Local IT expert says everyone should take steps to protect their personal information

With technology being so prevalent and accessible in today's world, everyone should be taking the steps necessary to protect their personal information. 

According to Bill Fox of Foxnet Solutions, cyber attacks are becoming more common and aggressive. 

“It's not a great thing to be involved in when it happens, but we're selling a lot of security products and software protection monitoring products,” said Fox. “The more security you have, the less of a chance something like this occurs. There are several different ways that we try to protect our customers and we encourage everyone to invest in that.”

Names, social insurance numbers and banking information are some of the most sought after pieces of data. That was some of the data recently accessed during a cyber intrusion that Waterloo Region District School Board recently faced. 

Fox said that changing your passwords regularly and using tools like multi-factor authentication are a couple of ways to protect yourself. 

“Hacking is a growing business and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. We put a lot of measures into place so we can prevent or at least minimize it. Things such as locking your device when you're not using it and IP whitelisting for companies are very useful.”

He added that being vigilant of your accounts is crucial. 

If you believe that you're the victim of a cyber attack, immediately contact your financial services and healthcare providers. 

“Check your credit card reports, you can request a security freeze,” said Fox. “There are also experts who have credit monitoring agencies if you're the victim of a break.”

He added that being aware is the most important thing and remember to report any suspicious activity.