PLDT, Smart kept customers safe, fortifying cybersecurity in 2021

PLDT and its wireless subsidiary Smart Communications, Inc. are safeguarding the public against emerging cyber threats and vulnerabilities, including online fraud and other criminal activities, investing nearly Php 3 billion in cybersecurity infrastructure in 2021 alone. 

These major investments have strengthened the PLDT group’s predictive, detective, and responsive capabilities, acquiring more than 200 million cyber threat intelligence information, and detecting and preventing close to 300 million combined types of cyber attacks this year.  

Following the recent spate of fraudulent spam messages, PLDT and Smart’s threat intelligence operations have been actively identifying malicious domains that trap people who end up victims to fraud. This year, PLDT and Smart have already blocked 8 billion attempts made by subscribers to access phishing and scamming sites that would have victimized them, and have likewise blocked at least 15,000 mobile numbers related to SMS spam in November.

“The safety of our subscribers remains our highest priority. PLDT and Smart will ensure that customers are protected from becoming victims to this targeted and well-organized scam from end-to-end,” said Angel T. Redoble, Chief Information Security Officer of PLDT and Smart, who recently received a Leadership Award at the inaugural CSO ASEAN Awards and landed a place in the region’s Top 5 cybersecurity leaders, along with other executives in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Atop warding off phishing attacks, PLDT and Smart have also restricted access to 127,000 online child sexual abuse materials, and have worked closely with local and global partners in their war against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC).

To ensure the sustainability of their fortified cybersecurity program, PLDT and Smart also started conducting Cyber War Games in 2021, where “we identify different types of sophisticated attacks as well as our existing controls and processes, and we assess if these controls and processes can be retained or must be improved moving forward,” said Redoble.

PLDT and Smart’s cybersecurity leadership extends to the assistance it provides to the Philippine Air Force to improve their capability in cybersecurity operations, including building a Cybersecurity Center for Excellence with the help of PLDT and Smart Chairman Manuel Pangilinan.

PLDT and Smart’s expertise in cybersecurity also allowed the two telcos to assist the Philippine House of Representatives in revising a law concerning the protection of children particularly from OSAEC, with the use of technology and other cybersecurity capabilities.