45 Per Cent Of Brits Admit To Being Dishonest

Worryingly, with the prevalent terrorist threat, 10 per cent had misused ID access control systems by impersonating someone else or had assisted someone else to do so, and 32 per cent admitted conning their way past security personnel. 21 per cent owned up to having used fake identity cards. These are the key findings of the TSSI Dishonest Britain Study 2005, undertaken in November by TSSI Systems. Just over one in ten people (12 per cent) owned up to low level electronic identity fraud, by dishonestly impersonating someone else over email. A further 23 per cent admitted they had been tempted to do so. Seven per cent confessed to assuming another person’s identity through forging their signature on letters or cheques. Security in the workplace was a worry for 27 per cent of people. The survey uncovered justification for this alarm: 14 per cent had spied on people entering PINs, passcodes and passwords. 10 per cent had misused ID and access control systems by impersonating someone else or had assisted someone else to do so. A further 35 per cent said they would think nothing of counteracting their workplace security by lending or borrowing a work pass if they or a colleague had forgotten theirs. 45 per cent of people admitted to some kind of forgery. ID cards were by far the most popular item, with 18 per cent admitting to forging these. Other items included doctors notes (five per cent); fake letters on company letterhead (four per cent); reference letters (four per cent); travel tickets (two per cent); concert tickets (one per cent); and tickets for sporting events (one per cent). Based on the findings, TSSI made a number of broad recommendations for companies to improve their ID security: * Look at the findings of this report and assess the risk to you * Ensure that your company has an individual who is responsible for both physical and logical security * Audit the movement of staff into and around your building * Avoid the copying and borrowing of PINs and Passwords by employing cost effective biometrics * Use a secure method of ID to ensure employees only undertake the jobs they are qualified to do “Dishonesty and fraud are shockingly widespread” said Danny Chapchal, TSSI Systems Executive Chairman. “Despite Britain’s terror alert, UK citizens’ irresponsible identity abuse is making it harder to tackle this threat. It is clear that either through deliberate dishonesty, or in a misguided effort to be helpful to colleagues, end-users are regularly overriding access control systems. It is essential that companies implement systems to close these security weaknesses which could be exploited by criminal elements.”