Viettel Cyber Security (VCS) successfully hosted its first-ever professional cybersecurity conference in the Philippine market, VCS: CTRL Manila 2025. The summit brought together over 100 cybersecurity experts, Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), engineers, and digital risk practitioners from the country’s largest enterprises for a day of practical, expert-led learning and community building.
The event marked a significant step in strengthening the Philippines’ cyber resilience by fostering collaboration and sharing real-world expertise focused on the rapidly evolving regional threat landscape.
VCS: CTRL Manila 2025 was built on the core philosophy that true resilience is achieved when defenders understand attackers, and attackers push defenders to evolve. This guided a structured learning pathway that featured dedicated Blue Team (Defense) and Red Team (Attack) sessions, designed for professionals across all seniority levels.
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Blue Team Track: VCS Threat Analysts provided a grounded look at the latest cybersecurity trends and active threats targeting local organizations, drawing from VCS’s continuous monitoring operations. A highlight was a detailed, scenario-based walkthrough of a real ransomware attack—from initial access to system movement—led by Henry, Country Service Manager of VCS Philippines. This practical approach was highly praised by attendees for revealing detection gaps not uncovered through theory alone.
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Red Team Track & Key Discovery: The event’s highlight was the Red Team session led by special guest speaker and Pwn2Own Champion, Duong Doan. For the first time publicly, VCS unveiled its discovery of a critical vulnerability in the end-to-end encrypted messaging function of Meta’s Messenger application. This responsible disclosure allowed Meta to immediately implement the necessary patch, preventing potential exploitation and demonstrating how offensive research can decisively strengthen large-scale systems.
VCS: CTRL Manila 2025 stood out as one of the few large-scale events capable of uniting practitioners, experts, and enthusiasts in the Philippines. It successfully combined global expertise with localized threat intelligence and practical training.
The program also featured leading local experts, including:
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Robin “Japz” Divino: A globally recognized bug bounty researcher credited with identifying vulnerabilities for platforms like Facebook, Microsoft, and PayPal.
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Jay Turla: A principal researcher known for pioneering automotive and IoT security work in the Philippines.
A local speaker noted that the event offered a “rare space for the Philippines’ security community to come together,” emphasizing that the combination of defensive and offensive insights “set a new benchmark for how collaborative and practice-driven cybersecurity learning should be in the Philippines.”
Recognizing the continued rise in the scale and sophistication of cyber threats in the region, VCS emphasized that VCS: CTRL Manila 2025 is just the beginning. The company plans to roll out a series of in-depth sharing sessions in the near future, covering practical methodologies, real-world case studies, and specialized Red and Blue Team knowledge.
These ongoing initiatives aim to continuously enhance the capabilities of local cybersecurity professionals and strengthen the country’s overall cyber resilience, supporting Philippine enterprises in becoming more adaptive and better equipped to withstand evolving threats.
