Within the last couple of weeks, Amazon has quietly enabled two-step verification on its accounts.

If you shop on Amazon, you should enable this right away. Speaking as someone who had to deal with several fraudulent purchases a few months back, I can’t emphasize this enough.

Two-factor verification means that whenever you log in from an unfamiliar device, you have to verify your identity by entering an access code that is texted to your phone, or obtained from an authenticator app. You can set it not to ask for codes again from computers that are never out of your control, such as your home PC or tablet.

If you already use two-factor authentication on your Gmail account, this should be a no-brainer, because Amazon can use the same mobile authenticator app Google does. And if you don’t, you should probably go ahead and set it up for Gmail while you’re at it.

To set two-step verification for Amazon, go to Amazon.com, log in, and click on “Your Account” at the top right corner of the browser window where it says “Hello, [your name]”. Scroll down to the “Account Settings” section and click on “Change Account Settings” at the top of it. Then go down to “Advanced Security Settings” at the bottom and click the “Edit” button. Then click the “Get Started” button at the right and follow the instructions. Amazon’s own guidance is is here.

Remember, don’t be password promiscuous! Practice safe shopping!

(Found via Engadget.)

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