Alipay+ launches World’s First Smart Glasses-Embedded Payment Solution

Alipay+ launches World’s First Smart Glasses-Embedded Payment Solution

Sunday, June 22, 2025

The world's first successful e-wallet payment transaction was completed on Meizu StarV Snap smart glasses via AlipayHK

After Alipay debuted a smart glasses payment solution with Rokid in China, Alipay+, the unified wallet gateway service under Ant International, announced the Alipay+ smart glasses-embedded payment solution for global e-wallets. In collaboration with Meizu, a global industry leader, Alipay+ completed the world's first real-world smart glasses-embedded e-wallet payment transaction in Hong Kong.

The successful transaction on Meizu StarV Snap smart glasses with AlipayHK, Hong Kong’s leading superapp, marks another milestone in Alipay+’s advance at the forefront of global mobile payment innovation. Users can make seamless payments with QR scans or voice commands from their smart glasses, backed by Alipay+’s AI-powered voice interface, intent recognition, and voiceprint authentication technologies. The new feature will roll out to Alipay+ global partner e-wallets in 2025 upon the integration of Alipay+’s upgraded tech suite for smart glasses.

In April 2025, Meizu officially announced the global pioneer of offline AI glasses-enabled mobile payment function powered by Alipay+. Alipay+’s advanced payment SDK solutions are integrated into all new Meizu smart glasses, supported by Meizu’s industry-leading optical waveguide display technology, voice noise reduction and capture technology, and camera-based code scanning technology.

Alipay+ is accelerating new innovations to support e-wallets’ transition into the future of seamless commerce. Today, Alipay+ connects over 1.7 billion user accounts on 36 global e-wallets, national QR schemes and banking apps to 100 million merchants across 70+ core markets.

With one integration, wallet partners can access Alipay+’s expanding toolkits for customer engagement and business growth. Among these, Alipay+ now integrates QR-based and card payments via a global NFC solution. It also enables a full range of agentic AI features including MCP-based AI payments built on Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit, an AI-as-a-Service platform for fintech companies.

“The offline payment function of smart glasses launched overseas by Meizu and Alipay+ has set a new technological benchmark for the industry,” said Peng Guo, General Manager of the XR Division of Meizu. “The innovation in the payment scenario has enhanced the practicality and appeal of smart glasses and promoted the progress and development of the AR glasses industry. We hope this function will bring more convenient experiences to users.”

“We are grateful to work with industry leaders like Meizu to pioneer smart glasses-embedded payment solutions. By unlocking payment capabilities, smart glasses will rapidly transform into the next-gen personal device like the mobile phone," said Jiangming Yang, Chief Innovation Officer of Ant International. “We look forward to supporting more industry partners with one integration into Alipay+‘s premium wallet ecosystem across global markets, to help them build broader user scenarios and achieve growth.”

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Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 Extortion and Ransomware Trends Report Reveals Aggressive New Tactics and the Escalation of Threat Actor Collaboration

Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 Extortion and Ransomware Trends Report Reveals Aggressive New Tactics and the Escalation of Threat Actor Collaboration

Palo Alto Networks® (NASDAQ: PANW), the world's leading AI cybersecurity company, recently released the Unit 42 Extortion and Ransomware Trends January-March 2025 report, which revealed that threat actors are evolving their tactics, collaborating with state-backed groups and using extortion scams to extract payments.

Organisations across the Asia-Pacific and Japan region are putting their security posture first, and many are now detecting intrusions early in the attack lifecycle, before attackers can execute their objectives. This has led to an increase in incident response cases that are contained at the network access stage. Despite progress, ransomware and extortion campaigns continue to succeed at significant rates. Analysing Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 incident response cases, Unit 42 researchers found that in response, threat actors are intensifying their tactics, using more aggressive methods to pressure victims and secure higher, more consistent payouts. Organisations therefore must stay aware of trends in ransomware and employ a defence-in-depth strategy for protection to remain prepared for ransomware attacks.

"We’re seeing a clear shift in how ransomware and extortion actors operate globally and across the Asia-Pacific and Japan region. Attackers are shifting from traditional encryption tactics to more aggressive and manipulative methods including false claims, insider access, and tools that disable security controls,” said Philippa Cogswell, Vice President and Managing Partner, Unit 42, Asia-Pacific & Japan, Palo Alto Networks. “These new and evolving tactics show just how critical it is for organisations to move beyond reactive defences and invest in security strategies that provide full visibility and rapid response across their environments.”

In the Philippines, ransomware continues to pose a serious threat to both public and private organisations. These attacks have caused major disruptions to online services and encrypted sensitive data across critical systems, often halting operations until ransoms are paid or systems are restored.

With millions of cyber threats detected daily in the country, the risk of ransomware demands urgent and coordinated action. In fact, the Philippines’ National Cybersecurity Plan 2023–2028 prioritises the protection of critical information infrastructures and adopts a proactive defence posture, specifically including ransomware readiness and incident response capabilities. However, to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated attacks, organisations will also have to invest in proactive threat detection, adopt AI-powered security tools, and strengthen collaboration across sectors.

Key findings of the report include:

Attackers are lying to get paid: Unit 42 observed a growing number of cases of extortion scams using fake data and even physical ransom notes sent to executives’ homes.

Manufacturing remains the top ransomware target, continuing a trend that has persisted for several years. The second most impacted industry is wholesale & retail, followed by professional & legal services.

Ransomware activity by location headquarters: The most targeted regions for attackers are the United States, Canada, UK, Germany.

Cloud and endpoint security are under siege: Attackers are increasingly using “EDR killers” to disable endpoint security sensors and targeting cloud systems more aggressively than ever before.

AI-generated insider threat extortion on the rise: North Korean operatives using AI-generated identities to post as remote IT workers have extorted companies by stealing proprietary code and threatening public leaks.

RansomHub emerges as top ransomware variant: RansomHub became the most prolific ransomware observed during the reporting period. This marks a sharp rise from mid-2024, when it was first identified as an emerging threat to watch.

To read the full report, please visit: https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/2025-ransomware-extortion-trends/

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Appdome is the First to Detect Agentic AI Malware on Mobile Devices

Appdome is the First to Detect Agentic AI Malware on Mobile Devices

New Android & iOS Plugins Detect Agentic AI Assistants Performing In-App Surveillance and Data Exfiltration in Consumer and Enterprise Apps

Appdome, the leader in protecting mobile businesses, today announced the availability of new dynamic defense plugins to detect and defend against Agentic AI Malware and unauthorized AI Assistants controlling Android & iOS devices and applications. The new Detect Agentic AI Malware plugins allow mobile brands and enterprises to know when Agentic AI applications interact with their mobile applications and use the data to prevent sensitive data leaks and block unvetted on-device AI Agents from accessing transaction, account, or enterprise data and services.

