Typhoons, Volcanic Eruptions and Pandemics: Natural Disasters Push Philippine Security Concerns to Highest in World - 2020 Unisys Security Index™ Finds

Highest level of concern for security issues of 15 countries surveyed; health and stability of health infrastructure top COVID-19 concerns

MANILA, Philippines and BLUE BELL, Pa., 1 July 2020 – New research from Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) reveals that in 2020 the Philippine public's concern about security has increased, with concern about personal security and natural disasters increasing the most, according to the new 2020 Unisys Security Index™.

The Unisys Security Index measures concerns of consumers on issues related to national, personal, financial and internet security and is the longest-running snapshot of consumer security concerns conducted globally. The overall measure of security concerns of the Philippine public is 238 out of 300, remaining the highest of the 15 countries polled in the survey and up from 234 in 2019.

Top Concerns in 2020: Natural Disasters, Identity Theft and Personal Security

In 2020, the top concern for Filipinos is a natural disaster such as floods, typhoons, volcanic eruptions or epidemics with 93% of Filipinos seriously concerned about this issue, up from 89% in 2019. Concern about personal safety in the next six months recorded the greatest change in the last year, up six percentage points to 89%, and 92% of people are concerned about identity theft.

Overall, Filipino women are more concerned about the security issues tracked in the study, with a Unisys Security Index of 244 for women compared to 233 for men – 11 points higher. In particular, women are significantly more concerned about the security of online transactions and the threat of war or terrorism (9% more women are seriously concerned about both these issues than men). Older Filipinos aged 45-55 years is the age group with the highest level of concern.

"These findings reflect a year where a slew of natural disasters dominated news coverage and personal experience for most Filipinos such as the Mindanao Island Earthquakes, Taal Volcano eruption and ash cloud, Typhoon Tisoy and most recently the COVID-19 global pandemic. The government's social distancing and safety measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak were in full swing at the time of the survey. It is no wonder that Filipinos have heightened concern about personal and physical security issues," said Daphne  Chee, director of security, Unisys Asia.

Top COVID-19 Concerns: National Infrastructure and Family Well-Being

This year the Unisys Security Index also explored the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on the Philippine public. Filipinos are most concerned about basic health needs with nine in 10 seriously concerned about the physical health of their family (96%), their own health (91%) and the stability of the nation's health infrastructure (90%).

They are slightly less concerned about their personal financial security, the nation's economy or their job security. However, women are more concerned about these issues in particular. Filipinos are least concerned about the risk of a data security breach while working remotely.

Ashwin Pal, director of security services, Unisys Asia Pacific explained: "Understandably, people are most concerned about their ability to access health services should they or their family require it – and assume their employer would take care of securing data and systems if they are able to continue working from home. As the internet infrastructure in the Philippines improves, making remote working a more common option, employers will need to ensure their people have secure direct access to applications, are trained to identify and avoid malicious scams and phishing attacks designed to exploit the fears and distractions created by events such as the pandemic and can quickly isolate devices or parts of the network to minimize the extent of a breach – because they will happen."

High Willingness to Use a Digital Identity Mobile App to Access Services

Filipinos are more willing to use a mobile app that matches their facial image with identity information in a government database to access online government services than online banking services. Eight in 10 are willing to use such an app to apply for financial benefits (81%) or renew their driver's license (80%), whereas only six in ten are willing to use the app to verify their identity to apply online for a credit card (66%) or home loan (67%). The top reasons given for not being willing to use such an app are concerns around the security of the data collected (51%) and not wanting to share their biometric information (42%).

"These results show that the government has attained a higher level of trust than banks. To gain greater acceptance for such identity verification tools, organizations need to be transparent about how and why data will be collected, who has access to it and how it will be secured. Overall consumers in the Philippines and India are more willing to use a mobile digital identity verification app than people in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore. This is possibly because they want to cut red tape and see secure online services as being more efficient than the current predominantly manual paper or in-person processes," Mr Pal suggested.

For more information visit www.unisyssecurityindex.com.ph

1- Subex Cybersecurity Threat Landscape Report, 2019 - https://www.subexsecure.com/the-global-threat-landscape-report-2019

About Unisys

Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most demanding businesses and governments. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. For more information on how Unisys builds better outcomes securely for its clients across the government, financial services and commercial markets, visit www.unisys.com.ph. Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Contacts:

Denise Albero, Greenbulb Communications
0905 402 7344, denise@greenbulbpr.com

Claire Hosegood, Unisys Asia Pacific
+61 411 253 663, claire.hosegood@au.unisys.com

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