Ayala-backed Globe Business has tapped cyber incident response firm Blackpanda to offer local companies more affordable access to incident response, digital forensics, vulnerability and dark web scanning, and cyber insurance.

Globe Business Head KD Dizon said on Tuesday that the tie-up seeks to make these services more affordable and accessible for customers.

“Cyber threats continue to challenge businesses of every size, and AI is amplifying both their frequency and sophistication. Through our partnership with Blackpanda, immediate and expert incident response, once prohibitively expensive, is now accessible,” Dizon said.

“By leveraging our ICT ecosystem, we provide organizations with a practical and affordable way to stay secure, remain prepared, and build lasting customer trust,” he added.

Cyber threats in ASEAN are growing more dangerous and costlier, with data breaches averaging $3.23 million in 2024.

The financial sector took the heaviest hit, shouldering losses of $5.57 million. Across the region, ransomware and phishing incidents jumped 29 percent, underscoring the rising sophistication of attacks.

Locally, the picture is just as alarming: 85 percent of companies reported AI-driven intrusions last year, while 84 percent suffered supply chain breaches — nearly a third of which went unnoticed.

Traditionally, mounting a defense has been prohibitively expensive, with incident response fees reaching as high as $500 per hour and retainers ranging from $25,000 to $100,000, or about P1.5 million to P6 million.

As such, Blackpanda aims to break that barrier with its flagship IR-1 service, which combines incident response, vulnerability scanning, and automated access to cyber insurance — delivering enterprise-grade protection at more accessible costs.

“Globe’s reach and trust in the Philippine market make them the ideal partner to scale our IR-1 cyber assurance subscriptions nationwide. By delivering always-on access to expert response and extending into full-service incident response and cyber insurance for enterprises, we’re setting a new standard for how cyber solutions should work after an attack,” Blackpanda CEO Gene Yu said.