Women More Likely Than Men To Give Passwords To Strangers For Chocolate

[rox63]

A friend of mine has a blog about identity theft and how to avoid it. This is from his blog:

Women More Likely Than Men To Give Passwords To Strangers For Chocolate

When I read this news story, at first I thought that it was a humorous hoax. But, it's no joke. This is serious. According to InformationWeek:

"Women are four times more likely than men to surrender their computer passwords for chocolate, according to a survey of 576 office workers conducted outside Liverpool Street Station in London by Infosecurity Europe. According to the survey, 45% of women revealed their passwords to strangers posing as market researchers for a chocolate bar, compared to 10% of men. Apparently the overall percentage of password-yielding respondents this year (21%) represents an improvement over 2007, when 64% of respondents traded their security for a few moments of chocolaty goodness."

I spent part of a summer in 2004 living and working in London. I found the people there very friendly and a wide variety of great pubs. I'd love to visit London again. In fact, my photo in the right column is from my London Tube pass.

Claire Sellick, Event Director of Infosecurity Europe, emphasized the consequences of a lax attitude towards the security of personal data:

"... that promise of a trip could cost you dear, as once a criminal has your date of birth, name and phone number they are well on the way to carrying out more sophisticated social engineering attacks on you, such as pretending to be from your bank or phone company and extracting more valuable information that can be used in ID theft or fraud."

Source links here:
http://ivebeenmugged.typepad.com:80/my_weblog/2008/04/women-more-like.html

[niyad]

1. I am a certified chocoholic, but even for chocolate (and it had better be damned good chocolate)

I would never give out any personal information ever.

[gateley]

2. I'd give sex to strangers for chocolate. nt

[kestrel91316]

5. Only if it's at least a pound of real primo stuff. Organic, dark.

[Ghost in the Machine]

6. Well hello, kind stranger!

Did I meet you on an elevator once??

[Bucky]

12. Damn, and here I am fresh out of CocoPuffs!

This always happens to me when I run out of CocoPuffs.

[woo me with science]

3. ROFL!

Don't let this get around! The men will have absolute power!

[Ghost in the Machine]

4. Yeah, but how many of them will show their breasts for chocolate???

Might be a good social studies experiment for this weekend! :rofl:

Hey, they show 'em for beads, why not chocolate??

[Lobster Martini]

7. Bring cabernet sauvignon and you can have the keys to my house...otherwise, get lost...(n/t)

[Solly Mack]

8. I'd certainly help you bury the body for dark chocolate - but you can't have my password

Gracious. The niceties must be upheld.

[bicentennial_baby]

9. Whew! Good thing I don't like chocolate!

:D

[skycordia]

10. Risking jobs for chocolate?

I think I'll invest in a couple cases and see what I can get out of the random women I meet.

[Fumesucker]

11. I didn't read the story.

How do they know these were real passwords and not some made up stuff?

[Bucky]

13. Oh, come on!

How'd the ladies know it was real chocolate? Have we all forgotten how to trust one another in this society?

Let's fight these horrible community destroying trends together, Fume. Post your email account & password here and I'll drop a Milky Way in the mail to you tonight.