ePLDT calls on IT experts to form front vs hacking

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Inc. (PLDT) information technology unit ePLDT Inc. has called for more cybersecurity experts to be recruited in deterring hacking and other cybercrime incidents in the future. 

The company has reiterated the need for organizations, particularly the public sector, to hire the right talent to strengthen their efforts on cybersecurity.

“Cyber security is one of the most pressing issues faced by the government today, not only in the Philippines but also worldwide. This raises the need for the public sector to either hire security professionals or engage with partners who can do that job for them,” Nico Alcoseba, vice president and head of PLDT’s Disruptive Business Group, said.

“Because the rapidly increasing demand for information security professionals far outpaces the market supply, there will come a time when even the most up-to-date infrastructure will not be enough to meet the level of security needed in the public sector,” he added.

A study by Frost and Sullivan, which was conducted on behalf of the International Information Security Certification Commission (ISC), disclosed that there will be a shortfall of 1.5 million cybersecurity professionals by 2020.

ePLDT, the digital enterprise enabler of PLDT, related that organizations are faced with global security expertise shortage on top of other existing internal challenges, such as budget priorities and compliance concerns.

“Finding, hiring and retaining top security administrators can be difficult and yet is strategically critical, especially now that the public sector is accelerating its own digital transformation. At ePLDT, we offer the right solutions and the right people, backed with globally benchmarked security practices, that enable us to manage security policies and systems and help organizations comply to regulatory policies and standards,” Nerissa Ramos, group chief operating officer of ePLDT, stated.

The firm also offers Managed Security solutions that help organizations avoid incurring substantial costs through a more flexible operational expenditure model and protect endpoints, whether in dedicated or hybrid environments.

ePLDT employs a risk-based methodology (Identity, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover) adopted from the cybersecurity framework recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an internationally recognized standards body that is an agency under the US Department of Commerce, which provides a high-level strategic view of an organization’s management of cybersecurity risk.

“ePLDT’s security engineers received international certifications on various security hardware and best practices,” Ramos said. “Offloading IT and security maintenance upgrades to our pool of experts will go a long way in ensuring that the government is secured as it goes through its digital journey.”