PLDT, Smart laud government state-of-the-art cybercrime lab, vow to keep internet safer for kids

PLDT and Smart laud the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) for opening its latest state-of-the-art Digital Forensics Platform and Laboratory (DFPAL) in Quezon City to boost government efforts against cybercrimes, particularly, Online Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Children (OSAEC).

The DFPAL will enable the CICC to monitor and coordinate with other law enforcement agencies in conducting thorough digital and forensic investigations and assist them in identifying, apprehending, and convicting entities associated with OSAEC.

“Children became more vulnerable to cyberattacks after the pandemic forced them to stay at home and get online to study and connect with friends, and cyber criminals have also been targeting them. We have fortified our cyber defenses and strengthened our coordination with the government to make the internet safer for kids,” said Angel Redoble, Chief Information Security Officer at PLDT and Smart.

PLDT and Smart have scaled up initiatives in support of the government’s efforts to clamp down on online child abuse. Their Child Protection Platform has blocked almost 300,000 URLs tied to OSAEC by the end of May.

Built on their alliance with the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) and Project Arachnid of the Canadian Center for Child Protection (C3P), aided by open-source and commercial threat intelligence gathering, and links shared by law enforcement agencies, the Child Protection Platform has also prevented more than a billion attempts to access these illegal sites from November last year to May this year.

PLDT and Smart have also joined peers and other stakeholders from the private and government sectors in calling for President Rodrigo Duterte to sign into law the Anti-OSAEC Act before his term ends on June 30, 2022. Ratified by the House of Representatives and the Senate in May, the proposed law will institutionalize the taking down of websites that stream or host materials showing abuse of minors, as well as impose stiffer penalties against parties involved in child abuse cases.

These programs underscore PLDT and Smart’s commitment to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No.16 on promoting just, peaceful and inclusive societies including the end to abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.