Global cybersecurity and digital privacy company Kaspersky emphasized the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity measures in schools and universities across the Philippines, especially as the new school year approaches, which starts on July 29 and ends on April 15, 2025.
Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky, said that Philippine educational institutions must prioritize cybersecurity to protect their community’s privacy and sensitive information against rising cyber threats.
Case in point, Romblon State University, a state university in the Philippines, faced a major data breach by a group named ‘DeathNote Hacker Philippines,’ resulting in the theft of personal information belonging to students and faculty members.
“By taking proactive measures, schools and universities can protect their students and staff, and ensure a safe learning environment,” said Yeo.
In a broader sense, the Philippines is recorded to be among the most vulnerable to cyberattacks. Last year, Kaspersky detected 1.5 million local threats, prevented 4.62 million brute-force attacks, and successfully blocked 15,312 ransomware attacks targeting organizations in the country.
To safeguard sensitive information and maintain a secure environment, Kaspersky recommended several critical actions for schools and universities. These include utilizing advanced threat detection systems to monitor network activities, identify potential cyber threats in real time, and conduct compromise assessments. IT would also help in performing regular security audits to identify and address vulnerabilities within the institution’s IT infrastructure.
Kaspersky also highly recommended conducting staff training on cybersecurity best practices, such as recognizing phishing attempts and securing personal devices. Furthermore, it’s also important to develop a robust backup and recovery plan, and enforce immediate password changes to ensure quick restoration of operations after a cyber-attack.
In June, Kaspersky launched Kaspersky Next in the Philippines, its next-gen product line designed to protect against the onslaught of today’s sophisticated and emerging cyber threats. This product provides powerful endpoint protection and has essential Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) technology, as well as Extended Detection and Response (XDR) capabilities.
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