Amazon Resets Unknown Number of Passwords Due to Leak
If you receive an email from Amazon today that says your password has been changed, then you are not the only one. ZDNet reports that several people were notified by Amazon that their password was reset for unspecified reasons.
Based on emails from a number of ZDNet readers, it looks like Amazon is taking precautions against a possible leak. Amazon hasn’t revealed exactly what the issue was and hasn’t responded to media inquiries, but ZDNet says the emails clarify that Amazon has no reason to believe a third party got its hands on any passwords:
In an email, Amazon said it “recently discovered that your [Amazon] password may have been incorrectly stored on your device or transferred to Amazon in a way that could potentially disclose it to third parties.”
It added: “We have fixed the issue to prevent this exposure.” The email said he had “no reason” to believe the passwords were improperly disclosed to a third party, but a temporary password was given out as a “precautionary measure.”
So, if you received this email, be sure to change your password now. If you haven’t and are using a password manager , now is probably the best time to change your Amazon password to stay safe (and make sure that password is not being used anywhere else). With holiday shopping coming this week, now is also a particularly good time to enable Amazon’s new 2-Step Verification .
Amazon forcibly resets passwords for certain accounts, citing password leaks | ZDNet