Recently, I experienced a near digital disastrophe. On a Friday afternoon, I received an email from a client with instructions to click a link and download a file. This occurs fairly regularly where I work, so I clicked the link, but nothing happened. After a few moments, I shrugged my shoulders and moved on to something else. That evening, I got an email from my client’s I.T. Department, which said, “We had a breach. Hopefully, you are reading this email before you open the one you received earlier today.”
I typed a reply on my phone: “I did open that email this afternoon, but nothing seemed to happen. Have I been hacked?” It was getting late, so I went to bed.When I woke up Saturday morning, I saw that the I.T. Department had replied to my question at about midnight. (I.T. people working at midnight on a Friday is NEVER a good sign.) The message said: “Change your password for your email account ASAP!”
So, before I even had my first cup of coffee, I sat down at my computer and tried to change the password of my email account. This is when I discovered two things: 1) I am not an “administrator” at my company and therefore not authorized to create a new password; and 2) although I am not an administrator, apparently I have enough authority to accidently delete my existing password. In other words, my efforts had caused my work email account to become completely inoperable.
And this is when I discovered there are two types of people in the world: 1) those who, when faced with a technology dilemma, say, “Oh well, it’s the weekend. I’m sure our I.T. guy can figure it out on Monday,” and then proceed to enjoy a couple of sunny, summer days; and 2) those who say, “Omigod! Omigod! My work email is dead! What am I gonna do?! What if a client tries to contact me?! What if our I.T. guy is on vacation all next week?! What if all my email messages have disappeared?! This is the worst thing ever!!” and then proceed to be wracked with anxiety for the next 48 hours and never even notice the couple of sunny, summer days.
So, before I even had my first cup of coffee, I sat down at my computer and tried to change the password of my email account. This is when I discovered two things: 1) I am not an “administrator” at my company and therefore not authorized to create a new password; and 2) although I am not an administrator, apparently I have enough authority to accidently delete my existing password. In other words, my efforts had caused my work email account to become completely inoperable.
And this is when I discovered there are two types of people in the world: 1) those who, when faced with a technology dilemma, say, “Oh well, it’s the weekend. I’m sure our I.T. guy can figure it out on Monday,” and then proceed to enjoy a couple of sunny, summer days; and 2) those who say, “Omigod! Omigod! My work email is dead! What am I gonna do?! What if a client tries to contact me?! What if our I.T. guy is on vacation all next week?! What if all my email messages have disappeared?! This is the worst thing ever!!” and then proceed to be wracked with anxiety for the next 48 hours and never even notice the couple of sunny, summer days.
Guess which category I’m in? Yup, it was a stressful weekend for the ol’ left-hander, despite the sunny, summer weather.
Not surprisingly, things worked out fine in the end — but only after a couple of sleepless nights. Early Monday morning, I went to the office and got the phone number of the I.T. consultant we use. I reached him and explained what happened. He asked me confusing questions such as, “When you clicked on the bogus link, did the address bar say, ‘login-dot-microsoftonline-dot-com’? Or did it say something else?”
I replied, “It’s, um, it’s my computer. Broken. And email. Also broken. Fix, please.”
He realized he was speaking to someone in his 60s, which in the I.T. world is similar to speaking to a 5-year-old — except we seniors tend to whimper more frequently. So, he said, “All right. Let me check from my end to see if there’s been any suspicious activity with your account, and then I’ll reset your password. I’ll call you back.”
His voice was so confident, it made me feel much better, even though I didn’t understand a single thing he said except, “All right” and “I’ll call you back.”
Not surprisingly, things worked out fine in the end — but only after a couple of sleepless nights. Early Monday morning, I went to the office and got the phone number of the I.T. consultant we use. I reached him and explained what happened. He asked me confusing questions such as, “When you clicked on the bogus link, did the address bar say, ‘login-dot-microsoftonline-dot-com’? Or did it say something else?”
I replied, “It’s, um, it’s my computer. Broken. And email. Also broken. Fix, please.”
He realized he was speaking to someone in his 60s, which in the I.T. world is similar to speaking to a 5-year-old — except we seniors tend to whimper more frequently. So, he said, “All right. Let me check from my end to see if there’s been any suspicious activity with your account, and then I’ll reset your password. I’ll call you back.”
His voice was so confident, it made me feel much better, even though I didn’t understand a single thing he said except, “All right” and “I’ll call you back.”
As Wendell Shakespeare wrote, “All’s well that ends well.” My email account was resuscitated by 8:45 a.m., and I was ready to take on another busy work week — right after I drove home and slept for two full days.
It's mythology that people in their 60's can't manage technology......I have perhaps only middling skills myself but nevertheless handle several softwares, passwords etc at work and simple email and laptop at home. It's true younger folks usually do better it is also true that lots of folks way older than me are very proficient. They amaze and annoy me at the same time. Age is not a limit if we don't let it be. & we don't let it define us. I wouldn't be checking work e mail on a Friday nite in the first place & in the second place so what if work e mail has a problem....that's IT's problem, not mine. My actual life is at home in my own email--I'll save my freak out for if something happens there.
ReplyDeleteRuth O'Keefe
Anyway, just deleting your password does not make the account inoperable at all. It simply means you can't get into it until a new password is established. All companies have security limits on who can and can't create a password. Deleting the old password was the best thing in this situation as no one else could use it then either.
ReplyDeleteRuth O'Keefe