Sophos has released its 2025 report, The Future of Cybersecurity in Asia Pacific and Japan, showing that burnout among cybersecurity teams in the Philippines remains high. The report, created with Tech Research Asia, found that 88% of organizations face burnout issues, only slightly down from 95% in 2024.
Key drivers include lack of resources, cyber alerts overload, and unclear strategies. Gavin Struthers, Sophos APJ Senior Vice President, said these challenges are not just operational but also cultural and strategic.
AI is shaping cybersecurity in two ways. AI-powered tools help scale operations and improve incident response. On the other hand, shadow AI, or unauthorized AI tools used by employees, is complicating defenses and creating new risks.
Findings for the Philippines:
- 17% of respondents experience burnout frequently, while 71% report occasional burnout.
- Stress costs Filipino organizations an average of 4.2 hours per employee each week.
- 77% of companies provide counseling to affected staff.
- 89% of organizations already use business AI tools, while 79% have a formal AI strategy.
- 30% expect to raise cybersecurity budgets by at least 10% in the next year.
The report also showed that burnout is a business issue, contributing to slower incident responses, weaker defenses, and even breaches. In the region, 31% of companies confirmed burnout as the cause of a breach.
Shadow AI is a rising risk in the Philippines. About one-third of companies have unauthorized AI tools in use, while 19% are unsure if these tools are being used internally. Concerns include data access, misconfigurations, and poor visibility.
Sophos stressed the importance of governance frameworks that clearly define and enforce AI use policies to strengthen cybersecurity resilience.
