PLDT launches ‘sovereign cloud’ for sensitive, critical gov’t data

PLDT Inc., one of the country’s biggest telecommunications companies, has proposed the use of its secure data centers to store critical government data following a recent string of successful cyberattacks against several state agencies.

The telco giant launched on Thursday the country’s first ever “sovereign cloud,” which is a secure and localized storage system not connected to the internet that can be used to house critical data, such as national identification and defense records, said ePLDT president and CEO Victor Genuino.

“What we are selling is peace of mind,” he said during the Philippine Digital Convention 2023.

“The agency needs to feel assured when they move their data from an on-premise service, which in most cases is a server inside the office of a government agency, to an infrastructure provider like ePLDT,” he added.

Talks with DICT

Genuino said they were in ongoing talks with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to identify potential government agencies that can transfer their data to the sovereign cloud.

ePLDT, the country’s biggest data center operator, also designed this data storage system in a so-called air gap mode.

“This means the cloud infrastructure is not connected to the public internet. If you go through all breaches that have happened, not only here but abroad, it is because of a public internet connection,” Genuino said.

Speaking at the technology conference, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy welcomed the launch of the country’s first sovereign cloud.

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“Their dedication and expertise to advancing the local ICT industry make them the ideal partner to drive this initiative,” Uy said.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation have suffered major data breaches this year. The latest cyberattack victim was the Philippine Statistics Authority, but the agency said on Thursday that the financial data hacked was “not extensive.”