Here Today... Gone to Mali: 2008

This is True®

by Randy Cassingham

That Warm, Secure Feeling
Auditors for the U.S. Treasury Department tested computer security at the Internal Revenue Service. They called 100 random IRS employees claiming they were from the tax agency’s computer help desk to see if the employees would change their passwords to one suggested by the caller. That sort of ruse would allow an identity thief to hack IRS systems and get private taxpayer information. “We were able to convince 35 managers and employees to provide us their username and change their password,” auditors said. The audit was a follow-on to a similar test in 2001, when 71 of 100 IRS employees fell for the tactic. (AP) ...What do you expect? They only fired 36 of them in 2001.
Available in This is True: Book Collection Vol. 11

Friday, January 18, 2008