ePLDT VITRO Makati Receives PCI Data Security Standard Version 3.2 Certification

Wazzup Pilipinas!

ePLDT, the industry-leading enabler of digital enterprise solutions in the Philippines, announced that its premiere VITRO Data Center in Makati City recently received the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Version 3.2 certification, an international accreditation given to merchants and service providers who passed the security standards set by the PCI Security Standards Council in protecting cardholder data.

PCI-DSS, the global data security standard created by a consortium of international credit card companies, applies to all entities that store, process, and/or transmit cardholder data, covering technical and operational system components included in or connected to sensitive cardholder information.

Compliance with the PCI-DSS alleviates the vulnerabilities that come with the whole card-processing ecosystem which includes point-of-sale devices, wireless hotspots, transmission of cardholder data to service providers, personal computers or servers, and systems operated by service providers and acquirers that maintain relationships with merchants that accept payment cards.

 “The booming e-commerce market is fueling credit card transactions all around the world, which, at the same time, exposes risks to cardholders, banking institutions and enterprises involved in the process. Given that today’s cyber criminals are more intelligent and more sophisticated, traditional perimeter-based cyber security protocols are not enough to protect the business,” said Nerisse Ramos, ePLDT Chief Operating Officer.

She continued, “Our new certification only proves that customers can be confident in hosting their critical applications in our data center in Makati without worrying about credit card fraud and other online threats that evolve by the day.”

VITRO Makati is the second ePLDT data center to receive the PCI-DSS version 3.2 certification. Last year, VITRO Pasig was certified for version 3.1 and was recently upgraded to 3.2. The two data centers were assessed and certified based on the international standard’s established guidelines on physical space, data storage and security profiles.

The largest data center facility in the country to date, VITRO Makati has a maximum capacity of 3, 584 racks sitting on a nearly two-hectare property. It is the first data center to be awarded with the ANSI/TIA-942 Rated 3 Design Certificate, which emphasizes the redundancy design of the data centers to ensure the highest availability during unplanned maintenance and infrastructure expansion.

Furthermore, VITRO Makati is recognized by NTT Communications as Nexcenter-compliant for adopting its data center design practices and management experience. This allows clients to experience the same international standards applied on all 140 Nexcenter facilities in 84 cities of 19 countries.

VITRO Makati is operated and maintained by professionals who are guided by ISO standards such as Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2008), Business Continuity Management System (ISO 22301:2013), Information Security Management System (27001:2013), IT Services Management System (20000-1:2011), and Environmental Management System (14001:2004).

“VITRO Makati is strongly positioned to be the first financial data center in the country given its certifications, design standards, proximity to the business district and robust infrastructure,” said Jovy Hernandez, Senior Vice President and Head of PLDT Enterprise. “With the PCI-DSS certification in place, we can enable a stronger and more secure foundation for the digital enterprise in ensuring their continuous success now and in the future.”

To learn more about ePLDT and its VITRO network of data centers, please visit the website at www.epldt.com.

Power Mac Center Collaborates With Brillante Mendoza, Shaira Luna to Mentor Young Creative

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Power Mac Center has always been all-out in supporting technology-assisted creative expression. Just recently, the premier Apple partner gathered young creatives, mostly photographers and videographers, in an event called Lounge to help them build connections in the industry, get to interact and learn first-hand from professionals like Director Brillante Mendoza and Shaira Luna, and discover powerful devices to boost their craft.

In partnership with LaCie, a French brand of digital storage solutions, Power Mac Center was able to get internationally acclaimed Director Brillante Mendoza to talk about his experience in the film industry and give the young creatives tips in filmmaking.

“I use several cameras on the set. I use three to four cameras on the set. 4K lahat so mabibigat yung mga files so on the set, we make sure na right after the shoot or even during the shoot actually, kailangan tina-transfer and LaCie is really very useful in that aspect,” Mendoza told his audience.

An independent filmmaker through and through, Mendoza enjoys the full creative freedom to tell his story the way he wants to. His biggest challenge though, was sourcing for funds. So in order to secure his hard work, which is the film itself, Mendoza makes sure to invest in equipment that are reliable and provide him with complete peace of mind.

