Ryan Duquette

Defending your digital data

Sharon Aschaiek

Companies have tremendous motivation to protect their digital data, but what about the average person? As the Internet becomes more pervasive, we all become more vulnerable to hacks and viruses—but the good news is we have many ways to safeguard our personal information.

That was the message shared by Ryan Duquette (HBA ’99) at the free public UTM information session, Classes Without Quizzes: Securing your information in our digital age. Duquette is a digital forensics expert who runs Hexigent Consulting, teaches the subject at UTM and previously investigated such cases for Peel Regional Police. Duquette discussed the biggest threats to our sensitive information online and the best strategies to keep it private.

Duquette began by sharing some sobering statistics from news stories: 36 per cent of Canadian businesses have been hit by cyber-attacks; 17 per cent of applications for Android devices are loaded with malware, malicious programs that damage or steal your data; a Fitbit fitness tracker can be hacked in 10 seconds; everything you say to Siri, the iPhone digital assistant, is stored by Apple for two years. One thought-provoking insight was about “The Internet of Things”, the phenomenon of embedding network connectivity into all sorts of objects, including cars, fridges, thermostats, lightbulbs, watches and even toothbrushes. By 2020, it’s expected that 60 billion objects will be Internet-enabled.

Making life more convenient is the drive behind this unfolding market trend, but it also poses new data security risks, Duquette said. More internet-connected devices means more opportunities for our data to be stolen by hackers, or to be exploited by businesses. In addition, he explained, unlike with smartphones and computers, it’s typically difficult or impossible to update the firmware, or hardware instructions, in these devices, so security weaknesses can go unfixed.

“If devices are not secure, hackers can gain a connection to them. They can go into your home network and jump from device to device,” Duquette said.

Protecting the digital data that matters most to us is possible, said Duquette, if we take the right precautions. He started with the basics: using a respected antivirus program, strengthening the privacy settings on your social media accounts and in your web browser, securing your Wi-Fi with a password, activating your computer’s firewall, and making passwords more complex.

Another security strengthener Duquette recommended is a two-step verification process for logins, which requires entering a code sent to you by the service provider in addition to your password. As well, he says, using a virtual private network lets you encrypt data traveling on the web. Back up data to the cloud and/or on an external hard drive, be careful what you download, and consider using “burner” or disposable email accounts when appropriate.

And when it comes to social media, be more judicious in what choose to share, he advised.

“Be careful of what and how much you post,” he said. “Recruiters can check your profile. These things can haunt you in the future.”