Agentic AI Assistants—such as Apple Siri, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI ChatGPT, and others—are increasingly available to mobile users in consumer and enterprise environments. However, the same capabilities that make AI Assistants useful to consumers and employees can also be used by Agentic AI Malware and Trojans. Good and bad AI Assistants can gain broad runtime access to screen content, UI overlays, activity streams, user interactions, and contextual data. Malicious AI Assistants can exploit this access to perform data harvesting, session hijacking, and account takeovers—often under the guise of legitimate AI functionality. On Android, this risk is amplified by more permissive APIs. On iOS, threats extend to mirroring-based leaks (e.g., via AirPlay) and enterprise-targeted surveillance.

“Mobile brands and enterprises have quickly acknowledged the risk of Agentic AI Assistants on mobile devices,” said Tom Tovar, co-creator and CEO of Appdome. “Our new Detect Agentic AI Malware plugins give mobile brands and enterprises choice and control over when and how to introduce AI Assistant functionality to their users.”

Agentic AI assistants have wide appeal in internal enterprise and public-facing consumer use cases. However, in consumer use cases—like banking, eWallet, and healthcare applications—some brands might take the view that, for now, the risks outweigh the benefits. Currently, whatever a good AI assistant can do, a bad AI Assistant can do. Both can access, extract or input credentials, intercept transactions, and send messages to other users. In enterprise environments, malicious AI Assistants could perform actions as the employee, accessing proprietary systems, leak sensitive documents, or create entry points for lateral compromise. Wrapped or re-skinned AI apps—especially unofficial or third-party clones of tools like ChatGPT—further increase the attack footprint, often requesting dangerous (overreaching) permissions and quietly transmitting captured data to external servers. Without real-time detection and control, mobile brands remain exposed to surveillance, compliance failures, and data loss at scale.

“The mobile application and device can only know it’s an Agentic AI Assistant,” said Avi Yehuda, Co-Creator and Chief Technology Officer at Appdome. “The mobile environment has no concept of “good” or “bad” actors, only allowed and disallowed access or permissions, that’s the point.”

Security researchers have observed that malicious AI Assistants can extract session data, cryptographic tokens, or decrypted content by analyzing on-screen information in real time. These apps often masquerade as legitimate voice assistants, and once granted access, can silently monitor users’ activity. Furthermore, when coupled with generative AI models, attackers can script automated reconnaissance, tampering, or replay of sensitive operations inside apps.

“If you have sensitive data or regulated use cases on mobile, AI Assistants are no longer a hypothetical risk—they’re an active one,” said Kai Kenan, VP of Cyber Research at Appdome. “Detecting and controlling the use of these tools is a must-have capability for any mobile defense strategy.”

Appdome’s new Detect Agentic AI Malware plugin uses behavioral biometrics to detect the techniques that malicious or unauthorized AI Assistants use to interact with an Android or iOS application in real time. This includes official, third-party, or wrapped AI apps that impersonate trusted tools or gain elevated permissions. Mobile brands and enterprises can use Appdome to monitor AI Assistant use or detect and defend against Agent AI Assistants using multiple evaluation, enforcement and mitigation options. Mobile brands and enterprises can also specify any number of Trusted AI Assistants, to guarantee that users have access to approved and legitimate Agentic AI Assistants.

“A tsunami of Agentic AI—both good and bad—is approaching the mobile ecosystem. The question is no longer if, but when,” said Chris Roeckl, Chief Product Officer at Appdome. “Most concerning are wrapped versions of legitimate apps, which are increasingly used to trick users into signing in, transacting, and engaging with what looks like your brand—until a malicious agent takes over. Our new dynamic defenses stop Agentic AI from weaponizing your app against your users.”

To learn more about Appdome malware protection, including Detect Agentic AI Malware, please visit https://www.appdome.com/mobile-malware-prevention/.

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Cisco and PLDT Enterprise Champion a New Era of Work at Tech Week PH Cebu

Cisco and PLDT Enterprise Champion a New Era of Work at Tech Week PH Cebu

Monday, June 16, 2025

Global tech leader Cisco speaks at Tech Week PH Cebu, joins PLDT Enterprise in reimagining the digital landscape of the Philippines.

The future of work is already unfolding, and it’s more connected, secure, and intelligent than ever before. This was the message of Cisco’s APJC Leader, Partner Networking Specialist, Pavel Svatos, during the second leg of Tech Week PH 2025, where PLDT Enterprise gathered business leaders, tech visionaries, and public sector stakeholders to explore how digital innovation can drive inclusive growth across the regions.

Hosted for the first time in Cebu and the greater Visayas region, PLDT Enterprise’s Tech Week PH 2025 underscored the growing importance of regional digital transformation conversations. It also signaled PLDT Enterprise’s continued momentum in bringing global tech leaders closer to local enterprises. Cisco's presence championed PLDT Enterprise’s mission to enable digital transformation in every corner of the country.

Addressing over 1,000 participants from across Visayas, Svatos shared Cisco’s bold vision for powering the workplaces and industries of tomorrow—focusing on the convergence of AI, security, and connectivity. He spoke about how AI is changing everything, citing examples of AI-powered customer chatbots, and use cases across healthcare, logistics, and even data centers on wheels.

He stressed that companies that adapt fast will lead, while the ones that don’t will risk falling behind. The workplace also doesn’t function without a secure, intelligent network that powers seamless connectivity, zero-trust security, and real-time collaboration. As a networking and security leader, that’s what Cisco delivers—and is proud to bring to the Philippines.

Svatos underscored that while work takes place anywhere today – at offices, hospitals, stores, and even moving vehicles, many businesses still struggle with hybrid work gaps, inefficient infrastructure, and rising security risks.

Cisco’s answer is an integrated ecosystem of AI-ready networking, cybersecurity, observability, and collaboration solutions, built to ensure digital resilience and smarter business outcomes.

Together with partners and tech innovators, PLDT Enterprise’s Tech Week PH featured Tech City—an immersive showcase of solutions, including those from Cisco, bringing to life how next-generation technologies can power industries forward.

By bringing global experts like Cisco to Visayas and Mindanao, PLDT Enterprise is actively expanding access to world-class innovation, aligning with its long-standing goal of bridging the digital divide and building a more inclusive, future-ready Philippines.

“At Cisco, our strategy is to securely connect everything to make anything possible. We’re not just connecting people, places, apps, data and things wherever our networks can reach. We’re also protecting all of this against threats, downtime, and risk and providing the underlying digital resilience that is so crucial for businesses today,” said Zaza Soriano-Nicart, Managing Director, Cisco Philippines.

