Philippines reels from shortage of ‘cyber warriors’ as hacking attacks soar amid China tensions

But industry analysts say such plans could struggle due to big shortages of skilled “cyber warriors” in the Philippines, which is estimated to need tens of thousands of digital security professionals.

Whether targeting ordinary people, journalists or activists, online threats from doxxing to domain blocking and digital surveillance are rising in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations, highlighting a lack of resources and expertise to fight them, experts say.

“What the government doesn’t recognise is we’re having a brain drain not only in the healthcare sector but also in cybersecurity,” said JM Cipriano, a cybersecurity professional who has worked for a multinational company in the Philippines.

Despite a higher salary than other careers in IT, he said Filipino cybersecurity experts are being lured abroad by companies offering more money, better working conditions and relocation packages.

Practitioners in the Philippines can expect a monthly salary of between 40,000 and 90,000 pesos (US$690-US$1,560) – up to six-times the minimum wage, Cipriano said.

But he said the Philippines was still losing cybersecurity talent to US companies with offshore offices in Manila, or companies in Singapore, the United Kingdom and the Middle East that offer more competitive salaries.

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China denies accusations of state-sponsored hacking from US, UK and New Zealand

Globally, the shortage of cybersecurity professionals reached a record last year, with some 4 million vacancies around the world, according to cybersecurity non-profit ISC2, with the gap growing fastest in developing countries.

While part of the problem is migration from the Philippines, a major global exporter of labour, domestic shortages are also linked to inadequate