ORGANIZATIONS should adopt stronger guardrails while pushing for innovation to maintain consumer trust as more Filipinos adopt generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, according to cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks.
In a report, Palo Alto noted an almost 10 times surge in GenAI traffic across the Asia-Pacific region and Japanese enterprises. Deepseek-related traffic alone surged 19 times within two months after the launch of the Chinese AI startup in January.
Filipinos’ top GenAI tools include Grammarly (46.21%), Microsoft PowerApps (33.32%) and Microsoft 365 Copilot (13.97%), according to the report.
“As GenAI tools become more embedded in enterprise operations in the Philippines, the risk of data exposure and threats grows significantly,” said Steven Scheurmann, regional vice president for ASEAN at Palo Alto Networks.
“It is imperative to create stronger guardrails, striking the right balance between AI-driven innovation and security,” he added.
Palo Alto cited the Department of Science and Technology’s plan to invest more than P2.6 billion in AI projects by 2028, with a focus on sectors such as healthcare, mobility, the environment, disaster risk reduction and other upcoming tech platforms.
The Philippine government is hard-pressed to US AI investments to strengthen the delivery of public services, improve disaster response and support the growing digital economy.
However, organizations in the region are managing 66 GenAI applications on average, Palo Alto said, with 10% classified as high-risk.
Likewise, GenAI-related data loss prevention incidents more than doubled, accounting for 14% of all data security incidents.
“Many high-risk AI models remain susceptible to jailbreak attacks that produce unsafe content, including offensive material and instructions for illegal activities,” it added.
To safely harness GenAI, organizations should enforce conditional access policies and manage permissions to gain oversight of GenAI app usage, deploy real-time content inspection and implement Zero Trust security architectures.
“As organizations adopt AI, we’re focused on helping them safeguard against potential cyber-risks associated with GenAI, empowering organizations to deploy AI bravely while protecting their entire AI ecosystems.”
Palo Alto analyzed GenAI traffic across 7,051 global customers through 2024 for its report. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz
