PLDT and its wholly-owned wireless communications and digital services subsidiary, Smart, are working closely with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to bolster the country’s cybersecurity infrastructure against cyberattacks.
During the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) Castle Siege 2 cybersecurity exercise that was also attended by other branches of the armed forces, the AFP Cyber Group, national agencies and the academe, PLDT and Smart Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan urged cybersecurity stakeholders to establish and improve communication lines by sharing threat intelligence and best practices and undertaking joint simulation exercises.
The Philippines is being bombarded with cyber-attacks daily. According to the PLDT group, just in the first half of 2023, it thwarted more than 5.5 billion cyber-attacks and attempts to breach its digital network.
The PLDT group has been working closely with the Air Force in cybersecurity skills development. PLDT and Smart’s Cyber Security Operations Group (CSOG) previously trained Air Force personnel in the latest cybersecurity strategies. It is also building a cybersecurity operations center at the Villamor Air Force Base in Pasay City. The first MVP Cybersecurity Center for Excellence aims to boost the military’s cyber defense capabilities as part of the AFP modernization.
(Sources: ABS-CBN News; Philippine News Agency)