Tech Week PH now moves to its final and biggest chapter in Metro Manila, where it is expected to gather the largest number of participants and deliver its most expansive showcase yet.

To learn more about PLDT Enterprise’s solution, visit https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-cisco-joins-tech-week-ph-cebu-pr

Tech Week PH 2025 is powered by Cisco, Alibaba Cloud, CSG, Ericsson, Fortinet, Huawei, Avolution, Fibercom Telecom, Canon, Delinea, Dream, Hikvision, Kital Connect, Pronet, Quanta Dance, Soprano, and Trend Micro.

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iProov Threat Intelligence Uncovers "Grey Nickel" Threat Actor Targeting Banking, Crypto, and Payment Platforms

iProov Threat Intelligence Uncovers "Grey Nickel" Threat Actor Targeting Banking, Crypto, and Payment Platforms

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

KYC Processes Exposed in Wave of Sophisticated Financial Sector Attacks

iProov, the world's leading provider of science-based biometric identity verification solutions, today revealed details of an active cybercriminal operation that has successfully infiltrated financial institutions worldwide by exploiting vulnerabilities in remote identity verification systems. iProov's Security Operations Center (iSOC) observed live operations of the threat actor, codenamed "Grey Nickel," targeting organizations globally with concentrated attacks against banking, crypto exchanges, e-wallets, and digital payment platforms in Asia-Pacific, EMEA, and North America. During its investigation of “Grey Nickel”, the iSOC team also documented an unprecedented escalation in attacks specifically designed to bypass Know Your Customer (KYC) processes across the financial services sector.

Financial Services: New Attacks, Same Battleground

Financial services organizations have long been prime targets for relentless fraud attacks, both by lone perpetrators and highly organized criminal networks. Unfortunately, many of the organizations targeted by “Grey Nickel” and the KYC attackers had employed liveness detection technologies that appear to be designed to prevent only presentation attacks as opposed to AI-fueled digitally injected attacks. The gap between the identity assurance that these technologies are able to provide and the identity assurance needed has become a profitable sweet spot for cybercriminals.

iProov advises organizations to use its spectrum of identity assurance methodology to determine the most suitable verification technologies, tailored to each use case, by evaluating the contextual knowledge of the individual and the risk of the activity with the organization’s risk appetite.

"These criminal groups understand that banking, crypto exchanges, e-wallets, and digital payment platforms represent some of the highest-value targets for identity fraud," said Dr. Andrew Newell, Chief Scientific Officer of iProov." It is important to understand that these aren't opportunistic attacks; they represent highly coordinated, specialized operations that pose an existential threat to the digital transformation of banking."

Multiple Threat Actors, Common Target

iProov's investigation has identified several distinct criminal operations:

Grey Nickel: Systematic Operations

A sophisticated threat actor group, codenamed "Grey Nickel," has been conducting systematic attacks against identity verification systems since July 2023, primarily targeting organizations in the Asia-Pacific region, with recent expansions into North America and EMEA. This group employs advanced face-swap technology, metadata manipulation, and injection techniques specifically designed to defeat single-frame liveness-based verification systems used by banks and payment platforms.

Advanced Virtual Camera Networks

Separate criminal groups have developed and distributed specialized mobile applications that enable KYC bypass on both Android and iOS devices. These applications inject pre-recorded or manipulated video feeds during identity verification, with some variants now incorporating lip-syncing capabilities to defeat voice-based challenges.

Deepfake-as-a-Service Operations

Independent criminal actors have established service-based models, offering custom deepfake creation and comprehensive KYC bypass packages specifically designed to target cryptocurrency exchanges and payment platforms. These operations combine stolen identity databases with AI-generated media to create “synthetic identities” and enable large-scale identity fraud.

AI-Powered Fraud Tools

Criminal forums now actively share techniques using commercially available AI platforms to generate convincing deepfake videos, specifically designed to bypass primitive liveness technologies employed by some financial institutions.

Financial Impact of AI-based Cybercrime

The financial consequences of these attacks are reaching unprecedented levels:

• In 2024, a Hong Kong employee of a British multinational company fell victim to deepfake scammers for US$25.6 million when criminals impersonated company executives

• More than half of the organizations surveyed in a recent Biocatch Report admitted to losing between $5 and $25 million to AI-powered attacks in 2023.
• A United Nations report noted a rise in AI-driven crimes involving deepfakes, demonstrated by more than a 600% increase in mentions of deepfake-related content targeting criminal groups in Southeast Asia across monitored online platforms in the first half of 2024.

Criminal Innovation Outpaces Regulatory Response

A critical global challenge in combating cybercrime against the financial services sector is the widespread lack of comprehensive data from these institutions. This absence of consistent, mandatory incident reporting across many jurisdictions prevents regulators from accurately assessing the scale of illicit activities, which hinders effective regulatory action. While regions like the European Union are advancing proactive measures, with bodies such as the European Banking Authority proposing the adoption of the high-assurance EU Digital Identity Wallet or an equivalent to comply with AML rules, many nations lag behind. This creates global disparities that cybercriminals can exploit and highlights an urgent need for greater international cooperation and data sharing to drive robust security enhancements and coordinated regulatory intervention.

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Ant International Pushes AI Strategy with AI Platform for Fintechs

Ant International Pushes AI Strategy with AI Platform for Fintechs

Monday, June 9, 2025

• Three-pronged AI strategy focuses on AI security, Vertical Fintech Expertise, and Full-stack AI platform support

• First fintech clients begin official integration in June 2025 in Southeast Asia and South Asia

Ant International, a leading global digital payment, and financial technology provider, today unveils its AI strategy with the launch of Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit, an AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) platform that empowers fintech companies and super apps to build AI-agentic and ultimately AI-native financial services with enhanced efficiency, security, and flexibility.

Making AI systemically work for finance remains the holy grail of the current AI revolution. Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit is a platform to help entrepreneurs architect an agentic and ultimately AI-native financial services, combining automated workflows and task orchestration with a dynamic enterprise context, across main fintech tasks, from payment orchestration, customer onboarding, compliance checks, to fraud detection, dispute resolution, as well as evaluation and performance optimization.

“The future of finance will be shaped by agentic AI that not only carries out tasks autonomously in real automated workflows and sophisticated financial business and compliance context with reliability, but also interacts, evolves and learns rapidly in orchestration with ever-growing precision,” said Jiangming Yang, Chief Innovation Officer of Ant International.

Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit has been honed on Ant International’s four key business units: wallet gateway service (Alipay+), merchant payment service (Antom), cross-border business account service (WorldFirst), and embedded finance service (global treasury management, digital lending and credit tech solutions). Upon successful completion of trial runs, the first external clients in Southeast Asia and South Asia will start officially deploying the Cockpit in June 2025.

Three-Pronged AI Strategy: Security, Vertical Fintech Expertise, and Platform-level Support for Agentic FinAI

Combining a fintech-specific toolbox and dynamic industry knowledge base alongside business-ready AI innovations, the Cockpit embodies three key directions of Ant International’s AI strategy.

Security Shield for Trusted AI

AI scamming threats using deepfake and other technologies have been growing over 10 folds by the year, with grave implications, especially in the financial sector. Statistics show 22% of businesses have encountered AI-generated payment fraud.

Ant International invests heavily in AI security solutions to combat external AI scamming attacks and eliminate internal model security risks such as model hallucination or bias. Its AI SHIELD framework manages risks across system architecture designing, data processing, model training, and inferencing. It offers real-time dynamic risk assessment, including detecting adversarial prompts and sensitive data leakage through over 100 recognition models and 600,000 risk lexicons. Today, fraud loss rate in Ant International’s merchant payment service is 5% of industry average.

Deep Vertical Financial Expertise

Alipay+ GenAI Cockpit leverages over 20 leading LLMs, including Ant International’s own Falcon Time-Series-Transformer FX Model. However, it has focused on integrating fintech knowledge bases, such as bank transfer rules and dispute resolution policies, to help businesses build specialized fintech agents.

The Cockpit toolbox supports retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), post-training, evaluation, and benchmarking, taking the combination of general-purpose datasets with industry-specific benchmarks developed from Ant International’s financial expertise to help improve model precision.

Built on the Cockpit, Antom Copilot is the world’s first AI agent designed to help merchants boost conversion by streamlining the process of payment method integration, recommending optimal payment channels, and resolving common tasks like code correction and the auto-completion of merchant onboarding documents. It also allows merchants to configure risk management strategy with natural language.

Full-Stack FinAI Platform Support

Cockpit offers a wide selection of pre-built agents covering regular tasks, including customer service, content curation for targeted marketing, and AI-assisted coding. One level up, a business can easily customize agents for more specialized scenarios such as travel advisory, tax refunds, cross-border remittance, and loyalty rewards, accelerating time-to-value across business functions.

Further, the Cockpit’s model context protocol (MCP) marketplace supports major MCP servers developed thus far and allows businesses to create their own MCP servers to enable autonomous task completion. It also supports flexible deployment across public clouds and on-premise environments, drawing on strategic partnerships with Google Cloud and other top-tier infrastructure providers.

“The FinAI sector is at its big-bang moment,” said Yang. “We are eager to work with the industry to evolve and expand the toolbox as well as this ecosystem to help financial businesses scale their growth faster and better.”

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Kissflow wins “Best Digital Transformation Solution” at Future Digitech Summit 2025

Kissflow wins “Best Digital Transformation Solution” at Future Digitech Summit 2025

Thursday, June 5, 2025

Kissflow, a low-code platform built for citizen developers aka process owners and developers to create applications is proud to announce that it has been honored with the “Best Digital Transformation Solution” award at the prestigious Future Digitech Summit 2025, recognizing its outstanding contribution to redefining business processes through innovation and cutting-edge technology.

Held annually, the Future Digitech Summit celebrates excellence in digital innovation, bringing together trailblazers from across the tech industry. This award acknowledges Kissflow’s commitment to empowering organizations with scalable, user-centric digital transformation solutions that drive efficiency, agility, and growth.

“We are thrilled to receive this recognition,” said Rakesh Nandakumar, AVP - Kissflow, South East Asia. “This award is a testament to our team’s relentless focus on delivering transformative solutions that make a real difference to businesses worldwide.”

Southeast Asia is a key growth market for Kissflow, with its rapidly expanding digital economy and increasing demand for agile, low-code solutions. With a strong presence across countries like the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and more recently- Thailand, Kissflow continues to partner with organizations in the region to simplify and accelerate their digital transformation journeys.

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Bigo Live Celebrates Nine Years of Empowering Community and Creativity

Bigo Live Celebrates Nine Years of Empowering Community and Creativity

Monday, June 2, 2025

Marking nearly a decade of empowering users to connect, create, and thrive in real time across cultures, borders, and backgrounds.

Bigo Live, the leading global livestreaming platform, marked its 9th anniversary with a vibrant celebration held on May 17 at Clubhouse at the Palace in BGC in Manila. The event brought together Filipino creators, such as those behind Bigo IDs like AVC_Roni and claire18, along with agency managers, fellow streamers, and family members to celebrate a milestone journey of creativity, connection, and community growth.

Since its launch in 2016, the Bigo Live Philippines community has grown significantly and become a dynamic space where creators from all walks of life are empowered to champion self-expression, showcase their talents and reach an international audience. As part of the anniversary festivities, Bigo Live unveiled a series of billboards across key locations in Manila, spotlighting top Filipino creators such as Ikangmo, recognising their talent and impact on the platform.

“Bigo Live is proud to celebrate nine years with our Filipino community. We remain committed to fostering a safe and inclusive environment where creativity thrives, careers are built, and connections are made,” said a Bigo Live Philippines spokesperson. “Thank you to all our creators and users who helped us shape this community and for being part of this incredible journey.“

Empowering Community, Online and Offline

Bigo Live has played a significant role in bringing local communities together to spread positivity and kindness through its interactive and real-time livestreaming experiences. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform provided Filipino creators a safe space to stay connected. Creators shared their stories, music and positive messages and found solace in their communities by connecting remotely from their homes.

Today, Bigo Live continues to champion community-first initiatives that bridge the digital and real worlds, offering new ways for the Filipino community to engage, celebrate, and connect. These include events such as Bigo Voice Music Fest 2024, BIGO Voice 2025 and Bigo Live Philippines Awards Gala.

“Bigo Live helped me discover parts of myself I never knew existed. I gained confidence, built genuine connections, and grew my following to nearly a million in just a year. The platform opened doors I never imagined – new friendships, exciting opportunities, and the ability to build my own income streams. To my supporters and fellow hosts: keep doing what makes you happy. Bigo Live changed my life, and it can change yours too,” shared Bigo Live creator Ikangmo.

Celebrating Local Voices and Cultural Impact

Bigo Live Philippines actively supports initiatives that uplift underrepresented voices and inspire positive change. The livestreaming platform has actively supported women’s empowerment through community-led events like Women’s Run PH — a run by women, for women — and specialised workshops for aspiring female creators. In a bold step towards inclusivity, Bigo Live Philippines partnered with global beauty brand MAC Cosmetics to launch Slay Model Search Asia, a talent competition celebrating the transgender community in the Philippines.

