Alumni Gazette
For the Hack of It
The information technology boom has spawned a new breed of criminals, and Ryan
Breed ’97 makes a living out of thwarting them.
Breed, a computer security consultant who has been featured in Information
Week for what the magazine describes as his skills as an “ethical
hacker,” helps companies protect computer systems by discovering their
weak points.
“If the company has customer data, patient data, student data, trade
secrets—the primary concern is someone stealing that information, rather
than doing harm to the system,” says Breed, who works for Unisys.
Breed became interested in computer security while taking a cryptography class
at Rochester. Offered as a math class, he recalls, it included lessons on network
security. He built a computer firewall for one assignment, and he taught himself
how to test those firewalls. With that knowledge and “a lot of on-the-job
training,” he segued into working with companies to protect their systems.
He balks at being called a hacker—white hat or not—because he does
more than try to break into systems.
“I spend most of my time setting systems up correctly so they don’t
get broken into in the first place,” he says.
Breed points out that the greatest threat to personal computers are unscrupulous
people who attempt to obtain personal information one user at a time. He warns
against two of the latest methods: spyware, software that surreptitiously installs
itself on computers and mines information, and people who go “phishing,”
sending out an official-looking e-mail asking for “verification of personal
information.”
Viruses will always be a threat as well, Breed says. The way to protect your
own computer is to educate yourself. “You need to know how to protect
yourself,” he says. “Have a personal firewall if you have a broadband
connection, update all the security patches from Microsoft, and install all
software updates.
“The best way to fix a computer is to make sure it never gets infected
by a virus or invaded in the first place.”
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