PLDT and wireless arm Smart Communications further intensify the fight against online sexual abuse and exploitation of children by tapping cybersecurity solutions firm Palo Alto Networks to develop a Child Protection Platform.

PLDT and Smart have been constantly updating the public of the number of content or URLs the providers have blocked every month. The most recent report says the two companies, through its own cybersecurity group, blocked over 224K URLs linked to online child abuse in April this year.

The Child Protection Platform powered by Palo Alto Networks blocks traffic at the content level and comply with regulatory requirements pertaining to illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Palo Alto Network Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) and Cloud-Delivered Security Services including Threat Prevention, Advanced URL Filtering and WildFire scrutinize the content and convert URLs for redirection if CSAM-related traffic is found. Through the matching of blocked URLs against the blocked listing policy, the solution put in place will then alert PLDT and Smart that the user is trying to access CSAM.

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“As the attack surface for children is expanding due to increased time spent online for academics and entertainment, a scalable cybersecurity solution is needed to be implemented to ensure their online safety,” said Oscar Visaya, Philippine country manager at Palo Alto Networks. “Providing the technological infrastructure for the Child Protection Platform, our collaboration with PLDT and Smart and their extensive network coverage will accelerate our vision of protecting the next generation from CSAM content.”

In strengthening its efforts, aside from Palo Alto Networks, the companies have joined international alliances, expressed support in government initiatives, and forged strategic alliances.

Palo Alto Networks, for its part, promises to ensure that the solution it provides to the PLDT and Smart Child Protection Platform is designed with scale and speed to integrate any future challenges that may arise in fighting perpetrators of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children.