Looking ahead, Bigo Live Philippines will continue to roll out creator- and community-centric initiatives that inspire authentic expression and strengthen bonds across its user base. From new programmes that help creators unlock their full potential, to fun, meaningful events for the broader community, Bigo Live remains committed to its core mission: to empower people and change lives through real-time connectivity.

To find out more about Bigo Live, please visit our website.

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Cyber Budgets Up, AI Gaps Remain: Palo Alto Networks Releases First-Ever Cybersecurity Benchmark Study for Asia-Pacific and Japan

Cyber Budgets Up, AI Gaps Remain: Palo Alto Networks Releases First-Ever Cybersecurity Benchmark Study for Asia-Pacific and Japan

Saturday, May 31, 2025

Palo Alto Networks, the world’s leading AI cybersecurity company, has released the 2025 Cybersecurity Resilience in Mid-Market Organisations, a benchmark study, offering a first-of-its-kind view into how mid-market organisations across Asia-Pacific and Japan, including the Philippines, are evolving their cybersecurity capabilities in the face of growing threats and accelerating digital transformation.

While mid-market organisations in the Asia-Pacific and Japan, including the Philippines, are making tangible progress in strengthening their cybersecurity posture, key challenges remain. Many organisations are still in the early stages of operationalising AI within their security workflows, and gaps persist in areas such as incident recovery and cyber resilience. Additionally, the complexity of managing multiple tools and fragmented environments continues to hinder efficiency. Addressing these issues will require a more unified, platform-based approach that integrates AI-driven capabilities to enhance performance, streamline operations, and strengthen protection across the board.

“Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT issue, it's a business priority. As threats grow more sophisticated and AI reshapes the threat landscape, our benchmark study reveals that many mid-market organisations are still catching up,” said Michelle Saw, Vice President, Ecosystems, Asia-Pacific and Japan at Palo Alto Networks. “This study helps mid-market organisations see where they stand and take the steps needed to achieve stronger security outcomes. It also highlights the growing importance of partners—who must now evolve their offerings to focus more deeply on education, integration, AI adoption, and advanced technical expertise to better support customer needs.”

Key findings from the study:

Partners matter more than ever: 79% of companies say they will rely on partners to support cybersecurity efforts within two years - up from 53% today.

Cyber budgets are on the rise: 57% of organisations plan to increase cybersecurity spending over the next 12 months. Cyber now accounts for 13.6% of total IT budgets, up from just 6% in 2019.

AI adoption lags behind investment: Despite growing awareness, organisations cited AI-related capabilities as one of the lowest performing areas in their cybersecurity programs.

Cloud security, IAM and SIEM top the priority list: Over the next 24 months, these are the most cited areas for new or increased investment.

Framework implementation is inconsistent: Adoption of NIST 2.0 received the lowest score among the five benchmark categories, underscoring a need for clearer guidance and support. Sectors leading the understanding and adoption of NIST 2.0 and other frameworks include financial services, telecommunications and utility companies.

Key highlights from the Philippines include:

Cybersecurity budgets are on the rise, now accounting for 13.3% of revenue, with the biggest increases projected in security software (47.09%), network security hardware (38.35%), and data protection and privacy (37.86%).

Partner support is accelerating: 61% of Philippine companies currently rely on partners for cybersecurity, a figure expected to rise to 79% in two years. MSSPs (40%) are the most preferred partner type, followed by MSPs and systems integrators.

Robust safeguards but gaps in governance and response: The Philippines scores 3.95 in Govern, 3.06 in Identify, 4.05 in Protect, 4.05 in Detect, and 3.07 in Respond under the NIST framework, revealing areas needing improvement particularly in governance, identification, and response.

Partner selection is driven by technical expertise (35.9%), resiliency capabilities, and knowledge transfer. However, poor solution performance (43%), major breaches, and supply chain issues remain the top reasons for switching partners.

Application and data security, SOC operations, and network security are currently the most deployed cyber solutions in the country.

“It’s encouraging to see the Philippines taking meaningful steps to elevate its cybersecurity efforts, especially with the approval of the National Cybersecurity Plan, a critical move to safeguard institutions, infrastructure, and citizens amid growing threats,” said Steven Scheurmann, Regional Vice-President of ASEAN at Palo Alto Networks. “With the Philippine digital economy valued at PhP2.25 trillion in 2024, which accounts for 8.5% of the country’s gross domestic product, cybersecurity is no longer optional. The increased budgets among mid-market organisations reflect a deeper understanding that protecting digital assets is essential to sustaining business growth and national progress. This is why partnerships are crucial to improving threat detection and response, enabling the adaptive, intelligent security needed for the digital future.”

“The research indicates that mid-market organisations in the region have made notable advancements in strengthening their cybersecurity posture,” said Tim Dillon, Founder, Director, Principal Analyst End User at Tech Research Asia. “However, there remains substantial opportunity for partners to support continued progress, particularly in the areas of workforce education and training, identity and access management, and application and data security.”

The Cybersecurity Benchmark for Asia-Pacific and Japan, developed in collaboration with Tech Research Asia (TRA), surveyed over 2,800 mid-sized organisations across 12 countries and a range of industries. It offers a snapshot of the region’s cybersecurity maturity and provides practical guidance for improvement. With evaluating performance across five key areas; strategy execution, business integration, operational capabilities, solution maturity, and NIST 2.0 framework adoption, the average score was 19.01 out of 25. While this indicates a moderate level of maturity, the findings reveal clear opportunities to strengthen AI readiness, boost ransomware resilience, and advance framework implementation. This Tech Research Asia Insights Report Asia-Pacific and Japan Edition was commissioned by Palo Alto Networks and completed in April 2025

For more information 2025 Cybersecurity Resilience in Mid-Market Organisations Study, visit: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/industry/japac-mid-market-solutions

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House Creatives PH: Shaping the Next Generation of Impactful Creators

House Creatives PH: Shaping the Next Generation of Impactful Creators

Thursday, May 22, 2025

In a world where digital noise often drowns out authenticity, one movement is cutting through with purpose: House Creatives PH. Founded on the belief that content is more than just a form of expression—it is a catalyst for transformation—House Creatives PH is on a mission to equip individuals with the skills, mindset, and confidence to tell stories that change lives.

At the core of this movement is a powerful Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP):

“Creating Creators That Influence Transformation.”

