When Identity Security Becomes a Wall — Not a Shield

After a breach that forced a reset of my digital identity, I hit a roadblock I never anticipated: multi-factor authentication (2FA) locked me out of critical Microsoft services with no reliable way to prove who I was.

Despite years of interaction, billing history, and documented correspondence, access couldn’t be restored. Support channels were opaque. Recovery methods? Virtually nonexistent.

🧩 The Fallout

This isn’t just a tale of frustration — it’s a wake-up call for anyone who depends on digital platforms for professional continuity. Here's what made this situation particularly troubling:

• 2FA mechanisms ignored reset conditions and created a closed loop
• Microsoft’s support structure lacked escalation flexibility for identity restoration
• Existing billing relationships didn’t help validate re-entry
• Submission of supporting materials was not possible due to access barriers
• Communication was throttled by the very safeguards meant to protect users

📁 Appendix Overview (Bullet Format)

Though I’ve withheld raw screenshots for privacy, the underlying evidence includes:

• Email chains across multiple support tiers
• Billing confirmation across service subscriptions
• Failed attempts to upload documents for verification
• Timeline logs of authentication attempts
• Chat transcripts documenting escalation effort
• Account alerts post-identity reset
• Case numbers and references from support tools
• License access history and dashboard exclusions
• Anomalies in MFA re-enrollment
• Failed access attempts after password and device reset
• Time-based snapshot of support delays and breakdowns

🔄 What’s Next?

This blog isn’t about placing blame — it’s about demanding resilience. If identity protection policies don’t account for edge-case scenarios, platform continuity suffers.

Lesson learned: Security tools should protect users with them, not from them.

Querying SQL Server 2012 with Power Query

Power Query is a great way to access data and Power View is a great way to view a report.

Some details of Power Query can be found here,
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2013/12/what-is-microsoft-power-query.html
http://hodentekhelp.blogspot.com/2013/12/what-is-difference-between-ms-query-and.html

Power View is covered in detail in my book,

This post shows how you may connect to SQL Server 2012 Express and query the databases therein using Power Query.

Step 1. If you have not installed the add-in do it now. Get it from this link here,
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39379

Step 2. Launch MS Access 2010 ( or your version). You should see in the splash screen that the add-in is also loaded.

Step 3. Anyway verify it from the Excel Options window that you can access from File menu as shown.

Step 4. Click menu item Power Query followed by From Database as shown.

Step 5. Click From SQL Server Database. In the window that pops-up type in the server name as shown. There is no browse feature here, you have to manually enter as shown.

Step 6. Click OK after entering SQL Server name and the following window pops-up.

Step 7. You can choose encrypted or unencrypted for you connection. Here Unencrypted is chosen.

Step 8. Click Save. The query window appears with a default name Query1 as shown. Here Northwind has been expanded to show the tables.

Step 9. Click on Categories as shown. The table content gets shown on the right side.

Step 10. You can further process the query using the built-in controls which can be displayed by right clicking the corner of the table as shown.

Step 11. The chosen options updates the steps, each time you make a choice a step is added as shown. Note that this next query is from AdventureWorksLT2012 database.

This will be saved to the workbook which you may name appropriately by completing this window. Right now there is no link to publish this result except saving it to the SkyDrive and use it later.

Enjoy