The Philippines may see more cyberattacks as digitalisation increases, and more stories

For PropertyGuru’s real estate news roundup, the Philippines will likely see more cyberattacks as threat actors take advantage of increasing digitalisation in the country. In other updates, Malaysia’s data centre industry is on track to achieve revenue targets, given the positive signals from industry players. Lastly, the growth in capital value of Dubai’s prime residential market in the first half of the year (H1) was significantly higher compared to other gateway cities like Singapore and New York.

Philippines to see more cyberattacks amid increasing digitalisation

The Philippines will likely see more cyberattacks as threat actors take advantage of increasing digitalisation in the country, an official of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said.

“The trend is [threat actors] are getting sophisticated. Attacks are increasing, and even technology is getting more sophisticated with artificial intelligence. Attackers also use it… We observe that attackers are after personal identifiable information. They want data,” George P. Tardio, DICT’s Critical Infostructure Evaluation and Cybersecurity Standard Division head told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of a cybersecurity forum on Tuesday.

Data exfiltration resulting from leaks is one of the top cybersecurity threats in the Philippines, Mr. Tardio said, along with malware and ransomware. “We can only prepare for this particular incident. Website defacement of government agencies is becoming common. These are the common cybersecurity threats now.”

Since last year, several government agencies and private companies in the Philippines have fallen victim to data breaches, including the DICT itself.

Malaysia’s data centre industry on track to hit MYR3.6 billion revenue by 2025, says deputy minister

Malaysia’s target to achieve revenue of MYR3.6 billion by 2025 in the data centre industry is on track, going by the positive signals from industry players.

Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said this after a slew of investments involving the development of data centres in the country, coupled with expanding operations by existing companies, according to The Edge Malaysia.

“We can see that more people (from the data centre industry) are coming in for digital economy investment and a lot of data centre (players) who are already here are also expanding their operations. Some of them have met me, like GDS IDC Services (M) Sdn Bhd, and they said they are going [to] double their investment in Malaysia. Therefore, I believe that we are now on the right track, with the positive factors and the signals that we are receiving,” she told reporters after attending the CloudTech and Data Centre Conference 2024 here on 6th August.

In the Middle East, Dubai’s prime properties recorded the highest growth in capital value during the first quarter

According to Savills, a real estate services provider, the growth in capital value of Dubai’s prime residential market in the first half of the year (H1) was significantly higher than that of gateway cities like Singapore and New York.

According to Savills’ Prime Residential World Cities Index, the Emirate’s residential market has grown by 2.9 percent in H1, making it the strongest in the Middle East. New York, Singapore, and London all saw negative growth.

In the index of 30 global cities, Dubai came in fifth place; the top three cities with increases in capital values over the same period were Lisbon (rise of 4.2 percent), Amsterdam, Madrid, and Athens.

“On a price per sq ft basis, Dubai continues to offer immense value to investors and end-users looking for high-quality, luxurious homes with attractive amenities. Coupled with the lifestyle and connectivity that the emirate has to offer, Dubai continues to be one of the most coveted destinations in the world to live in,” said Andrew Cummings, Head of Residential Agency at Savills Middle East in PropertyNews.ae.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].