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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: April 20, 2003 Office workers give away passwords for a cheap pen -- "Men were slightly more likely to reveal their password with 95 per cent of blokes, compared to 85 per cent of women quizzed, prepared to hand over their password on request." (Comments: Why are men more likely to reveal their passwords? Also, who only has one password?)
Reader Comments...
Maybe men give out their password more because of evolution: they are less concerned with personal security because they focus on having the strength to fend off attack. Meanwhile, women take pains to ensure personal security so they don't have to fight. I would be interested in knowing if this survey was conducted as a company survey, or if participants knew for sure that they were giving information to an outside source. They might be more willing to reveal information if they thought it was internal. I think there is also a perception that being fussy about your password is paranoia. "Who is going to want to steal YOUR secrets?" and so on. Posted by: Lydia on April 21, 2003 02:58 PM
Two hypotheses on the gender thing, neither verified. 1, perhaps men are more used to taking orders (she who must be obeyed, and all that). 2, more specific to the exec who gave his daughter's name later in the process, men are supposedly better at partitioning life's aspects, and maybe they don't understand the connections between what they do in a survey and the potential security threats? Break down the partitions, and ask them in sequence, social security number and mother's maiden name, and I bet you'd see greater resistence. Posted by: Frank on April 21, 2003 09:09 PM
Let's see if I've got this right. They stopped people at random at a railway station and asked them what their password was. They then deduce that most people are not security conscious because they're prepared to tell them. But - where is the security risk in telling someone your password if they have no idea where you work, what your name is or where you use the password? Posted by: Alan on April 22, 2003 04:33 AM
How do they know if you know where they work or not? Or any other information about them? I don't take the chance in the first place and I don't have to worry about it. Posted by: Morris Cox on April 22, 2003 04:58 PM
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