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DITO Telecommunity taps retired colonel to beef up cybersecurity, plans to hire more military retirees

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Bruce Rodriguez, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/02/20/dito-(1).jpg"/><figcaption>DITO Telecommunications and Udenna Corporation headquarters in Taguig City, February 20, 2020. <em>Jessica Fenol, ABS-CBN News/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATED)</strong> — DITO Telecommunity, the country&#x27;s third telco player, has hired a retired military official to help strengthen its security systems against cyber attacks. </p><p>This, amid concerns about the involvement of a Chinese state-run firm in the consortium while Manila and Beijing remain locked in a dispute over the West Philippine Sea. </p><p>DITO Chief Technology Officer Rodolfo Santiago said former Col. Roleen del Prado, an expert in cybersecurity, has been tapped to lead the company&#x27;s cybersecurity efforts. The company has hired at least 9 retired military officers who are helping the company&#x27;s operations, Santiago said. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Dito Chief Technology Officer Rodolfo Santiago says they&#x27;ve hired a retired colonel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines to beef up their cybersecurity system</p>— Bruce T. Rodriguez (@BruceTRodriguez) <a href="https://twitter.com/BruceTRodriguez/status/1336877857834856450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2020</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>&quot;Hindi pa uso ang cybersecurity noon, nag-aaral na ng cybersecurity yun. We also have to ensure that our network will not be utilized to threaten national security,&quot; Santiago said in a press briefing. </p><p>(This military official was already studying cybersecurity even when it wasn&#x27;t a thing yet.)</p><p>Santiago, who is a retired general himself, said the best people to handle cybersecurity are from the military. </p><p>&quot;If you&#x27;re going to scan the local cybersecurity industry, this is true even in other countries, those that have been with the armed forces doing cybersecurity are, I think, the best persons to be utilized for very, very critical cybersecurity requirements.&quot;</p><p>So far, Del Prado has already played a key role in the conceptualization, requirement determination, and the design of DITO’s cybersecurity system, including the selection of the system provider, according to Santiago.</p><p>The telco <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/17/20/dito-picks-us-firm-as-cybersecurity-solutions-provider-says-fortunate-with-china-telecom-on-board" target="_blank">earlier tapped</a> a US-based cybersecurity firm, Fortinet, amid concerns Beijing might use the company to spy on Manila, since one of its main backers is China Telecom, which owns less than 40 percent of DITO.</p><div><strong>More former military men to be hired in DITO</strong></div><p>Santiago said the former military men who were hired will help ensure the security of the company and in its eventual commercial rollout in March next year.</p><p>He said the company is poised to hire more retirees from the Armed Forces of the Philippines because of their work ethic and their sense of duty in protecting national security.</p><p>&quot;These people that we have gotten from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, including Major General Santiago, their job description was to protect the territorial integrity of this country, that is something that&#x27;s in their DNA,” DITO Chief Administrative Officer Adel Tamano said.</p><p>&quot;That is why we&#x27;re not hesitant to get people from the Armed Forces of the Philippines,&quot; he added.</p><p>Asked to comment about the hiring of former military personnel in the telco, former acting Information and Communications Technology Secretary Eliseo Rio said DITO’s agreement with Fortinet is already a strong assurance that its network would not be used to compromise the country&#x27;s national security.</p><p>In fact, he added, Globe and Smart were also required to hire a cybersecurity vendor “as around 85 percent of the equipment used by these incumbent telcos are Chinese in origin.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The government and our people will depend on Fortinet in monitoring DITO’s cyber security status, who also will provide oversight on how the personnel of DITO, whether military or not, handle the cybersecurity concerns of DITO, so that our national interest will not be compromised,” Rio, who oversaw the selection of a third major telco player, explained. </p><p>Accounting firm RG Manabat &amp; Co. (KPMG Philippines) will conduct a technical audit on DITO in January next year, ahead of its March schedule for commercial launch.</p><p>Tamano said they are planning to invite Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, other government officials and the media to be a part of their second testing of the network.</p><p>Unlike other telcos, the government required DITO to provide a cybersecurity plan, which the latter took into account, saying it is investing heavily in security systems.</p><p>DITO said despite their limited coverage compared with other big telco players, they hope they can make up for it with better services.</p><p>The company has enough towers and fiber cables to meet their commitments to the government by March, it said.</p><p>DITO earlier committed to provide at least 27 mbps in internet speed to 37 percent or some 7,425 barangays in its first year of service.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/12/07/20/senate-panel-defers-renewal-of-ditos-franchise-until-third-telco-delivers-27mbps-service">Senate panel defers renewal of DITO&#x27;s franchise until third telco delivers 27mbps service</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/04/16/20/third-telco-on-track-to-meet-deadlines-despite-pandemic-dict">Third telco &#x27;on track&#x27; to meet deadlines despite pandemic: DICT</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/txzsgKNq_QA?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p><strong>(UPDATED)</strong> — DITO Telecommunity, the country's third telco player, has hired a retired military official to help strengthen its security systems against cyber attacks.</p>

(UPDATED) — DITO Telecommunity, the country's third telco player, has hired a retired military official to help strengthen its security systems against cyber attacks.

DITO Telecommunity taps retired colonel to beef up cybersecurity, plans to hire more military retirees

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DITO Telecommunity taps retired colonel to beef up cybersecurity, plans to hire more military retirees

Bruce Rodriguez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 10, 2020 01:59 PM PHT

|

Updated Dec 10, 2020 09:53 PM PHT

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DITO

DITO Telecommunity

cybersecurity

cyber attacks

cyber threats

DITO commercial launch

third telco

espionage

internet

internet speed

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