Data Privacy and Cybersecurity

Amazon Resets Customer Passwords Over Possible Leak

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday quickly approaching, this might be the worst time of year for Amazon to have security concerns.

Amazon Resets Customer Passwords Over Possible Leak
Getty Images / David Ryder
SMS

Amazon has reset some customers' passwords over a possible data leak. 

ZDNet obtained an e-mail Amazon sent to customers that said the company "recently discovered that your [Amazon] 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."

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday quickly approaching, this might be the worst time of year for Amazon to have security concerns. 

But the company says it doesn't have any reason to believe any data was breached, and the forced password reset came from an "abundance of caution."

This news comes just a week after Amazon gave customers the option to enable to two-step authentication — instead of just logging in with a password, users also have to enter a code sent via text message. This helps ensure it's actually you logging on and not just someone who was able to guess your password. 

This video includes images from Getty Images.