In the enterprise data security chain, human beings often prove to be the weakest link. Using social engineering tactics, thieves can frequently gain secret information about a company's systems simply by asking. To prevent this, not only must employees be trained, but systems must be changed to reinforce the policies employees have learned.
Imagine this situation: A coworker calls you in a panic. He's facing a fast-approaching deadline, and you are the only person who can help him succeed in getting some critical task done. This hypothetical coworker explains to you what he's working on and how it's critical to the success of the organization in some way; he's at his wits' end in trying to accomplish a portion of that task (say, downloading a critical file from an internal file server), and he's asking you in desperation to help him out. Would you help him?

Of course, right? Most of us wouldn't even stop to think about it. And most of the time, helping out a coworker like this would be the right thing to do. Not only would it benefit the person asking for help, but it would benefit the organization as well. It's no question why: Our success as a species has always been made possible by our natural proclivity to assist each other in a pinch. For eons, we've helped each other till the fields, build shelters, herd animals, fight off invaders and so forth. The desire to help our neighbors and community members is a powerful driving force that's arguably hard-wired in to our psyche -- by helping our communities succeed, we help ourselves.

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