THE country’s business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry is in a precarious situation as far as cyber threats are concerned.
“The BPO industry is in a perfect storm because it has a fat pipe as a result of the presence of several companies operating in the country,” said Pierre Noel, chief security for Asia of Microsoft Corp.
“Just imagine the colossal volume of data and information generated by these BPOs. These are very tempting to the hackers out there,” Noel added.
He said seeing the data of BPOs compromised would have a big impact on the Philippines’s ranking by investment advisory firm Tholons.
Tholons announced in the first quarter that Metro Manila has surpassed Mumbai on the second spot in the Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations for 2014.
Manila is only behind Bangalore for the top position.
The Information Technology Business Process Association of the Philippines (Itbap) aims to generate $25 billion in revenues and an estimated 1.3 million labor force by 2016.
Exacerbating the situation in the Philippines is the presence of malicious software on 50 percent of the computers being sold in the market, according to Noel.
Noel said he and his team discovered this when they randomly bought personal computers in several stores and tested the machines in a computer laboratory managed by a third-party organization.
“The worm is in the fruit,” Noel said. To counter the threat, Noel said it is important to educate the people on the impact of malware on their activities, such as work and education. Further, he said, users must regularly patch their computer software.
He added that computers can check the Microsoft web site when the company issues new computer patches or minor updates.
The latter cover malicious software (malware) database refreshes for Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials.
A malware is a computer program designed to infiltrate and damage computers without the user’s consent. It is used as general term covering all the different types of threats to computer safety, such as viruses, spyware, worms, trojans, and rootkits among others. As a region, Noel pointed out that Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines should look upon Singapore as the yardstick as far as developing a strong cybersecurity infrastructure is concerned.
Aside from Singapore, Noel said Australia and New Zealand are good models “because they are grasping effectively the importance of a strong cyber security network.” Noel said the major concern would be if the terrorists developed the skills to hack infrastructure and other vital installations.
“Since they are stateless entities, terrorists can move anywhere and will not hesitate to such attacks.”
Noel urged software developers to make their products more secure to ensure protection and minimize the threats on the users. “I am very keen on promoting security on application development to differentiate themselves from the guy next door,” he said.
Furthermore, Noel stressed that governments must establish a software procurement process that would determine in checking the right software companies for the job.
“Companies, who can demonstrate a sound security life cycle, should be the ones chosen to provide the needs of the people.
Meanwhile, AIG Philippines Insurance, Inc. assistant vice president for distribution Scott Judy said the company is currently doing awareness campaigns on their cyber security products for local sale.