Meanwhile, for her part, professional fashion and advertising photographer Shaira Luna talked about what drives her to follow her passion in photography and how LaCie complements her on-the-go lifestyle and keeps her file transfer speedy and protected.

“I’m very thankful that I have LaCie to back me up. I just have so many pictures if only you know. I’ve started organizing my Instagram into color themes because I just have that many photos,” Luna said.
Luna loves being a photographer because it allows her to travel and meet a lot of people, especially creative minds she gets to work with in the process.

“Power Mac Center shares LaCie’s commitment to support the creative community. More than anything, we provide solutions to the demands of the industry from creatives of today,” said Power Mac Center Marketing Director Joey Alvarez.

An evening of fun, learning, and discovery, the Lounge event was meant to bring creatives together and “lounge” with industry movers to share/brew ideas. LaCie will continue to hold such pocket events for its new products this 2018.

LaCie is Seagate’s premium brand of world-class storage solutions designed for Mac users, photographers, videographers, audio professionals, and other power users. Its products are available in Power Mac Center stores nationwide. For more information as well as updates on future events, follow @powermaccenter on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube.

GameCon 2018 Underscores New Gen Gaming

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Close to 4,000 gaming enthusiasts attended the recently concluded GameCon, which was supported by PLDT and wireless unit Smart Communications.

The attendance increased by about 30 percent from last year’s event, said GameCon project head Elaine Cedillo, showing the growing industry of gaming in the Philippines.

Now on its second year, GameCon featured exhibitions and competitions on various kinds of gaming—from mobile and PC to video, traditional, tabletop, eSports, virtual reality, robotics, and cosplay, among other activities—with the theme “New Generation Gaming.”

PLDT Home Fibr and Smart Developer Network (Smart DevNet) supported the two-day event by leading the game developers’ workshop and providing strong connectivity. Smart DevNet chief evangelist and partnerships head Paul Pajo, and junior product manager PJ de la Cerna were also present to judge Robo Rumble, a robot fighting competition designed to test the participants’ skills in electronics, programming, design, and other areas.

Events like GameCon prove the local gaming industry has grown bigger over the years, according to game artist Philip Adrian Gungab. A game art teacher at De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde, Gungab is also a cofounder of Re:Cast Games, a new studio composed of fellow instructors, programmers, and artists interested in game development for web and mobile devices.

“Game development is booming in the Philippines. The fact that we have an event like this means the game industry in the Philippines is big. A lot of people are into games now, either as a developer or an artist,” said Gungab, who taught game art at GameCon’s developers’ workshop.

Gungab also said mobile games are widespread because they’re accessible and typically free of charge. With almost everyone using a smartphone now, the popularity of mobile games has become a boon to game developers, he noted.

“The mobile game industry, for me, is a big thing for game developers. When we release a mobile game, for example, on App Store or Google Play Store, it’s not restricted to users in the Philippines alone; the game may be downloaded in other countries. We now have a platform to share our passion projects with everyone,” he said.

De la Cerna, meanwhile, said fans of mobile games Arena of Valor, Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Everwing, and Mobile Legends may continue leveling up with Smart GameTime data offers. GameTime 50 provides 7 days of gaming, with 300MB per day for the said games, plus 50 battle tickets for Mobile Legends, for only P50 by texting GAME50 to 9999. GameTime 100, he added, offers 30 days at 300MB per day, plus 100 battle tickets, for P100 by texting GAME100.

Pajo said that to experience faster speeds, mobile gamers should use Smart’s super-charged LTE network. He said Smart users should text SIMCHECK to 5832 to check if their SIM is LTE-enabled, and upgrade to LTE for free while retaining their numbers at any Smart Store.

Smart DevNet is Smart’s developer community program targeted at desktop and mobile developers. It promotes general awareness of mobile apps development and technopreneurship while striving to foster a vibrant developer community in the Philippines by organizing and sponsoring tech events and meetups.