Photo Credit: bluesky36 via Compfight cc
Around 2,600 years ago, the Greek story-teller Aesop created the fable of the Fox and the Crow.
In it, the fox sees the crow fly into a tree with a piece of cheese in its beak. Determined to have the tasty morsel, the fox addresses the bird thus: “Good-day, Mistress Crow. How well you are looking today. I feel sure your voice must surpass that of other birds, just as your figure does. Let me hear just one song from you that I may greet you as the Queen of Birds.”
Bewitched by these fine words, the crow begins to caw, dropping the cheese in the process and giving the fox a free meal.
The moral of the tale: beware of flatterers.
The tale resonates with us today because human nature has not changed. We are all (whether we admit it or not) susceptible to the flattering word, and of course this is something that fraudsters, conmen and hackers know only too well.
Security awareness programmes need to educate employees to spot when they are being groomed or led astray. They need to stop being like the crow, and be taught to understand the mind of the fox.
