Government agencies are increasingly falling victim to cyber attacks. In July 2016, following the United Nations International Arbitration court’s ruling regarding the West Philippine Sea territorial dispute, at least 68 Philippine government websites were attacked according to official reports.
Following this, public organizations in the Philippines are stepping up their efforts to tighten cyber security against hackers. One of these initiatives includes hiring the right personnel, which is also becoming a worldwide dilemma.
A study by Frost & Sullivan, which was conducted on behalf of the International Information System Security Certification Consortium, revealed that there will be a shortfall of 1.5 million cyber security professionals by 2020. With threats continuously evolving in size, form and sophistication, there is a need for organizations especially in the public sector to hire the right talent to improve their cyber security posture.
“Because the rapidly increasing demand for information security professionals far outpaces the market supply, there will come a time when even the most up-to-date infrastructure will not be enough to meet the level of security needed in the public sector,” said Nico Alcoseba, vice president and head of PLDT’s Disruptive Business Group. “To be effective in implementing a holistic security approach, we need to ensure that the right platforms, the right processes and the right talents are in place.”
“Cyber security is one of the most pressing issues faced by the government today, not only in the Philippines but also worldwide. This raises the need for the public sector to either hire security professionals or engage with partners who can do that job for them. This is where ePLDT comes in,” he said.
ePLDT Inc., the digital enterprise enabler of PLDT that sets the pace for innovation in the country’s telecommunications and IT industry, identified that organizations are faced with global security expertise shortage on top of other existing internal challenges such as budget priorities and compliance concerns.
“Finding, hiring and retaining top security administrators can be difficult and yet is strategically-critical, especially now that the public sector is accelerating its own digital transformation. At ePLDT, we offer the right solutions and the right people, backed with globally-benchmarked security practices, that enable us to manage security policies and systems and help organizations comply to regulatory policies and standards,” said Nerissa Ramos, group chief operating officer of ePLDT Inc.