Only 6 percent of organizations in the Philippines have reached the ‘Mature’ readiness level needed to effectively combat modern threats, according to Cisco’s 2025 Cybersecurity Readiness Index.
While this marks a slight increase from last year’s 1 percent, overall preparedness remains alarmingly low as hyperconnectivity and AI introduce new security challenges.
The rise of AI is both a revolutionary security tool and a significant threat amplifier. In the past year, 85 percent of organizations in the Philippines experienced AI-related security incidents.
Only 71 percent of respondents are confident their employees understand AI threats, and just 59 percent believe their teams fully grasp how malicious actors are leveraging AI for sophisticated attacks. This awareness deficit creates significant vulnerabilities.
AI is compounding an already challenging threat landscape. In the last year, more than half of organizations (54 percent) suffered cyberattacks, hindered by complex security frameworks with disparate point solutions.
Looking forward, respondents view external threats like malicious actors and state-affiliated groups (54 percent) as more significant to their organizations than internal threats (46 percent), underscoring the urgent need for streamlined defense strategies to thwart external attacks.
“As AI transforms the enterprise, we are dealing with an entirely new class of risks at unprecedented scale – putting even more pressure on our infrastructure and those who defend it,” said Cisco Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel.
“This year’s report continues to reveal alarming gaps in security readiness and a lack of urgency to address them. Organizations must rethink their strategies now or risk becoming irrelevant in the AI era,” Patel said.
The index evaluates companies’ readiness across five pillars—Identity Intelligence, Network Resilience, Machine Trustworthiness, Cloud Reinforcement, and AI Fortification— and encompassing 31 solutions and capabilities.
Based on a double-blind survey of 8,000 private sector security and business leaders in 30 global markets, respondents detailed their deployment stages for each solution. Companies were then categorized into four readiness stages: Beginner, Formative, Progressive and Mature.
“AI opens up new possibilities but also adds complexity to an already challenging security landscape. Over the past year, we have seen companies worldwide, including those in the Philippines, continue to grapple with evolving threats like the rise of shadow AI, talent shortages, and complex security infrastructures,” Cisco Philippines managing-director Zaza Soriano-Nicart said.
“This underscores the need for a different approach to security— one that not only leverages AI for security but also ensures AI itself is secure and scalable,” she said.
