Cebu poised to lead higher-value cybersecurity services expansion
A multinational outsourcing firm, EY Global Delivery Services (GDS) Philippines, is expanding its cybersecurity support capabilities to address the growing vulnerability of businesses to cyberattacks. Maez de Guzman, EY GDS Philippines cybersecurity leader, highlighted that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are particularly at risk due to limited financial resources and technical capabilities for continuous monitoring and response to cyber threats. Phishing and malware remain major concerns, with EY research indicating that about 36 percent of organizational assets are in a vulnerability zone, lacking adequate monitoring, segmentation, or protection.
The expansion of EY GDS’s cybersecurity capabilities is driven by the increasing sophistication of threats from AI, cloud technologies, and interconnected systems. Cebu is poised to play a significant role in this expansion, as EY aims to develop higher-value cybersecurity services in the Philippines. These services include cybersecurity engineering and architecture, threat intelligence, AI-driven cyber analytics, and cybersecurity for AI. De Guzman emphasized that the goal is to create higher-value cyber careers rather than just more cyber jobs.
EY GDS has established a cybersecurity center in Cebu, which supports global cybersecurity operations and clients across more than 160 countries. The center provides Cebu-based professionals with the opportunity to work on cybersecurity problems faced by multinational and Fortune 500 companies, exposing them to a wider range of technologies and threat environments. The success of the center is measured by the complexity of the work Filipino professionals can handle, with the aim of enabling young professionals to work on sophisticated global cybersecurity problems using AI and advanced analytics.
To address the skills gap, EY GDS is collaborating with universities, such as the Cebu Institute of Technology-University, to develop a framework-based cybersecurity curriculum. This curriculum uses laboratory simulations and real-world cybersecurity scenarios to bridge the gap between academic training and industry requirements. De Guzman noted that while universities have made progress, industry-academe collaboration remains necessary to cover technical, engineering, AI, risk, and compliance disciplines. EY also has partnerships with global technology companies like Microsoft, Cisco, and CrowdStrike, providing continuous training and upskilling opportunities.
De Guzman identified critical thinking and a willingness to continuously learn as key qualifications for cybersecurity professionals. While a computer science or technical background can be advantageous, cybersecurity also offers opportunities for professionals from non-IT fields, particularly in compliance, risk, data privacy, and AI governance. She called for deeper collaboration among government, academe, technology companies, and the private sector to strengthen the country’s cybersecurity capabilities through upskilling and reskilling. The longer-term opportunity for Cebu is to move from being a source of cybersecurity support talent to becoming a center for more specialized global work.