Globe Telecom Inc. reported Monday that it has blocked over 138 million spam and scam messages in its network from January to June 15 this year.
The anti-spam blocking peaked in May, with 74.48 million total unwanted messages filtered out. The total figure includes app-to-person and person-to-person messages of both local and international origin, Globe said.
The digital solutions platform also deactivated 12,877 mobile numbers from January to May due to spamming out of customer reports via Globe’s Stop Spam web portal.
“Many Filipinos were quick to adopt all things digital. Unfortunately, with the increase in adoption, the cyber security landscape has become bleaker. A lot of attacks have happened over the past 10 years but the pandemic has been a force multiplier,” said Anton Bonifacio, Globe Chief Information Security Officer.
“This is why we have intensified even more our efforts to block spam messages through a stringent filtering system. We are also glad that the public has been vigilant, making use of our reporting portal to flag these unwanted messages.”
Globe started its cyber security transformation journey in 2014 by building its capabilities to prevent attacks and threats to its infrastructure and protect its customers. It has a security operations center that works 24/7 to fend off and detect attacks or breaches very quickly and over 100 people dedicated to cyber security efforts.
In February, the company announced that it blocked a total of 1.15 billion scam and spam messages, around 7,000 mobile numbers linked to scammers, and 2,000 unofficial social media accounts and phishing sites last year.
Globe said it invests in tools to proactively detect suspicious content on the internet to protect its employees and customers from online attacks. Reporting tools and processes were also enabled for employees, customers, and partners to immediately capture customer concerns on fraud and scams.
The company had also collaborated with all major commercial banks and online retailers in the country to ensure quick and efficient handling of spam and fraud. Partners are provided with a direct and round-the-clock communication channel to report malicious or fraudulent activities for immediate investigation and blocking.