers of SingHealth, Singapore’s largest group of healthcare institutions.

In what was considered as Singapore’s worst cyber attack, hackers have stolen health records of 1.5 million patients including that of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Just recently, two of ABS-CBN’s online stores were also compromised with personal details of some of its customers affected by the data breach.

Firewalls not enough

According to Cruz, simple security measures like firewalls would no longer be enough to protect businesses from possible data breaches.

And while it may mean a significant investment to employ the services of cyber security providers as a proactive measure, he said, it should now be part of businesses’ expenditures.

“We are not here to replace your systems. We are here to augment whatever gaps you have in your network and organization,” said Cruz as he referred to Globe Business Solutions, which was launched last Wednesday.

Trustwave

Trustwave is one of the partners of Globe Business, Globe Telecom’s enterprise information and communications arm.

Their tieup will allow them to offer Trustwave’s managed security services to help businesses in the Philippines fight cyber crime, protect data, and reduce security risk.

Level of risk

Albert de Larrazabal, chief commercial officer of Globe Telecom, said they had observed that a lot of businesses still had not understood the level of risk that they had been exposed to.

De Larrazabal said that the he adoption of cybersecurity measures “had not been as fast” among companies and businesses, but a few industries had also adopted quicker than others.

“I liken it to selling insurance. It’s the hardest thing to sell. Everybody understands that you will need it someday, just like security. But they struggle with the business case and the investment needed,” he said.

For their part, it is their challenge to convince businesses to understand this.

Security systems shared

Citing their experience in Globe, he said they have been working on plugging their security gaps for the past four years. And even so, they are far from done and they need to evolve and adjust every year.

“We are your guinea pig. We may not use all of the products we sell, but in many of what we presented today, it’s core to what we do. We use the security systems we share,” he said.

“What we’re striving to do is evolve as a company from a provider of services to one that helps you succeed in your business,” he added.