DC grads partner with McAfee Global Technologies to revolutionize digital security

Durham College (DC) Computer Systems Technology program graduates Joshua Kowalchuk and Robert Rogers know the world of technology is changing and evolving every day. After finding success with their start-up business, the two grads have partnered with international tech legend John McAfee and his company, MGT Capital Investments, Inc., to change the face of cyber-security for home and business owners across the world.

Kowalchuk and Rogers met before graduating from DC, establishing a mutual love for computers and information technologies. Together they provided IT consulting for local companies before founding their own internet service provider, Ontario High Speed Inc., in Whitby, Ontario in 2010. With no outside investors or working capital, growing the business was a slow process. However, five years later, the company had over 30 broadcast locations and roughly 500 happy customers, delivering high speed internet service to rural locations around Durham Region. The company’s first gigabit optical circuit and data centre became operational in 2012, and in 2013 the first prototype of the E-Tagged mobile device tracking software for a tractor dealership’s anti-theft system was introduced.

After seeing a video of the system at work, McAfee contacted the pair with an opportunity to work with his company, incorporating their software into a new form of high security systems. Kowalchuk and Rogers hope to expand the product’s reach from corporate applications to a broader array of uses, including home monitoring systems.

“John McAfee is a tech legend whose vision helped shape and change the new world of the personal computer, so it is a surreal experience,” says Kowalchuk of working with McAfee on their E-Tagged technology. “If you were to tell either of us 15 years ago that we would be working with him, we probably wouldn’t have believed you.”

The E-Tagged software analyzes radio signals broadcast by mobile phones, detecting their identity and alerting the owner with information such as the geographic location, MAC address and cellular carrier of the device in question. The system can be configured to call, text or email this information remotely. Whether monitoring a dealership’s sales lot or a house’s front door, the security system built from the E-Tagged technology will enable people to more easily protect the things they find most valuable.