London office workers are prepared to hand their computer
passwords over to a complete stranger in return for a free plastic
pen. Researchers at Waterloo station were able to learn the
passwords of more than 90% of the commuters they stopped, just by
asking for it.
IT professionals and chief executives were among the 130 people who
disclosed the information while answering questions on their
attitude to computer security.
The majority of people where happy to hand over their passwords
straight away, while others accidentally disclosed it during
further questioning.
One businessman told the interviewer, "I am the CEO, I will not
give you my password, it could compromise my company's
information." But he later went on to reveal it was his daughter's
name. "What's your daughter called?" the interviewer asked.
"Tasmin," he replied.
The most popular password was "password", followed by first names,
football teams and dates of birth - items that can be easily
guessed by hackers.
The research, by Infosecurity Europe, suggests that few staff
understand the importance of good password management. Sixty six
per cent have given their passwords to colleagues. The same
proportion use the same password for everything, including personal
banking.
Infosecurity Show, 29 April to 1 May
www.infosec.co.uk