BUSINESS

Globe urges tighter digital safeguards

Maria Bernadette Romero

Globe Telecom Inc. is urging stronger investment in secure digital infrastructure and closer cooperation across sectors as cyber threats increase alongside the wider use of artificial intelligence (AI).

The Ayala-backed company said Tuesday that digital growth depends on public trust, which requires systems that are secure, transparent, and governed from the start.

To support this, Globe said it is building enterprise-grade infrastructure for AI, including agent-based architectures, shared landing zones, and MLOps pipelines. These allow faster development while keeping systems auditable and aligned across teams. Governance covering privacy, cybersecurity, and AI safeguards is embedded from the outset.

“Resilience today means more than uptime. It’s about systems that stay ethical, secure, and explainable as they scale,” said Derick Adil, Globe’s Head of AI and Privacy Governance. “We’re building an AI-powered Globe designed to earn and keep trust.”

Alongside infrastructure, Globe is also pushing for sandbox-style regulation at the national level, similar to models used in Singapore. The company said this approach allows new technologies to be tested in controlled environments before wider rollout.

Globe said its own AI Kitchen and Center for Enablement already apply this model by allowing teams to safely test AI tools, low-code platforms, and agent-based systems. It added that this can help policymakers and industry develop rules that support innovation while protecting consumers.

The company said online scams have also become more sophisticated, with fraudsters using spoofed sender IDs, fake cell towers, and cross-border coordination to bypass safeguards.

In response, Globe said it blocks all person-to-person SMS messages with links and removes links from its own text broadcasts. It also uses machine learning models to flag suspicious numbers, which are reviewed by its Security Operations Center before being deactivated.

“Stopping scams is no longer a one-company issue. It requires close coordination across telcos, banks, regulators, and platforms,” said Atty. Irish Salandanan-Almeida, Globe’s Chief Privacy Officer. “We’re working toward real-time intelligence sharing, because that’s what today’s threats demand.”

Beyond detection, Globe has rolled out ScamShield on the GlobeOne app for Android to alert users to possible scam messages. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bankers’ Association of the Philippines and more than ten data-sharing agreements with banks and other partners, following regulatory guidance allowing collaboration for fraud prevention.