Through immersive bootcamps, high-impact workshops, and deeply purposeful mentorship programs, House Creatives empowers entrepreneurs, professionals, and aspiring content creators to go beyond trends and build legacies. Whether you're a business owner looking to elevate your brand through storytelling or a creator wanting to inspire action, House Creatives offers the tools and support to make that leap.

Their flagship program, the Content Mastery Bootcamp (CMB), has become a proving ground for personal and professional breakthroughs. More than just technical training, it is a transformative experience that nurtures self-mastery, strategic communication, and authentic branding. Attendees don’t just learn how to create content—they know how to lead movements.

At the heart of this thriving community is a culture of collaboration, alignment, and shared growth. Participants leave not only with refined skills but also with a renewed sense of clarity, purpose, and connection.

From Real Talk to Real Impact

The spark behind House Creatives PH comes from Darbie Kim Estrebilla, widely known as Real Talk Darbs (RTD). A self-made entrepreneur and internationally recognized content creator, Darbs transformed his personal story of struggle, growth, and resilience into a platform that now uplifts thousands.

His motto, “One changed soul is worth more than a billion views,” has become the heartbeat of the community he built. Through House Creatives PH, he continues to turn passion into purpose, proving that with the right guidance, every story has the power to influence, inspire, and transform.

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VFS Global Leverages SAP Software to Power Digital Cross-Border Mobility

VFS Global Leverages SAP Software to Power Digital Cross-Border Mobility

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Christian Klein and Zubin Karkaria in New York, highlighting VFS Global's decision to leverage SAP software for enhancing digital transformation and supporting governments and travellers worldwide.

SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that VFS Global, the world-leading provider of visa, consular and technology services to governments and diplomatic missions, will leverage SAP software to help it develop leading-edge AI-powered digital solutions for cross-border mobility and citizen services.

Cross-border mobility and citizen services are becoming increasingly digital, and governments are looking into the use of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence to drive efficiency and sovereign security. To accelerate its innovation road map and help governments meet the increasingly complex needs of travelers and citizens, VFS Global is adopting SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and other SAP solutions.

“We take great pride in partnering with SAP as a leading and trusted technology and AI company,” said Zubin Karkaria, founder and CEO of VFS Global. “By combining our deep expertise in visa, consular and citizen services with SAP’s world-class solutions, we empower governments to enhance efficiency, strengthen security and enable seamless mobility for millions of travelers around the world.”

“With SAP solutions at its core, VFS will be able to leverage the latest innovations to become an even stronger partner for governments, travelers and citizens worldwide,” said Christian Klein, CEO of SAP SE.

In line with its vision to embrace technological innovation to support governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, VFS Global has also chosen SAP Business Technology Platform and the SAP Business Data Cloud solution to deliver leading-edge and AI-powered solutions to its customers and to drive operational excellence across its global operations.

“By combining the strengths of VFS Global and SAP, we are elevating cross-border mobility and citizen services to the next level”, said Michael Nilles, member of the VFS executive board and chief digital and technology officer. "Strategically, this positions us as a leading force in shaping the future of GovTech and TravelTech, powered by technology and AI innovations that benefit governments, travelers and citizens worldwide," he added.

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Palo Alto Networks Encourages Voter Vigilance as AI Threatens Digital Trust Ahead of 2025 Elections

Palo Alto Networks Encourages Voter Vigilance as AI Threatens Digital Trust Ahead of 2025 Elections

As the 2025 midterm elections approach, the Philippines’ digital landscape faces growing vulnerability to disinformation tactics from bad actors seeking to manipulate public perception. Amplifying this risk is the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), which introduces new levels of realism and precision that demand heightened vigilance, especially during major national events when public reliance on digital platforms surges.

There has been a surge in deepfake content in the country, with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) reporting that it monitors 200 to 300 deepfake incidents daily in the Philippines. In the lead-up to the elections, such sophisticated disinformation poses a serious risk to public trust and informed decision-making. Often integrated into broader social engineering campaigns, these tactics exploit trust and urgency to mislead individuals into sharing, believing, or acting on false information.

As Filipino voters prepare to head to the polls, Palo Alto Networks, the world’s leading AI cybersecurity company, shares practical recommendations to help individuals stay vigilant and protect themselves online amid heightened digital activity during the election period.

● Evaluate Digital Content Critically. As AI-generated content online becomes increasingly sophisticated, voters should assess the credibility of sources and verify information across multiple trusted channels before engaging or sharing.

● Be Cautious of Suspicious Messages. Phishing remains a top tactic for threat actors. Messages requesting personal details, containing strange links, or urging immediate action should raise red flags. Always verify the authenticity of these communications through trusted channels.

● Secure Personal Accounts with Multi-Factor Authentication. Voters are advised to strengthen the security of their personal accounts by enabling multi-factor authentication. This extra layer of security helps prevent unauthorized access, identity theft, data breaches, or misuse of private information.

● Verify Website Authenticity. Deceptive websites often impersonate official government platforms to mislead users. Always inspect web addresses, ensuring they use legitimate domains to avoid engaging with links from unfamiliar or unverified sources.

● Adopt a Zero Trust Mindset. As AI-driven threats become more convincing, voters should treat every message, link, and request with caution. Verify authenticity before engaging and keep devices updated to reduce exposure to evolving risks.

“Election periods heighten digital activity and open the door to more sophisticated, AI-driven threats,” said Steven Scheurmann, Regional Vice President for ASEAN at Palo Alto Networks. “What’s different today is the precision, scale, and speed at which disinformation can spread. Deepfakes and phishing scams are no longer obvious or amateur — they’re targeted, realistic, and timed to exploit moments of national significance. In this environment, every voter becomes a potential target. Proactive cyber hygiene isn’t just about personal safety anymore; it’s about protecting democratic trust at scale. We all have a role to play in strengthening the integrity of our digital way of life.”

The election period puts additional strain on digital spaces where information is exchanged. With AI accelerating the speed and scale of online activity, distinguishing between legitimate content and manipulation becomes increasingly challenging—and increasingly important.

This period underscores the need for shared responsibility, where platforms, institutions, and individuals all play a role in safeguarding the integrity of digital spaces. In an online environment shaped by speed and sophistication, the ability to pause, assess, and respond wisely has never been more crucial.

