Cybersecurity and data privacy have become a hot topic for all of us, and Globe Telecom recognizes the urgent need to address the cybersecurity issues threatening financial institutions and the use of mobile e-wallets. Globe Telecom has its own dedicated spam reporting website to assist customers in reporting spam activities, as well as partnerships with banks and e-commerce platforms.
"I believe the National Privacy Commission (NPC) is doing an excellent job of coordinating all of these efforts. Someone has to. We've been spearheading a lot more industry partnerships, private sector partnerships, and NPC is still doing their investigations (about smishing and banking hack attacks)," says Anton Bonifacio, Globe Telecom's Chief Information Security Officer, during today's roundtable discussion with the media on cybersecurity.
The news over the weekend was flooded with reports of hacking incidents in which funds were transferred from BDO to one or more Union Bank of the Philippines (UBP) accounts without the permission of the bank's owners and depositors. BDO transferred funds ranging from P25,000 to P50,000 to one or more UB accounts.
In November, NPC, the country's data privacy watchdog, launched an investigation into the prevalence of text spams offering high-paying jobs to Filipinos.
"We've already begun our investigations, and the target numbers came from Facebook groups. Everyone seems to be forgetting that there was a massive Facebook breach in 2021. There were a plethora of names and numbers associated with those who became victims. I'm not dismissing the possibility that the numbers we provided through the contact tracing apps could be used in future campaigns. But I don't think this job offer scam points to that, but it could be used at some point," Bonifacio explained, referring to SMS phishing as a conduit for cybercriminals to continue their illegal operations who offer high-paying jobs through text messaging.
Bonifacio also stated that these hackers could obtain access to the personal information of any target victims from a variety of sources. With all this rampant fraud and scamming, many people are questioning the security of these banking institutions and online financial platforms. Even with the most advanced and have implemented additional security controls to block further attempts and continue to protect bank credentials, the scammers were able to access their personal information.
"In this digital age, trust is a currency. It's something we absolutely agree with, and it's one of those things that we hold dear to our hearts. I believe that regaining that trust is part of the challenge. It's truly what we must deal with daily. I think for us, it's more about being focused, primarily not to lose those trust to begin with," Bonifacio responded when asked how Globe maintains customer confidence and trust.
With all these challenges, Globe is doing a lot of things, such as reaching out to people through various channels of media information to ensure that the relationship between Globe and its customers is strong.
"We will continue to offer great services. Even though trust is a currency, providing services remains one of our primary concerns. I believe that if we can balance all of those, we should be able to continue to earn the business of our resource," Bonifacio added.