You are absolutely right, the blame here really does fall on Apple. As the article mentions, the information they got from Amazon could have been obtained from a local pizza joint as well.
Even so, this seems like a decent way to compromise amazon accounts. Even though the danger involved when that happens is pretty minimal for the reasons that you mention, it should nevertheless be something that concerns them. Even just things like revealing purchase history is an issue, though of course unlikely to be a lifewrecker like the Apple situation. I can't imagine this process will work with them in a few days. All I meant to say is that they have something to fix, not that they share significant blame.
> First you call Amazon and tell them you are the account holder, and want to add a credit card number to the account. All you need is the name on the account, an associated e-mail address, and the billing address. Amazon then allows you to input a new credit card. (Wired used a bogus credit card number from a website that generates fake card numbers that conform with the industry’s published self-check algorithm.) Then you hang up.
> Next you call back, and tell Amazon that you’ve lost access to your account. Upon providing a name, billing address, and the new credit card number you gave the company on the prior call, Amazon will allow you to add a new e-mail address to the account. From here, you go to the Amazon website, and send a password reset to the new e-mail account. This allows you to see all the credit cards on file for the account — not the complete numbers, just the last four digits. But, as we know, Apple only needs those last four digits. We asked Amazon to comment on its security policy, but didn’t have anything to share by press time.
> And it’s also worth noting that one wouldn’t have to call Amazon to pull this off. Your pizza guy could do the same thing, for example. If you have an AppleID, every time you call Pizza Hut, you’ve giving the 16-year-old on the other end of the line all he needs to take over your entire digital life.
This part seems relatively bad:
> Amazon will allow you to add a new e-mail address to the account. From here, you go to the Amazon website, and send a password reset to the new e-mail account.
Even so, this seems like a decent way to compromise amazon accounts. Even though the danger involved when that happens is pretty minimal for the reasons that you mention, it should nevertheless be something that concerns them. Even just things like revealing purchase history is an issue, though of course unlikely to be a lifewrecker like the Apple situation. I can't imagine this process will work with them in a few days. All I meant to say is that they have something to fix, not that they share significant blame.