Addressing cybersecurity challenges: Beyond insurance, the academe's response and AIM's Master in Cybersecurity program

Editor's note: In lieu of his column this week, Michael F. Rellosa shares this piece by Erickson H. Balmes.

HACKED! This six-letter word is enough to unleash beads of perspiration on the forehead of any business owner or head of an organization. Definitely, any uninvited intrusion into an entity's repository of its most cherished secrets is a very potent cause of sleeplessness for its top management. Since many consider data as the new oil, its extraction and exploitation, albeit without permission, has become a lucrative endeavor for some unscrupulous persons.

The number of reported hacking incidents and data leakages is truly a cause of concern. For the last quarter of 2024 alone, the Philippines recorded more than 700,000 leaked accounts.

To address the current cybersecurity challenges, companies have exerted considerable effort and resources to fortify its cybersecurity posture. Passwords and firewalls have ingrained themselves in the psyche of any self-respecting computer user. Owing to its established reputation as a viable risk transfer mechanism, insurance is an essential part of any diligent company's toolkit to deal with any cybersecurity issues that may arise. The formula is simple. Getting insurance shifts the financial risk of an event like a data breach to an insurance company. In this way, the insured company "manages" the risk. After all, the inconvenient truth is data breaches will happen and what can be done after the breach is to manage its impact.

In the Philippines, available cyber insurance policies cover a wide range of events like data breaches, business interruptions, systems recovery and restoration, content liability and even cyber-extortion.

The foregoing notwithstanding, a lot remains to be done. Due to its aleatory characteristic, insurance is a post-event response. While some insurance companies require their prospective insured to comply with certain cybersecurity practices before insurance coverages are provided, the quest for a better cybersecurity milieu requires an army of dedicated cyber warriors. There is a need to raise a phalanx of cyber defenders akin to the Night's Watch of "Game of Thrones" fame to stand watch on every firewall and slay any digital white walkers.

Enter the academe. In September 2022, the Washington SyCip Graduate School of Business of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) welcomed the first batch of 39 students to its then newest offering, the Master of Cybersecurity (MCS) program. The clarion call to be the program's pioneers was answered by a budding air cargo business mogul, a retired policeman, an active Philippine Army officer, an Air Force employee, a registered nurse, some information technology people, a Super Mario, certified public accountants, a Starlink believer, a cola lover, a telco data protection officer, members of the Philippine cybersecurity workforce and several lawyers.

Over an 18-month period, this very diverse cohort consumed voluminous reading materials and case studies on such topics as data privacy, network security, ransomware, encryption, ethical hacking, digital marketing, digital autopsy, and ethics and the law.

AIM's MCS program was designed to answer the need for developing a cybersecurity workforce with exemplary leadership and management skills in view of the prevailing global cybersecurity challenges. As the human race seeks to digitize more of its activities and attempts to create a digital version of the world we live in, the more we are exposed to the threats brought about by our growing online interactions.

Evidently, there is a need to create an army of cybersecurity experts who can form a global shield against all forms of cyberthreats. And the current need is considerable. Toward the end of 2022, the global cybersecurity workforce was short of 3.4 million employees.

MCS is a part-time master's program that runs for 18 months. It is designed for mid-level managers in the private sector, the government and those in the military or law enforcement who need to effectively comprehend cybersecurity risks. The MCS program follows the Association of Information Systems Model Curriculum for Cybersecurity, and it is delivered via the hybrid learning mode, i.e., students have the option to attend classes on-site at the AIM campus in Makati City or via its digital version in Zoom. The program is considerate of working students who wish to develop their cybersecurity skills.

The graduates of the MCS program are envisioned to be information security management professionals who will be able to create and support cybersecurity management plans and programs that greatly contribute to an organization's business continuity, resilience and financial viability.

The future alumni of the MCS program are projected to be ethically responsible in managing risks, threats and vulnerabilities by way of effective communication and interaction with stakeholders. Each MCS graduate can be expected to support and enhance the governance, risk, control and financial management frameworks of their respective organizations.

During their 18-month academic sojourn at AIM, Cohort One of the MCS program walked the talk on their commitment to work for a more cyber-secured Philippines. For their initial corporate social responsibility project, batch members spearheaded a lecture to the faculty members of one of the campuses of Batangas State University on such topics as cybersecurity and data privacy as organizers, facilitators and lecturers. In January 2024, Cohort One also conducted a seminar on cybersecurity for all the government officials and employees of the Municipality of Agoncillo in Batangas province.

Having been awarded the enviable degree of Master in Cybersecurity last July 2024, the members of Cohort One continue to strive to live up to the AIM ethos of Leading, Inspiring and Transforming!

Onward to a more cyber-secured and cyber-resilient Philippines.

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This article is dedicated to all the members of the AIM MCS Class of 2024 as we celebrate the first year of our completion of our program. Truly what a journey it has been. Snappy salute to all!

Special mention to Prof. Philip Kwa, CA, PMP, CISM, SID, MCS academics program director for nurturing the program through a lot of birthing pains. Credits also to Felipe Calderon, CPA, CMA and the school head of AIM's Washington Sycip Graduate School of Business for planting the seeds of sustainability and ESG in all of us!

Salamuch Cohort 1, First of its Name, the Few and the Brave! AMDG!

If you are interested to join the next versions of the few and the brave, send a query to mcs@aim.edu.

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Erickson H. Balmes is a lawyer and former deputy commissioner of the Insurance Commission. He finished his Master in Cybersecurity in 2024 and Executive Master in Disaster Risk and Crisis Management in 2020 from the Asian Institute of Management.

Source: manilatimes.net