Digital access issue

The university has to deal with the changing world. One thing that changes is the increase in cyberattacks. Back in them days, you just logged in. Then, two-step verification came in. Initially, you didn’t have to confirm that often. Now you do. And I always had a code sent to my mobile phone. The other option was to use my mobile Outlook app. It should let you enter a code, but mine never did. But that was not a problem, as there was an alternative. Until there wasn’t.

One day the SMS option just seemed to vanish. And without it, I can’t log in. I tried to check something for the fieldwork and failed; when I told Martin about that, he seemed to know what was going on. He said I must have missed some emails about this; he said they hadn’t been particularly obvious. But they said that we now all needed to use an Authenticator app. That would explain things.

I found the right app in the App Store and downloaded it. Then I tried to link it to my work account. Guess what? You need two step authentication for that. How would I get that? 

When I got to campus after a morning in the field, I went to my office and first had a look for the emails I seemed to have missed. To my embarrassment, the earliest mention of it was from years ago. But there were only two, over the last six years or so. Possible to miss. But reading them didn’t help me. I phoned the helpdesk. 

To my relief, the person answering said he could sort this. He did a remote log-in on my computer, and that way managed to link the app to the account. And it works now! That was a big relief. I might be up to date-adjacent now. The times will inevitably catch up with me again, but maybe not for a bit of a while now! 

It works!