SMALL- to medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), especially those involved in financial and retail services, are being driven by competition and are thus becoming more dependent on the Internet as a business tool. . . .
SMALL- to medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), especially those involved in financial and retail services, are being driven by competition and are thus becoming more dependent on the Internet as a business tool.

SMEs are bred by a culture of freedom and efficiency among its employees and as a result, have adopted telecommuting processes that rely largely on the mobile workforce that could connect to their network anytime, any place.

However, this dependence also increases risks of network vulnerabilities like virus infections and hack attacks. Ordinary firewalls and antivirus solutions are not usually the best way to prevent such attacks.

And since SMEs are not keen on operating their own network security, they rely on outsourcing the infrastructure through managed services.

"Across Asia-Pacific, including the Philippines, network security management has a very big potential, despite being at its infancy stage," according to Antony Chapman, Asia Pacific senior director for