You may have heard that a vulnerability in the OpenSSL cryptographic library called Heartbleed or formally called CVE-2014-0160 has been disclosed and that it represents a potential security threat to a large number of websites. Using this vulnerability, malicious individuals could access sensitive information submitted by people actively visiting a website including usernames, passwords and credit card numbers. Users across the Internet should be especially aware of suspicious activity on their accounts.

Since joining Drupal.org in 2007, Lee Rowlands (larowlan) has been an important contributor to the Drupal project. A major core contributor and Drupal 8 advocate, Rowlands has become a well-recognized and celebrated member of the Drupal community.

Rowlands is an important Drupal figure in Australia, and has spoken at DrupalCamp Brisbane 2010, Drupal Downunder Melbourne 2012, DrupalCon Sydney 2013 and Drupal South Wellington 2014. An occasional mentor during Drupal Office Hours in the Australian timezone (GMT+10), Rowlands is also a well-recognized figure in the international Drupal community for his involvement with core and his contributions to a huge variety of projects on Drupal.org.

How did you get involved with Drupal?

Jim Morrison and a naked native american came to me in a dream and told me it was my destiny. Just kidding. I started up my own IT consulting business and I'd built a couple of Drupal 5 sites.

Free Software is not just about saving money. It's not just about sharing for sharing's sake. Free Software, at its core, is about empowering people. It is about ensuring that everyone has ultimate control over their own electronic lives, because the software that runs their electronic lives is under their control and not someone else's.