(Montreal) Like governments, companies should carefully assess the risks before diving into the world of TikTok and take precautions if they venture there, believes a cybersecurity expert. Some Quebec organizations say they have made arrangements for the application, such as Desjardins and the Société de transport de Montréal (STM).
More and more organizations are turning to this platform to reach a young audience. But it is not without consequences, as the federal government has pointed out. Chinese giant ByteDance’s app, in which the Chinese government has a stake, poses “an unacceptable level of privacy and security risk,” according to Canada’s chief information officer.
Cybersecurity expert Steve Waterhouse believes that companies should tag access to their TikTok account to prevent employees from being victims of information leaks or undue influence.
“One way that would be healthy is really not to have TikTok on a platform duly identified to an individual. What I often bring as a recommendation is that there be a laptop computer, a tablet or a telephone which is identified as being the communication platform towards this media or the media in general, and that the account be more generic instead of being focused on one person,” he recommends.
The lecturer at the University of Sherbrooke invites companies to clearly identify their needs to establish the relevance of creating or not creating an account on TikTok.
According to him, too many people decide to embark on a social network because “it seems cool “. For the former assistant deputy minister for government information security and cybersecurity in Quebec, it is important for any organization to assess the risks and threats of an application.
Concerns about TikTok stem from the fact that the Chinese government has a stake in the owner of the app and laws allow the country to access user data.
TikTok can then prove to be an interesting tool in China’s efforts to establish itself as the world’s leading economic power. What’s more, the country is suspected of intellectual property theft, says Waterhouse.
Quebec organizations in reflection
Ottawa and Quebec announced Monday that the platform will now be banned on government phones. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau believes that companies “will think about their own data security” when they see the federal decision.
Quebec organizations contacted by The Canadian Press mentioned having already taken measures to prevent access to the social network on devices belonging to them.
This is particularly the case for the STM, which hires nearly 11,000 employees.
“To ensure the security of STM assets in the face of potential risks, the decision was made to block access to the platform on all mobile devices provided by the STM to its employees,” said a spokesperson. of the organization, specifying that this ban was adopted “in the wake of recent decisions and a trend observed in the industry”.
The STM, which has an account with more than 42,000 subscribers, is also evaluating with its cybersecurity teams “the alternatives for the continued security of (its) presence on the platform”.
The Desjardins Group declares, for its part, that several social media, including TikTok, are inaccessible on the computers of Desjardins employees.
In addition, Desjardins has a policy on the acceptable use of information technologies which specifies that the technologies used by employees are subject to continuous monitoring, while remaining sensitive to the respect of their privacy.
Jean-Benoît Turcotti, spokesperson for Desjardins Group
Active with some 3,700 subscribers, the financial cooperative is also considering its presence on the entertainment platform. In its videos on TikTok, Desjardins mostly calls on content creators to talk about personal finances.
Bombardier claims to use the application in a “targeted manner”. The company evaluates “closely the decisions of the governments” and carries out “independent studies of the risk”.
“We continue to maintain strong measures in place to ensure the security of Bombardier data,” said a spokesperson for the company, which is followed by more than 2,000 people on TikTok.
While the application is growing in popularity in the population, it would be “highly unlikely” to ban it nationwide, argues Mr. Waterhouse.
“The best way so far is to do it like we are doing now with awareness and education,” he says, inviting people to be aware of the benefits and consequences of TikTok for them.