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Appdome Unleashes Most Comprehensive Mobile Bot Defense Profile for Industry Standard Web Application Firewalls

Appdome Unleashes Most Comprehensive Mobile Bot Defense Profile for Industry Standard Web Application Firewalls

Delivers 400+ Defenses in a single MobileBOT™ Protection Profile to Turn Web Application Firewalls into Fraud-Fighting Machines

Appdome, the leader in protecting mobile businesses, today announced at RSAC 2025 that its AI-Native MobileBOT™ Defense solution now offers the most comprehensive mobile bot defense profile on the market. Capable of evaluating 400+ attack vectors in Android & iOS apps, OSs, devices, user interfaces and networks, Appdome’s new MobileBOT™ defense profile allows network security teams to not only stop brute force bot and credential stuffing attacks but also stop hyper targeted, spear phishing, account takeover (ATO), KYC fraud, on-device fraud (ODF), and deepfake threats in real time across account creation, login, password reset, payment and other critical API endpoints.

“Up until now, mobile bot defense has been about trying to stop brute force bot and credential stuffing attacks and inspecting the mobile device for 2-3 threat signals,” said Tom Tovar, co-creator and CEO of Appdome. “This isn’t enough. Mobile brands need to stop brute force attacks, for sure, but they also evaluate mobile device, OS, application, user interface and network level threats before allowing anyone to connect to their APIs.”

AI Has Changed Bot Defense Forever

Modern bot attacks aren’t contained to brute force bot and credential stuffing attacks launched from bot farms, automated scripts and similar attack vectors. Today, bot attacks can also include hyper-targeted ATO attacks that use AI-generated deepfake images, face cloning, liveness spoofing, and mobile Trojans to bypass biometric checks of specific users. These attacks can also be combined with client-side malware to intercept OTPs, complete Captcha challenges, hijack sessions, and exploit sensitive app flows like login, payment, and password reset. Some bot attacks weaponize the mobile app itself—evading traditional anti-bot defenses and putting user trust, compliance, and revenue at risk.

AI-Native Bot Defense is the Future

Appdome’s AI-Native MobileBOT™ Defense redefines mobile bot protection by providing multi-layered defense built for Android & iOS environments. While legacy bot defense SDKs aren’t protected in the app, use vulnerable cookies or JWTs to identify apps, and monitor only a few basic threat indicators such as emulators and jailbreak/root, Appdome’s MobileBOT™ Defense provides application-level rate limiting to eliminate the risk of weaponized and zombie applications, immutable application fingerprinting using secured client certificates to stop brute force attacks, and provides deep session risk, evaluating up to 400 configurable attack vectors in a single bot defense profile. With Appdome MobileBOT™ Defense, network security teams can stop brute force attacks and scan the mobile environment for any sign of deepfakes, social engineering scams, voice cloning, trojan attacks, vishing, remote access trojans (RATs), mobile device takeovers, and more before allowing a connection.

“Your bot defense strategy has to take AI into consideration,” said Gil Hartman, founding engineer and Field CTO of Appdome. “Brute force bot and credential stuffing attacks are one way the attacker guesses the user name and password of the victim. With AI, guessing gets really easy, really fast and your network and API defense have to be able to repel more sophisticated ATO threats.”

Tailored Profiles Stop Targeted ATO Attacks

Using a single MobileBOT™ Defense Profile, mobile brands and enterprises can evaluate up to 400+ attack vectors before allowing connections to any API, endpoint, or host. More importantly, network security teams can create separate defense profiles to address the specific threats applicable to each API. For example, network security professionals can evaluate different threats in each bot defense profile for:

Sign Up & Onboarding APIs - Detect the presence of fake users and devices signing up to your service including fake taps, clicks, swipes, gestures as well as fake location and devices.

Sign In & Password Reset APIs - Detect the presence of spyware such as keyloggers, overlay attacks, and activity monitoring, as well as ATO risk from deepfakes, ATS Malware and more.

Payment APIs – Detect the presence of data harvesting and trojan malware, MiTM attacks, session hijacks, OS compromises, vishing, social engineering scams and more.

“Tailored threat evaluation per API or host across 400+ threat vectors is huge,” said a leading industry analyst. “This level of deep inspection per API allows network security professionals to turn any Web Application Firewall into Mobile Fraud Fighting machine and get so much more out of their WAFs.”

Layered Defense to Stop All Mobile Bot Attacks

Appdome’s MobileBOT™ Defense solution is the only anti-bot solution purpose built for mobile applications, mobile environments and mobile businesses. Every feature of MobileBOT Defense is designed to address the unique computing environment, threat vectors and operating requirements of the mobile channel. Here are just some of the key elements of MobileBOT Defense by Appdome:

App-Level Rate Limiting – Leverages the compute on the mobile device to throttle API requests coming from “noisy,” malware controlled or zombie mobile apps.

Application Fingerprinting – MTLS Pre-Check authenticates the real app during the TLS handshake, allowing network security teams to deny API requests from bot farms, bot scripts and fake applications.

Extended Bot Defense Profiles – Evaluate session risk across up to 400+ separate threat vectors in mobile devices, OS, applications, user interface and networks to stop targeted ATOs, KYC Fraud and On-Device Fraud on a per API basis.

Pin to Host – Uses Appdome’s secure certificate pinning to validate the authenticity of servers your application is connecting to per API.

Dynamic API Updates - Remotely update protected hosts and endpoints without a new app release.

Zero-Trust and Dynamic Threat Evaluation – Allows network security professionals to control when threat evaluations are performed.

Hardened Implementation in Apps – Delivers tamper-proof anti-bot implementation in Android & iOS apps, free of spoofing, interception and compromise.

All Mobile App Compatibility – Works seamlessly with any Android or iOS app.

No-SDK, No Server Delivery - Eliminates integration work and infrastructure overhead, accelerating deployment and eliminating engineering work.

All Web Application Firewall Compatibility – Compatible with all industry standard WAFs; no change outs required.

“To protect Mobile APIs from bot and ATO attacks, you need a bot defense product that is purpose-built for the unique threats and challenges of your mobile app and business,” said Chris Roeckl, Chief Product Officer at Appdome. “You also need an anti-bot solution that works with all the Web Application Firewalls you have today and tomorrow, otherwise it just doesn’t work.”

With the MobileBOT release, Appdome now offers full flexibility for mixing and matching where and how to enforce mobile app protections. Mobile businesses can enforce these protections at the client app level, network layer, or a combination of both. Whether stopping brute force bots or user-level targeted fraud, Appdome’s layered defense model ensures optimal protection and performance.

Appdome’s MobileBOT Defense requires no SDKs, no servers, and no changes to existing WAF infrastructure, bypassing the limitations, complexity and cost of traditional anti-bot products. By working with any WAF, businesses can preserve and extend their WAF investments and, with client-side rate limiting, can dramatically lower data processing costs.

Appdome is demonstrating the AI-Native MobileBOT Defense solution and the full Appdome AI-Native Platform at RSAC in San Francisco at booth South-0948.

To learn more about AI-powered bot protection for mobile apps, you can request a personalized demo at www.appdome.com/mobilebot-defense.

