Amazon. Image: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
Amazon has issued emails to some users suggesting they change their passwords, despite denying reports of a dump of login details over the summer.
Claiming that a list of user details recently found online is “not Amazon-related”, Amazon is advising users to update their passwords.
In July, reports emerged of a disgruntled Amazon user releasing 80,000 Kindle user details online, something the company denied.
Now, somewhat out of the blue, a mass warning to registered users has emerged. Saying it takes user security “very seriously”, the company recently carried out what it calls its “routine monitoring”, where it discovered a list of email address and password sets posted online.
“While the list was not Amazon-related, we know that many customers reuse their passwords on several websites,” said the company. “We believe your email address and password set was on that list. So we have taken the precaution of resetting your password.”
The company found a list (we do not know how big) of emails and passwords that match those used on its site, though they were found in a non-Amazon-related setting.
As way of context, in August Dropbox revealed that it had been the subject of a hack which eventually transpired to be larger than anyone previously imagined. Its opening gambit was a forced password reset of users.
In July, Hackread.com reported that 80,000 Amazon user details were allegedly dumped online by a customer frustrated that the company would not heed his security warnings.
“We have confirmed that this information did not come from Amazon’s servers, and that the accounts in question are not legitimate Amazon customer accounts,” said the company at the time.
It would not be a surprise if more was to come from this but, until then, affected users are advised to go to their account details, click ‘forgot your password?’ and reset it as soon as possible.
“Please choose a new password and do not use the same password you used with us previously,” reads the email. “We also highly recommend that you choose a password that you are not using on any other sites. We look forward to seeing you again soon.”
We have reached out to Amazon for comment.
Prime delivery. Image: Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
