CYBERATTACKS. Trend Micro Philippines country manager Ian Felipe cites the importance of threat intelligence and having a holistic cybersecurity platform in fighting cyberattacks at a briefing in Makati on Tuesday (Jan. 23, 2024). He said a consolidated platform gives enterprises the ability to respond promptly and correctly. (Photo by Leah Gonzales)
MANILA – Global cybersecurity firm Trend Micro Inc. on Tuesday urged enterprises and the government to use modern security controls amid the anticipated proliferation of more cyberattacks.
At a press briefing at the New World Hotel in Makati City, Trend Micro Philippines senior security specialist Raymond Almanon warned of the transformative role of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the cyber threat landscape.
"GenAI is a type of AI that is capable of generating either texts, images, or sometimes videos, using generative models. For this year, we are seeing that generative AI will stand out to be a potent tool for attackers especially for impersonation and data theft attack," he said.
"We predict also that voice cloning, we'll see more of that this year," he added.
Citing data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Trend Micro said that in 2022, phishing, personal data breach, non-payment, and extortion top the list of internet crime report.
A global study commissioned by Trend Micro also showed that more than half of global organizations have had their part of their supply chain compromised by ransomware.
Trend Micro threats analyst Monte de Jesus said that based on their telemetry data, the Philippines ranked 8th in 2023 ransomware detections.
"Several companies in different sectors, whether private or government, are prone to ransomware attacks due to possibility in vulnerability exposure, social engineering attacks, or even more targeted way of attack," de Jesus said.
He said the top three notorious ransomware operators plaguing the Philippines are from highly professional cybercrooks. These are LockBit, followed by Trigona and Blackcat ransomware.
To fight cyberattacks, Trend Micro Philippines country manager Ian Felipe cited the importance of threat intelligence and having a consolidated platform in fighting cyberattacks.
Felipe said threat intelligence is needed amid all the adoption to cloud and digital transformation of organizations.
"You have to invest in a holistic and robust cybersecurity platform. Organizations should equip themselves with appropriate tools that leverages emerging technologies like AI and data analytics which empower cyber security capabilities such as attack, surface risk management, and the extended detection and response to combat cyber threats," Felipe said.
"You have to have a tool, you have to have a consolidated platform that can help protect the organization. A lot of organizations right now, they use different security tools but if it's not consolidated, if it's not in a platform, then it hampers the ability of the organization to respond to the threats or to respond to the situation," he added. (PNA)
