Within the first six months of 2022, PLDT and Smart, one of the country’s biggest telecommunications companies, have banned as many as 650 websites suspected of being associated with text scams, particularly smishing.
It serves as a layer of protection for customers who scams may unwittingly target, said Angel Redoble, PLDT’s first vice president and chief information security officer.
Smishing refers explicitly to the text messages disseminated over a network to deceive the targeted recipients by masquerading as legit institutions, such as banks, tour operators, or recruitment agencies, to reveal personal and sensitive info.
Smart’s Cybersecurity Operations Group (COG) explains that the internet is comprised of three layers, which most internet users are unaware of. The COG warns that the deeper layers pose more significant risks for the average internet user.
For example, the deep web and the dark web, which are only accessible to a select number of people, are locations where illegal activities, such as money laundering, occur online.
To tackle fraud, PLDT and Smart have invested a total of ₱3 Billion throughout 2021 in strengthening the cybersecurity infrastructure of the two companies as part of their initiative.
READ: Public Urged to Use In-Device Filters to Combat SMS Scams
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