Cyberattacks on PH businesses tripled in 2023

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Majority of the Philippine enterprises saw an increase in cyberattacks last year as ransomware has become more accessible to cybercriminals who extort money from companies by holding their information technology (IT) networks hostage, according to cybersecurity firm Fortinet.

Some 60 percent of the surveyed local companies claimed that the number of cyberthreats launched against them had tripled last year, said Rashish Pandey, Fortinet vice president for marketing and communications at Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Pandey explained that a marketplace for ransomware exists, making it easier for threat actors to deploy their digital attacks.

“Ransomware is becoming a full-blown business,” he said in a briefing last week in Taguig.

The Fortinet official said the ransomware attacks were likely trained to target manufacturing, hospitality, retail, health care and telecommunication sectors.

He explained these critical industries were primary targets because cybercriminals know they can inflict real damage when disruption occurs. This will likely put pressure for the victims to just pay off the ransom and retrieve IT systems as soon as possible, he added.

“If I shut down somebody’s manufacturing floor, that’s a real revenue loss happening every minute,” Pandey said.

“In the case of health care, lives are at stake. You have seen a spate of ransomware attacks on health-care entities across the world because they know they’re under pressure to pay and get the system back,” he added.

Fortinet country manager Alan Reyes said the persistent digital attacks had stressed the importance of implementing a unified cyber security platform that protects IT systems.

“This integrated strategy not only reduces costs and operational complexity but also ensures that organizations can quickly adapt to new threats, thereby building robust and future-proof cybersecurity operations,” he said.

In a related report, Kaspersky blocked nearly 300,000 ransomware attacks last year in the Southeast Asian region.

Most of these were detected in Thailand with 109,315 incidents, followed by Indonesia, 97,226; and Vietnam, 59,837. The Philippines came next with 15,312 ransomware attacks foiled during the period. INQ