Hackers and IT pros give their passwords to hot woman

hot-woman.jpgResearchers interested in online security with a picture of a hot woman (the one to the right, which is more just a drawing really, right?) and a lot of time on their hands found that more than 75% of IT professionals and hackers gave away random personal information to a fake person.

According to Jezebel, researchers from the security company Bitdefender made a number of fake profiles on various social networks which had the picture to the right as the main image. They then found 50 self-confessed hackers and 50 people working in the IT industry and tailored the fake woman’s interests to theirs.

After a number of messages had been sent back and forth, the people that had been targeted revealed a LOT of really personal information. For instance, 84% gave away their phone numbers (tut, tut), 81% revealed their mother’s names and 13% of IT pros and 7% of hackers even revealed their passwords. Urgh, what?!

It just goes to show that when people are talking to a pretty face (or think they are), even those who know a great deal about online security will reveal all kinds of sensitive information. I’m just a bit confused as to why the researchers didn’t use an actual photo, I’d suspect they’d have found out even more.

[Via Jezebel]
Becca Caddy

4 comments

  • I’d be weary of a “self-proclaimed” hacker. I have a friend that calls himself a hacker. I spend hours a month cleaning the infections from his torrents, malware and cracks. Yeah, he’s a real pro…

  • – 84% gave away their phone numbers (tut, tut)
    Well… yeah thats how you get people to contact you :s
    With pay as you go sim cards free to pretty much anyone these days or you can get for as little as 50p from supermarkets without having to provide any personal details.

    – 81% revealed their mother’s names
    My mothers name is Margret.. no, really is it…

    – 13% of IT pros and 7% of hackers even revealed their passwords

    Hmm, yeah my password is “Gr33n!1!” you should totally login to my private FTP site, download some nood pics of me, the best one is im_naked_.jpg.exe just double click it to view it. Don’t forget my password!

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