PLDT & Smart invest ₱3 B in cybersecurity

By EMMIE V. ABADILLA

PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications, Inc. invested this year P3 billion in its cybersecurity infrastructure, the telcos disclosed Friday, November 11.

The investment enabled their Cyber Security Operations Group (CSOG) to amass more than 123 million Indicators of Compromise (IOC) in the company’s threat intelligence database.

The IOCs made it possible for PLDT and Smart to thwart over 114 million cyberattacks and data breaches, as well as block 13 billion attempts to open malicious domains by the end of September this year.

“Cybersecurity has become a national agenda," stressed Angel Redoble, Chief Information Security Officer of PLDT and Smart.

"We need allies from the government and private organizations to keep Filipinos safe against cyberattacks. We are no longer securing systems, we are keeping entire communities safe,” he maintained.

The PLDT Group is also helping to build a state-of-the-art cybersecurity center at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

The facility will boost the military’s cyber defense capabilities as part of its modernization.

In addition, PLDT and Smart recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Philippine Army’s Cyber Battalion for cyberthreat intelligence information sharing.

Notably, both telcos foster a culture of cybersecurity in the workplace.

From being the weakest link to becoming force multipliers, CSOG’s regular awareness and phishing simulations have boosted the capability of PLDT and Smart employees in identifying malicious files.

So far, employee reports have grown six-fold since the telcos launched simulations and the PLDT Group has not suffered any breaches due to employee negligence.