May | Page 2 of Page 2

Some of you might have read earlier this month about LinkedIn passwords being leaked. I did not think twice about such things dismissing the entire event as a minor leak and thinking that it would not have impacted my account.

Today, sitting there like a shining beacon of I-told-you-so, was a mail from LinkedIn –

We recently became aware that some LinkedIn passwords were compromised and posted on a hacker website. We immediately launched an investigation and we have reason to believe that your password was included in the post.

Imagine that! Finally something that has directly impacted you! Or did they just send a blanket email?

I remember that when I was working in eYantra, something as preposterous as this had happened during the first couple of months of our e-commerce platform deployment. A developer had accidentally reset the password database of users. I was forced to draft an email to be sent to the users to reset their passwords, I still remember the shame with which my face was red. Who at LinkedIn must be feeling like this?

This event, combined with the Blizzard fiasco of case-insensitive passwords brings end-user and customer account security back in the front-line media. A call for Personal Security 101. Rajat Swarup, where art thou?

The entire nation was in uproar with the recent price hike in petrol prices. A 10% hike essentially meant that suddenly the 14 litres of petrol I bought with INR 1000 would be reduced to 13. Agreed, that the uproar seemed to be fueled by the opposition party, but hey, that’s why they are there in the first place! To keep the ruling party in check.

A nation-wide bandh seemed like an appropriate action. 31st May was set as the D-Day and the entire nation waited.

The employees of the nation waited because of the undisputed holiday that they would get.

The shopkeeper’s waited because of the surge in sales before and after the strike that they would get.

Media waited (with baited breath) to create a highly hyped event out of this.

I woke up late hoping that it would be a holiday in our company. Sadly, it was’nt and I had to reach office. Due to my family’s concern for my safety, I was asked to walk the distance to my office. The only reason I agreed was that I could see first hand how things were there out on the roads. On TV the strike had taken its toll, all channels were talking about the mediocre success of the strike throughout the nation. With the exception of Aurangabad (and possibly Kolkata), the rest of the cities seemed to be working in swing.

Shops were closed till 5pm (with the exception of chemists), and PSU units were kept closed. Most of the private enterprises were open and local transport was working. All in all, this strike had gone to the dogs.

Yesterday, the efforts of the strike had borne fruit. Finally, some results! To my chagrin, the margin by which the hike was reduced was a measly 2 INR per litre. Meh! Not only was this strike a waste of time, but also a waste of money. The only person who would really be affected by this is the common man. All the others will hike up their prices … the employees will have to wait for their poorly done appraisals.

I wonder if there is a correlation of the inflation rate of the country to the attrition amongst employees?

Month: June 2012

LinkedIn Passwords Leaked