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DoubleVerify Expands Its AI-Powered Brand Safety & Suitability Offering for TikTok to Include Pre-Bid Video Controls

DoubleVerify Expands Its AI-Powered Brand Safety & Suitability Offering for TikTok to Include Pre-Bid Video Controls

Monday, April 28, 2025

Global brands can access automated pre-bid video exclusion lists to protect brand equity and maximize ad performance on TikTok

DoubleVerify (“DV”) (NYSE: DV), a leading software platform for digital media measurement, data and analytics, today announced the launch of pre-bid video exclusion lists for TikTok—expanding the company’s footprint of trusted, independent brand suitability and media performance tools on the platform. This release will allow advertisers to proactively avoid content they deem objectionable before their ads are served, maximizing media quality, campaign performance and advertising ROI.

“We’re excited to launch DV’s pre-bid video controls on TikTok, empowering advertisers to enhance both the impact and quality of their campaigns,” said Mark Zagorski, CEO of DoubleVerify. “Powered by DV’s industry-leading, AI-driven classification technology, this solution helps advertisers ensure that ads appear in environments that align with their brand settings—driving stronger engagement, maximizing ad performance, and instilling greater confidence in their digital investments.”

With this release, advertisers will benefit from:

Comprehensive Coverage: Combine DV’s pre-bid controls with post-bid reporting to ensure end-to-end campaign measurement and optimization.

Operational Efficiency: Benefit from pre-bid activation that requires no manual upkeep and auto-refreshes in near real-time, ensuring seamless, always-on protection.

Enhanced Performance: Ensure ads do not appear next to objectionable content, reducing media waste and maximizing advertising ROI.

DV’s solution is powered by its proprietary, AI-powered Universal Content Intelligence™ classification engine. DV analyzes video, image, audio, and text elements to deliver superior content classifications at scale. Its innovative key frame extraction method is a smarter and faster way to analyze video content. Instead of examining each video frame, which can be repetitive and time-consuming, key frame extraction focuses only on the most important moments where changes happen. This streamlined approach uses less computing power and reduces environmental impact––ensuring an efficient, quicker, and more accurate analysis of campaigns, without sacrificing quality or precision.

DV’s automated pre-bid video controls and reporting insights are activated through DV Pinnacle®, the company’s unified service and analytics reporting platform, enabling advertisers to monitor and optimize their TikTok ad campaigns.

Additionally, DV is enhancing its TikTok dashboard in DV Pinnacle®, equipping brands with greater transparency into ad delivery and deeper insights for campaign optimization. Launching in the coming months, these updates will introduce top-level pre-bid filtering, enabling brands to analyze reporting specifically for campaigns with pre-bid controls, along with content previews for flagged incidents—empowering advertisers with more actionable intelligence.

For more information about DoubleVerify, visit http://www.doubleverify.com.

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To Thrive, Not Just Survive: The Need to Accelerate Digital Transformation in Southeast Asia’s Insurance Industry

To Thrive, Not Just Survive: The Need to Accelerate Digital Transformation in Southeast Asia’s Insurance Industry

How Insurtechs like Igloo are driving digital transformation and expanding access to coverage

Southeast Asia’s insurance industry is at a crossroads. Despite rapid economic growth and rising demand for financial protection, insurance penetration remains low. In fact, in many countries like the Philippines, it remains at 1.78%, while countries like Vietnam are at 2.8% and Indonesia is at 1.4%.

One of the biggest barriers in the industry is its continued reliance on outdated legacy systems, which create inefficiencies in underwriting, claims processing, and customer management, driving up costs and making insurance inaccessible to many. The region’s fragmented market, made up of numerous small, independent insurers, further complicates digital transformation efforts, leaving the industry ill-equipped to meet evolving consumer expectations.

“Unlike global insurance powerhouses that invest heavily in digital ecosystems, Southeast Asia’s insurance market remains highly fragmented. Many insurers operated independently, lacking the scale to afford large-scale technological upgrades,” said Raunak Mehta, Igloo’s Co-Founder and CEO. “As an insurtech that has been in the industry for almost a decade, Igloo has seen how shifting to digital is not an option anymore–it’s a necessity. Without it, the industry risks falling further behind and leaving millions of underserved individuals without access to affordable coverage. An accelerated digital transformation is the key to bridging this gap, enabling insurers to offer innovative products and improve accessibility for the growing middle class in Southeast Asia.”

Modernizing insurance processes end-to-end

Igloo, a regional insurtech leader with over 650 million policies facilitated and more than 75 partnerships, offers innovative embedded insurance solutions that seamlessly integrate insurance into core business products. This simplifies policy applications, purchases, and claims management, reducing friction for providers and distributors while streamlining underwriting and claims processing to make the system more efficient, user-friendly, and accessible to a broader audience.

Igloo partners with major online platforms like Lazada and Shopee, payment services such as GCash in the Philippines to develop customized insurance products that integrate into their digital ecosystems. It also collaborates with telecom companies like Smart, consumer finance platforms like Skyro and Salmon, and B2B MSME enabler Growsari in the Philippines to expand access to insurance across various sectors. This frictionless model simplifies the purchasing process, improving conversion rates and appealing to customers who may not have considered insurance otherwise.

Meanwhile, Igloo’s Ignite platform streamlines the sales process for intermediaries, offering a user-friendly interface, a quick quote system, secure payment processing, and real-time referral fee tracking. With 42 products across nine categories, Ignite has expanded to Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and was awarded Mobile App of the Year - Vietnam at the Insurance Asia Awards 2024.

The next step to digitalization? Leaving legacy systems behind

“But beyond this, we see immense value in helping insurers of all sizes fully embrace digital transformation by evolving their systems to become more agile and customer-centric,” said Mehta.

Igloo is helping the industry move away from legacy systems by introducing modular, no-code platforms that enable businesses to scale efficiently, reduce operational complexities, and enhance customer experiences. This way, Igloo empowers insurers to digitally define their underwriting rules, set up sales and operational processes, and launch products through the appropriate distribution channels. They can then monitor performance and identify areas for improvement. From creating their insurance marketplaces to seamlessly embedding products with retail partners' platforms, and improving agent-driven insurance sales, Igloo is reshaping how insurance can be delivered in a modern, scalable way.

“At the end of the day, our role as an insurtech is not only to facilitate digitalization but also to enable insurers to thrive in this era of digitalization. By adopting scalable technologies, insurers can simplify operations, expand their reach, and provide value to customers in ways that traditional systems simply couldn’t,” Mehta added.

Learn more about Igloo’s products and solutions by visiting iglooinsure.com.

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