In continuing the fight against online predators that target children, PLDT and subsidiary Smart Communications are partnering up with US-based cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks to safeguard children through a new platform, according to company officials in a statement.
Speaking to reporters, PLDT and Smart Communications FVP and Chief Information Security Officer Angel Redoble explains that although to block and monitor at the content level would be a violation of privacy laws, the collaborative initiative instead devised a means whereby child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) can be blocked.
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Described as an original approach, the platform detects if a subscriber is trying to gain access to backlisted content, which—whether file names or videos containing child sexual abuse materials—will then be redirected to Palo Alto Networks landing page.
Since the project launched in November, the platform has blocked 1 billion attempts at accessing CSAM, per Redoble.
Palo Alto Networks Philippine Country Manager Oscar Visaya claims the Herculean task that comes with the development of the pioneering platform since it was never done before.