In the business of saving lives: PDRF strengthens disaster management efforts with ePLDT’s Cyber Security services
Disasters may happen anytime, anywhere yet more frequently in the
Philippines with its high vulnerability and exposure to natural hazards.
Raising national awareness and preparedness on natural disasters, however, can
reduce its disruptive damages and risks to loss of life.
Prompted by its mission to strengthen the country’s resiliency
against natural calamities, PDRF forged a partnership with industry-leading
enabler of digital solutions ePLDT to enhance its defense against cyberattacks
and future-proof its business of saving lives.
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Philippine
Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) President Butch Meily showcases
the organization’s large-scale digital mapping of the Philippine fault zone in
their command center
Creating a
disaster-ready Philippines
The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) aims to play
a role in different phases of disaster management such as response, recovery
and rehabilitation. It is composed of over 80 private corporations and leading
non-government organization (NGO) members and coordinates private sector solutions
for disaster management.
When a magnitude 6.1 earthquake jolted Luzon on April 22, PDRF,
through its member companies, was one of the first organizations to quickly
respond to the emergency and rescue operations in Pampanga which sustained
around P121.7 million worth of damage to its roads and infrastructure.
“We’re now
leading the idea that the private sector has a role to play in terms of
disaster management. Private organizations like ours can go ahead and
volunteer using our resources and core expertise to respond and help rebuild
places that have been hit by disasters,” PDRF President
Butch Meily said.
A
first-of-its-kind Emergency Operations Center
In order to
mitigate and quickly respond to different kinds of calamities in the country,
PDRF needed monitoring tools that would allow them to identify hazards and
risks prior to the impacts of incoming natural disasters.
The
organization recently built the world’s first national private sector-owned
National Emergency Operations Center in Clark, Pampanga which is being utilized
to monitor storms, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions across the Philippine
archipelago.
With the
critical information bits the Emergency Operations Center processes, it calls
for robust security measures that will protect its mission-critical data from
potential cyber threats and attacks.
“The nature
of the data that we handle is very sensitive. If there are any attempts to hack
our system or steal our data, we need to have robust cyber security
technologies in place which only ePLDT was able to provide,” said Meily.
Future-proofing
PDRF’s business of saving lives
To help
PDRF remain prepared for both natural and cyber disasters alike, the
organization penned a partnership with ePLDT for its Cyber Security solutions.
“This
partnership is an opportunity for ePLDT to help a leading organization like
PDRF enhance its disaster preparedness and response initiatives,” said Nerisse
Ramos, Senior Vice President & Group Chief Operating Officer of ePLDT.
“With ePLDT’s homegrown expertise and global-class methodology, we can further
strengthen PDRF’s cyber defenses that will help them to transform the
Philippines into becoming a more disaster-resilient country.”
Through the
partnership, ePLDT helped upgrade PDRF’s existing security technologies with
its Managed Security Service that included the management and maintenance of
the latter’s firewall.
PDRF also
subscribed to ePLDT’s Security Operations Center-as-a-Service (SOCaaS), which
gives the former a dedicated cybersecurity team that proactively monitors their
network 24/7 and immediately responds in the event of a cyberattack.
Class-on-its-own
cyber security technologies
ePLDT
delivers best-in-class Cyber Security services and solutions that allow
businesses to redefine their cyber defenses against a wide range of cyber
threats.
“With
emerging cyber threats becoming more and more dangerous each day, it is crucial
for reputable organizations like PDRF to have security measures in place.
Cyberattacks can easily cripple an organization today especially with
associated risks of financial losses, business disruptions, and damage to reputation,”
said Angel Redoble, First Vice President & Chief Information Security
Officer of ePLDT Group, PLDT Group & SMART.
Through
ePLDT’s SOCaaS, PDRF will be informed of any malicious activities in their
systems within minutes they are discovered. PDRF will also receive monthly
reports to ensure their awareness of cyber incidents within the organization.
Today, PDRF
is equipped with the cyber security it needs to further build the nation’s
resilience and help mitigate damages from future disasters. “We would not be
able to operate at our top level without the assurance of having ePLDT there
and providing cyber security. I feel much more secure now by having ePLDT as a
partner, I’m very sure of that,” Meily concluded.
ePLDT is
the premier provider of holistic digital business solutions in the Philippines.
Apart from Cyber Security, ePLDT's products and services that are up to par
with international-global benchmarks also include Cloud, purpose-built Data Centers,
and Managed IT Services.
To learn
more about ePLDT, visit https://www.epldt.com.
Leave IT to us. Let IT Be
ePLDT.
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