Local telcos Globe Telecom and Smart Communications said they will comply with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC)’s directive to block or deactivate URLs in text messages.
Smart head of regulatory affairs Roy Ibay revealed that the NTC organized a meeting together with the local telcos to collaborate and craft a memorandum aimed at deactivating links that lead to malicious sites.
“Smart has been conducting such efforts in the past which has led to 342 million ‘smishing’ messages blocked from June to August alone,” Ibay said.
For its part, Globe said it has long been blocking spam and scam text messages it had detected, including those containing malicious URLs or links.
“This is part of our ongoing effort to filter out dangerous SMS to protect our customers. We will coordinate closely with the NTC to come up with new solutions to further protect customers against online fraud,” it said.
The Ayala-owned operator added: “We reiterate our call on all stakeholders to heighten vigilance and take proactive steps to support industry efforts against escalating threats.”
