By Mat Honan | August 6, 2012 | 8:01 pm |
In the space of one hour, my entire digital life was destroyed. First
my Google account was taken over, then deleted. Next my Twitter account
was compromised, and used as a platform to broadcast racist and
homophobic messages. And worst of all, my AppleID account was broken
into, and my hackers used it to remotely erase all of the data on my
iPhone, iPad, and MacBook.
In many ways, this was all my fault. My accounts were daisy-chained together. Getting into Amazon let my hackers get into my...
[Ed: Not sure of the veracity, but seems plausible enough to warrant a warning to others]
Go here for the rest
More evidence that this really happened: Amazon Quietly Closes Security Hole After Journalist’s Devastating Hack
Previously, Amazon allowed people to call in and change the email address associated with an Amazon account or add a credit card number to an Amazon account as long as the caller could identify him or herself by name, email address and mailing address — three bits of personal information that are easily found online.
On Tuesday, Amazon handed down to its customer service department a policy change that no longer allows people to call in and change account settings, such as credit cards or email addresses associated with its user accounts.