Only 6 percent of organizations in the Philippines have achieved the “mature” level of cybersecurity readiness necessary to effectively counter modern threats, according to Cisco’s newly released 2025 Cybersecurity Readiness Index. While this marks a modest improvement from just 1 percent last year, overall preparedness remains critically low amid rising digital complexity and AI-driven threats.
Cisco’s report, based on a global survey of 8,000 business and security leaders, reveals that Philippine firms are struggling to keep up with the pace of cyber risks—especially those compounded by artificial intelligence. In the past year, 85 percent of local organizations experienced AI-related security incidents. Despite this, only 71 percent of respondents said their employees understand AI threats, and just 59 percent believe their teams grasp how threat actors are using AI to execute more sophisticated attacks.
“As AI transforms the enterprise, we are dealing with an entirely new class of risks at unprecedented scale,” said Jeetu Patel, Cisco’s chief product officer. “Organizations must rethink their strategies now or risk becoming irrelevant in the AI era.”
The index measures readiness across five pillars—Identity Intelligence, Network Resilience, Machine Trustworthiness, Cloud Reinforcement, and AI Fortification—and places companies into four readiness stages: Beginner, Formative, Progressive, and Mature. The results suggest most firms remain stuck in early phases, with fragmented security tools and insufficient defense strategies.
More than half (54 percent) of Philippine organizations faced cyberattacks in the past year, often hampered by complex, unintegrated security systems. Respondents cited external threats from malicious actors and state-affiliated groups as a more pressing concern (54 percent) than internal vulnerabilities (46 percent).
“AI opens up new possibilities but also adds complexity to an already challenging security landscape,” said Zaza Soriano-Nicart, managing director of Cisco Philippines. “This underscores the need for a different approach to security—one that not only leverages AI but ensures AI itself is secure and scalable.”
Cisco emphasized the urgent need for organizations to invest in AI-driven security tools, streamline infrastructure, and build AI threat literacy among employees to stay ahead of evolving threats.
