Neil Cook, Chief Technology Officer of Cloudmark
Cloudmark Security Platform™ delivers protection against messaging abuse
Manila, Philippines – Cloudmark, Inc., the global leader in messaging threat protection for communication service providers, has revealed they are entering the Filipino market to provide messaging security solutions for the country’s carrier market. The Philippines is the second among three other Southeast Asian countries, which are Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, where Cloudmark establishes its network.
The rate at which consumers receive and send emails and text messages is increasing every minute, providing spammers an opportunity to take advantage of the mobile/internet network. Research compiled from Cloudmark’s global threat database reveals that 72% of all email sent from the Philippines was flagged as spam this year alone, with the majority going to the US, Australia Japan, Great Britain, and Italy.
Cloudmark’s global threat database also revealed the increasing prevalence of SMS spam in Asia Pacific. Subscribers of Filipino mobile and SMS services have shown high levels of dissatisfaction towards SMS spam, particularly in comparison to other countries in APAC. A number of blogs and social media sites have been set up to explicitly expose SMS spam and express frustration at their continued delivery. As such, senators in the Philippines have recently filed three bills aimed at controlling electronic spam: SB 1567, 1583, and 1384.
Additionally, Cloudmark estimates that there are nearly 800 million SMS spam messages sent across the Philippines monthly. Cloudmark identified around 81% of SMS spam as financially themed- including payday loans, credit card offers and investing “tips”. The majority of reported spam in the Philippines was sent in English, however credit balance theft scams were more regularly conducted in Tagalog. These would often take the form of messages asking for credit transfers with the impression the sender was someone known by the recipient.
Cloudmark, Inc.
The use of Cloudmark’s technology will help identify fraudulent activity and identify grey route traffic, helping carriers maximize revenue and increase customer satisfaction by preventing the onslaught of unwanted and potentially harmful messages on personal devices. With the rapid growth of mobile messaging in the Philippines, there is a greater need to ensure that checks and systems are in place to create a secure environment and a clean network.
Chief Technology Officer for Cloudmark, Neil Cook has expressed his excitement working in the region, and hopes to provide a safer messaging environment for the Filipino subscribers.
“We are delighted to enter the Filipino market and are committed to providing the best technology available for the benefit of our customers. There is an increased expectation from service providers to ensure a spam free network and provide customers with real time solutions against messaging threats.”
Cloudmark’s General Manager for APAC, David Somerville, says Cloudmark recognizes the need to continue developing and expanding in the region due to population growth and the development of Asia Pacific as a technological hub.
“We are currently working with a number of tier one operators in APAC and continuing our committed expansion to the region.”
The 2012 Messaging Threat Report conducted by Cloudmark revealed that there were more than 350,000 unique unsolicited mobile spam variants in 2012, with the highest
rate in December. It has also been noted that spammers have favorite category of attacks and frequently changing their messaging methods to avoid being detected. For Cloudmark’s latest research, visit www.cloudmark.com/research.
About Cloudmark
Cloudmark builds messaging security software that protects communications service provider networks and their subscribers against the widest range of messaging threats. Only the Cloudmark Security Platform™ delivers instant security and control across diverse messaging environments, enabling communications service providers to create a safe user experience, protect revenue and safeguard their brand, while streamlining infrastructure and reducing operational costs. Cloudmark’s patented solutions protect more than 120 tier-one customers worldwide, including AT&T, Verizon, Swisscom, Comcast, Cox and NTT. For more information, please visit www.cloudmark.com/research.