Secuna eyes partnership with gov’t for cyberattack simulation

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Senior Reporter

SECUNA, a cybersecurity testing platform provider in the Philippines, said it is in talks with a national government agency to use its platform “for free.”

The company is serious about “collaborating” with the government on cybersecurity, Secuna Chief Executive Officer Allan Jay “AJ” Dumanhug told ����ý in a recent virtual interview.

“Why for free? Our competitors in the United States are actually doing it in a small amount, but we want to do it for free because we want to help the government secure our countrymen, our citizens, as they also have our data,” he added.

On its website, Secuna describes itself as “the biggest and most trusted cybersecurity testing platform” in the country helping startups and small and medium-sized enterprises “by connecting them to the most advanced and highly-vetted cybersecurity professionals in the world to simulate cyberattacks and find security flaws that real-world malicious hackers can exploit and leverage to gain access to IT systems.”

Mr. Dumanhug noted that Secuna is also developing a business model with government agencies that is similar to “Hack the Pentagon” and “Hack the Air Force” cybersecurity programs in the US, in which ethical hackers identify security holes in an entity’s computer networks.

“We are planning the same thing like ‘Hack the Comelec’ (Commission on Elections). So that’s how we will generate revenue,” he added.

“This is a community of researchers, and we want to bring this idea to the Philippines.”

Data analytics and consulting company GlobalData said organizations should start strengthening their cybersecurity defenses amid the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

“Malicious state-sponsored cyber activities have historically escalated when geopolitical tensions are high. Concerns about increased cyber activity amidst the Russia-Ukraine crisis serve as a stark reminder of the importance of identifying the threat model and altering risk management objectives accordingly,” Manish Dixit, principal disruptive tech analyst at GlobalData, said in a statement.

Pranjali Mujumdar, also a GlobalData tech analyst, said companies must also invest more in information security, with risk management teams aiming for a fine balance of technology, people, and processes to manage risk.

“Both Russia and Ukraine have a high level of expertise in information technology and computer hacking, thus, cyberwarfare can not only target big companies or government organizations; any small business involved in the public sector’s supply chain will also be vulnerable.”