PLDT allots P1 billion annually to beef up cybersecurity

MANILA, Philippines — Telco giant PLDT Inc. is not letting up on investments to bolster its cybersecurity amid evolving and increasing cyberthreats and attacks.

PLDT and Smart Communications Inc. president and CEO Alfredo Panlilio said the company intends to spend P1 billion annually for cybersecurity.

“We will continue to invest about a P1 billion a year on cybersecurity,” Panlilio said.

“Knock on wood, our cybersecurity team has done a good job, but we continue to monitor and continue to make sure that we're able to be secured,” he said.

For last year alone, PLDT and Smart invested nearly P3 billion in cybersecurity infrastructure to safeguard the public against emerging cyberthreats and vulnerabilities, including online fraud and other criminal activities.

The investments have strengthened the PLDT group’s predictive, detective, and responsive capabilities, acquiring more than 200 million cyberthreat intelligence information.

It likewise detected and prevented close to 300 million combined types of cyberattacks last year.

The country saw a wide range of cyberattacks in 2021, targeting stakeholders of public and private organizations, and even everyday consumers through mobile devices and social media platforms.

To further boost its cyberthreat intelligence operations, PLDT announced last month a partnership with technology giant Microsoft for intelligence sharing in the country.

Under the partnership, PLDT and Microsoft will work together to strengthen the country’s digital borders and infrastructure security against cyberthreats through Microsoft’s Cyber Threat Intelligence Program (CTIP).

Microsoft's CTIP is driven by an international team of technical, legal, and business experts called Digital Crimes Unit, which was created in 2008 to combat cybercrime on a global scale.

The partnership with Microsoft is expected to help fortify PLDT’s existing and robust cybersecurity capabilities in preventing and mitigating cyberthreats and attacks.