Chocolate Unlocks Corporate Data

There is a new cyber-security threat looming on the horizon: chocolate.

Yes, thats right. The humble chocolate bar could be the key that unlocks your most sensitive corporate data, at least according to researchers in the U.K.

A recent survey of 576 office workers by Infosecurity Europe found that 45 percent of women (compared to just 10 percent of men) were willing to give their passwords away for the reward of a chocolate bar.

The study, which took place outside London’s busy Liverpool Street station, involved Infosecurity staff masquerading as market researchers, offering a chocolate bar as incentive for anyone filling in a survey.

Worryingly, some 61 percent of respondents also revealed their dates of birth to the "market researchers," and a similar number gave out their names and telephone numbers so they could be entered into a draw to go to Paris.”This research shows that it’s pretty simple for a perpetrator to gain access to information that is restricted [simply] by having a chat around a coffee machine, getting a temporary job as a PA, or pretending to be from the IT department,” says Infosecurity director Claire Sellick. “This type of social engineering technique is often used by hackers targeting a specific organization with valuable data or assets, such as a government department or a bank.”

Clearly, a sweet tooth is a major liability in the era of cyber crime.