The Effects of Social Engineering

In a survey of office workers in the Liverpool Street Station in London, 71% of employees will part with their password for a candy bar.

You’d think most employees wouldn’t be that stupid. But it happens. All the time. On another note, I’ve seen employees write passwords on everything you can think of — even taped to their monitor (not our workplace though)!

A scene from Hackers comes to mind — one of the first movies depicting social engineering in a similar context (well, a phone conversation).

Bottom-line: one leaked password could cost you a lot more than the price of a candy bar.

Update:

Slashdot is covering a similar story on industrial espionage. Like most users said, it comes down to hiring IT people you can trust, and treating them fairly.