Spurred by the ongoing pandemic, the Philippines was thrust into a rapid digital transformation, with MSMEs to large institutions quickly pivoting on tech-enabled operations in the delivery of their services.

This shift, while may be beneficial to the economy, has also resulted to the rise of cybercrimes.

In the Philippines, there was an alarming 37.3% increase in online scams for a 6-month period in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. There was also a 21.47% rise in identity theft as reported by Interpol in their “Asean Cyberthreat Assessment 2021” report.

The Statista Research Department listed in 2019 that in NCR alone there were approximately 2.7 million victims of fraudulent SMS or text scams.

Further, according to a 2020 report by Kaspersky, a cybersecurity provider, more than 7000 Philippine companies encountered ransomware attacks that year. Ransomware attacks are where the attackers plant malware that encrypts the victim’s file and then demands ransom from the victim to restore access to the files. The Kaspersky report added that 44.4 million web threats were detected in the Philippines in 2020, more than a 59% increase from the previous year, making cybersecurity a paramount concern.

To add to these concerns, there is a massive shortage of cybersecurity professionals globally based on the research conducted by ISCsquared which showed that in Asia Pacific alone, 66% of cybersecurity positions are vacant.

In the effort to address the growing need for skilled local labor in the cybersecurity space, the Philippine Coding Camp, in partnership with the cybersecurity powerhouse Secuna, is hosting a masterclass on Ethical Hacking 101.

Ethical Hacking 101’s training introduces students to website application vulnerability assessment and penetration testing on November 12- 13, 2021. This will prepare them for conducting a successful penetration testing engagement.

Penetration testers find security holes before cybercriminals do. Secuna also helps in the enhancement of cybersecurity by offering flexible pricing options for companies of all sizes so that you get the protection and security that fits in your budget and needs.

Those who will complete the training will not only be able to help protect the integrity of the cyberspace but could also fill up the many available cybersecurity work opportunities here and abroad.

For those who would like to sign up for the Secuna- Philippine Coding Camp Ethical Hacking Master class, please visit https://philippinecoding.com/masterclass/ethical-hacking-101 for more details.