Fortinet: 93% of PH firms hit by breach as AI outpaces cybersecurity talent

CEBU CITY – Organized cybercrime syndicates are shifting from chaotic hacking to operating like ruthless, profit-driven enterprises—and Philippine businesses are finding themselves squarely in the crosshairs, it is a cyberspace warzone.

According to Fortinet’s latest threat intelligence findings and a Philippines-focused Forrester study, an astounding 93% of Philippine organizations experienced at least one cyber breach in 2025, with 28% facing five or more attacks.

Bambi Escalante, Fortinet Country Manager, in a media briefing on July 30 in Cebu bared that from pervasive malware and phishing schemes to crippling ransomware, the average breach now hits local enterprise pocketbooks to the tune of $1.5 million.

Beyond the direct financial impact, 70% of victimized companies reported recovery timelines stretching past a full month, suffering severe operational downtime, revenue loss, and reputational damage along the way, Escalante said.

The primary culprit behind this vulnerability? A stark, escalating human deficit, she went on to say that a staggering 71% of surveyed companies attribute their security breaches directly to a lack of cybersecurity skills across their people, processes, or technologies.

As cybercriminals leverage artificial intelligence to supercharge their attack speed and evasion tactics, legacy defenses are buckling under the weight. Securing data (38%), cloud environments (28%), and Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure (27%) have emerged as the hardest technical domains to fortify, the report said.

Compounding the problem is tool fragmentation. Security teams flooded with relentless, uncoordinated alerts from disconnected tools suffer from severe alert fatigue, leaving them unable to react swiftly to high-speed AI threats.

AI vs. AI: Fighting back with next-gen defense

Despite the daunting landscape, Philippine enterprises aren't standing still: 94% of organizations plan to increase their cybersecurity resources, with nearly as many already deploying or experimenting with AI-driven defenses, Escalante noted.

Nap Castillo, Senior Manager and Systems Engineering PH emphasized that to turn the tide against AI-powered threats, industry leader Fortinet is advocating for integrated, platform-based solutions. Built upon 25 years of innovation, its FortOS framework consolidates network security, SASE, and automated AI security operations into a single operating system.

Beyond present-day AI capabilities, Castillo said the tech giant is also developing quantum-cryptography solutions to future-proof networks against impending quantum-computing disruptions. On the global stage, Fortinet's collaborative threat intelligence has already aided law enforcement in taking down over 1,200 cybercriminals and disabling 114,000 malicious networks.

While technology offers crucial armor, human expertise remains the ultimate cornerstone of defense. Recognizing that 96% of companies are eager to invest in certifying their existing staff, Fortinet has committed to a global initiative to train and certify on million people around the world, Castillo added.

In the Philippines, he said that this effort is taking root across both the public and private sectors, through Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) signed with local universities and educational institutions, Fortinet is embedding specialized cybersecurity coursework directly into academic curricula to nurture the next generation of defenders.

Coupled with free online training modules via their NSE certification program—which has already issued 1.8 million certifications worldwide—and ongoing workforce awareness programs, the initiative aims to bridge the talent divide before the next wave of cyber threats strikes, Castillo said. (Photos: MBCNewman)

Asia Pacific organizations struggle to cybersecurity, AI-driven threats

 CEBU CITY – Asia Pacific organizations are struggling to keep pace as cybersecurity complexity and AI-driven threats strain their current ability to respond effectively, revealed findings of a new study commissioned by Fortinet, the driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security.

Forrester Consulting supplemented this research with custom survey questions asked of 585 APAC decision-makers and influencers of their organization’s cybersecurity solutions. The custom survey began and was completed in March 2026.

“Organizations across APAC are facing a dual challenge, rapidly evolving AI-driven threats and increasing internal complexity. While investment remains strong, many are still struggling to operationalize security effectively. Moving toward integrated, platform-based approaches will be critical to improving visibility, efficiency, and resilience,” said Amelia Lau, Forrester Consulting Project Lead.

The study highlights cybersecurity risks driven by more advanced attackers and increasingly complex environments, and continued investment in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI).

The findings point to a clear shift toward simplifying security architectures, improving operational efficiency, and embedding AI into unified platforms.

It bared that 57 percent of organizations cite AI-driven threats as a top concern, while 54 percent highlight fragmented tools and architectures and overwhelming alert volumes.

Security operations are under pressure, with 50 percent of organizations reporting that alert volume makes it difficult to distinguish real threats, and 48 percent still relying on manual workflows. Cybersecurity maturity remains constrained, with 68 percent of organizations at an intermediate stage and only 16 percent reaching advanced levels.

These findings saw a clear shift as complexity moves beyond an operational challenge to become a core driver of cyber risk. 

Shift to platform-based security gains momentum

Organizations are accelerating their move toward unified, platform-based security architectures. While only 20 percent operate a unified platform today, this is expected to rise to 59 percent over the next 12–24 months, it said.

The shift is being driven by the need to reduce tool sprawl with 58 percent, improve integration, at 52 percent and manage growing hybrid complexity, 49 percent.  Despite these challenges, organizations continue to prioritize improving threat detection at 40 percent and incident response, 39 percent, underscoring the growing gap between security expectations and operational reality.

Findings said that future priorities reflect this transition, with organizations focusing on SOC automation, improved visibility, and platform consolidation to enhance efficiency and scale operations.

However, challenges remain that 51 percent cite migration cost and disruption as barriers and 46 percent remain uncertain about platform capabilities across domains.  Despite these concerns, findings bared that organizations expect to see these benefits through consolidation.

It said that 90 percent of organizations expect improvements in operational metrics, with over 60 percent anticipating gains of at least 10 percent in areas such as detection and response times, analyst productivity, and overall, SOC efficiency.

The findings suggest that platform-based security is becoming an increasingly important operational approach for organizations seeking to reduce complexity and improve efficiency.

“Customers today are dealing with increasingly complex environments, where fragmented tools, limited visibility, and growing alert volumes are making it harder to detect and respond to threats effectively,” according to Bambi Escalante, Country Manager, Fortinet Philippines.

Escalante added that at the same time, these organizations are looking to leverage AI to improve speed and efficiency but often lack the integrated foundation to do so.  

AI Investment surges, but readiness and integration lag

AI is emerging as both a growing threat vector and a critical enabler of defense, 91 percent of organizations plan to increase AI budgets, with over half expecting double-digit growth. More than 60 percent expect AI to improve detection accuracy, accelerate response, and strengthen overall security posture.

Organizations also see AI as key to reducing complexity, with 58 percent expecting consistent policy enforcement, 57 percent centralized control, and 56 percent reduced manual workflows.

However, readiness gaps persist: Fragmented environments, limited automation, and lack of unified data are hindering effective AI adoption and many organizations are still building the foundational capabilities required to operationalize AI at scale.

This underscores that realizing AI’s potential in security operations depends heavily on having integrated environments and unified data foundations in place.

“At Fortinet, we are helping organizations simplify their security architecture and strengthen resilience through a unified, platform-based approach that brings together visibility, automation, and AI-driven intelligence,” Escalante said.

According to Rashish Pandey, VP of Marketing and Communications, APAC, Fortinet, organizations are placing significant expectations on AI to transform security operations, from improving detection to accelerating response. However, AI can only deliver meaningful outcomes when it is built on an integrated foundation.

“Without unified visibility and connected data across environments, AI risks amplifying complexity rather than reducing it. Integration is what enables AI to operate at scale and deliver real security impact,” Pandey said.