Has Amazon reset YOUR password? Online store rolls out security precaution

Amazon has reset a number of customers' passwords

AMAZON has been forced to reset some customers' passwords, days before the US firm is set to release its Black Friday deals.

 

A number of Amazon customers have had thier passwords compromised, the US online store revealed in an email to shoppers.

The hugely successful US retailer – which is just days away from its bumper Black Friday deals – sent an email to an unknown number of customers to tell them their account passwords might have been stored or transmitted insecurely.

None of the Amazon account passwords which have leaked online have been used in thefts, a ZDNET report has claimed.

Amazon is believed to have 'force reset' the passwords of affected customers.

This means customers' existing passwords will no longer work, forcing them to change the secure login information.

 

According to an email from the US retailer, it warns "[Amazon] recently discovered that your password may have been improperly stored on your device or transmitted to Amazon in a way that could potentially expose it to a third party.

"We have corrected the issue to prevent this exposure."

If you have received a password reset email from Amazon, you should change any other online account which uses the same combination of email address, account name or password.

 

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos speaks at an Amazon press event last year

Always create a unique password for every one of your online accounts.

For example, take the first letter of each word in your favourite song lyric, phrase or poem – and use those letters, which appear like a random jumble, as your password.

A password manager is another way to generate and securely store unique passwords with letters, symbols and numbers.

However even these apps aren't always secure.