The bypass code
The sound of scurrying feet across my cubicle door made me cringe, knowing that eventually it would be her footsteps. I had poured myself a cup of coffee minutes before my latest encounter with the WND (Woman Next Door), it was cold already. I started to drift into my own thoughts, forgetting that I had to stay sharp for just a second.
“Why can’t we install this software onto the server?” HOHR (Head Of HR) surprised me, her footsteps as silent as Death – which is a fairly adequate description of her.
“I can’t allow anything to be installed to the server without MITG’s (Motorcycle IT Guy) approval on the software. I’d be happy to install it once I get the green light from him though.” I must admit, I practiced that line in my head a few times. “What is the software, anyways?” I inquired.
“It’s a software that we load on to the iPhones, it communicates with our server and lets us know if anyone is using their phone in motion. The phone will lock if in a car, and will send us a notification if they bypass the lock.” HOHR looked oddly proud, and she definitely practiced that line.
“I take the train, how would that work?”
“You can’t use your phone while moving, unless you have the bypass code.” She retorts.
“Okay, why does the phone app require server access?” What developer, in their right mind, would require a domain controller to send out alerts? “What company made this application?”
“Why don’t we just wait for MITG, he’ll be back Monday anyways.” Something was wrong there, that was too easy. HOHR has never been one to step down that quickly, it’s as if she was searching for my approval. I considered pressing the issue, but I would need MITG to really convince against it. Before she could fully leave my view I had my private email account open was constructing an email to MITG’s private email.
“Um, rstrt, can you come here a minute?”
“Yeah, hold on a second.” Making sure I had encrypted this email and pressing send.
“So I need to edit this distribution list, but I can’t find it in my contacts.” She paused for a second “Wait, didn’t we used to go through something else for that? Oh, it was active directory!” This was wrong, on a massive scale. HOHR and WND had extremely limited technical knowledge, how did she know what AD is? What was cleverer, was that the only way to get into AD is to log onto the same server she wanted credentials for.
“Email me the changes, I’ll take care of it.”
“Why can’t I do it myself?!” her familiar barking tone came out.
“You don’t have credentials to modify active directory.” I replied.
“Then GIVE me them!” I was trapped, any action was wrong. So I did the only logical thing I could think of, I lied.
“MITG is the only one that can modify those credentials. I have access, but I can’t give access. So, I can do it for you, or you can email MITG and see if he will give your account permission.” This was a bold move, on one hand I sent out an email already. What if he got hers before mine?
“Fine, I’ll email him right now.” She waved me out of her office like a dog.
I went back to my regular menial tasks, resetting passwords and taking simple calls. There was a drive clicking away, churning for what little was left of its lifespan, on my desk. The clicking was the only noise audible, not even WND’s keyboard was going off. Without knowing any better, I’d say the office more closely resembled a tomb. It didn’t take long to learn the reason for the silence though. As if my inbox was sitting in the wake of a nuclear bomb, twenty emails came through at once all bearing similar titles; is the server down?
TL;DR - You're paranoid, but they're also out to get you.