The survey was conducted by the organisers of Infosecurity Europe 2004, a security exhibition to be held in London next week. They offered 172 commuters at Liverpool Street Station a bar of chocolate if they would reveal their corporate password. Surprisingly, 37 percent immediately agreed, while another 34 percent were persuaded to give up their secret access codes when the interviewer commented that it was most likely to be the name of their pet or their child.
Claire Sellick, event director for Infosecurity Europe 2004, said the results prove that employers are not educating their users about the importance of information security: "This comes down to poor training & procedures. Employers should make sure that their employees are aware of information security policies & that they are kept up-to-date," she said in a statement.