Monday, October 20, 2008

Women more likely to give up passwords for chocolate

As always, the user is the weakest link in the security of the system. It is generally much easier to get a password and user name directly from someone with secure or privileged access than it is to hack/crack the system. This is pretty basic social engineering, and something we all need to constantly be on the lookout for. I have been recently cleaning up my email inbox, when I came across this article from April in The Register where their research showed that women are four times as likely to give out a password if chocolate is offered in exchange than men. Four times.  I could never have imagined how something so delicious could so easily be put to such a sinister purpose. *sigh*

1 comment:

  1. I'm sure that after a few beers, a much larger percentage of folks would give away passwords and confidential data. That's Social Engineering 101: Ply Your Target With Booze.
    Valerie

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