A CYBERSECURITY solutions company warned that 2024 could see a lot more ransomware attacks so the public should be careful with their digital accounts and finances.

In a statement, Fortinet said that they are looking at a rapid digital evolution which can create opportunities for cybercrime.

According to a survey that was conducted by the company, it showed that some 56 percent of organizations had reported at least twice an increase in the number of ransomware attacks.

According to Fortinet Vice President of Marketing and Communications in Asia Rashish Pandey, the ransomware is even being offered as a service by criminal groups.

“In the past, it used to be that I have locked your system, you give me money and I give you access to data. But now it has advanced even more. What we are seeing now is even if you give the money, they will extract the data and sent outside, or even if you give the money, they will not give your data and just delete it,” Pandey said. 

According to Rashish, as technology gets more sophisticated, there are “bad actors” that are finding more gateways to get information through social engineering, phishing attacks, and hacking IT infrastructure.

They said that aside from ransomware, the other common cyberthreats in the Philippines this year include phishing, identity theft, patching vulnerabilities, and insider threats.

This became more prevalent with remote work becoming a trend with the  COVID-19 pandemic.

Experts tend to see the cybersecurity as a concern. 

Rashish said that connected insider threats to remote work as more employees use unsecured public Wi-Fi in cafes, hotels, and other public areas.

The respondents to the survey said that insufficient employee training on cybersecurity has led to an increase in insider threats.

“If they are not trained enough, you send an email from your boss… please click on this… employees are very likely to click on that,” Rashish said. 

Rashish said that 50 percent of businesses does not have any dedicated resources for cybersecurity teams. 

This meant that for every 195 employees, there is only one security operations professional in service.

Fortinet also said that in 2023 alone, the average breach cost in the Philippines is P55 million.

“What we are seeing though is that the frequency of attacks is increasing. The overall volume of the cost of remediation goes up,” Rashish said.