Passwords

Hold them close, and go long or go home. Also, change them at least every 3-6 months and don’t recycle them. Also...

• Don’t give out your username and password. Ever! Amazon has that information already and will never contact you to ask for it. Guard it by keeping it a secret. It sounds like common sense, but it is surprising how many sellers give this information to employees. The fewer people you trust with your password, the less susceptible it will be to trickery.
• Use a different password for each site. When any website database is compromised by hackers, they will often try the same email and password combinations on other web sites.
• Make your password long and unique. They should be 12-16 characters and include numbers, punctuation or special characters. The more non-patterned (random), the better. To assure the most random passwords without the risk of forgetting them, use password generator software - most are free and very easy to use.
• Consider Amazon’s Two-Step Verification Option. For extra security you can add a step to the login process. In addition to your password, you would also enter a unique security code in response to a prompt. When you first sign up for this optional level of security, you select how you wish to receive these prompts. You can select to receive the prompts via a voice call, a text message, or authenticator app.
• Consider next-level password management systems. These include brand names like Lastpass, Dashlane, KeePassZ, Sticky Password, etc. These systems generate and store complex passwords in one system. You need remember only one password for everything. Other systems require a single sign-on and are “passwordless.” Your employees never need to know your Seller Central password, instead they use a one-time code each time they sign into your account. Those systems go by brand names such as Okta, Auth0, Bitium, Biomi, Centrify, GlobalSign, OneLogin, etc.

Limit User Permissions

Limiting user permission can go a long way to securing your third-party seller account by making yourself a smaller target. The fewer people to whom you grant user permissions, the fewer vulnerabilities and opportunities for Amazon hackers. Changes in this area for the better may involve keeping current, keeping a vigil and keeping control. Specifically:

• Make sure current users have been authorized only by YOU.
• Check permissions regularly to assure they are what you need them to be; make sure no one has gained access without your authority, and purge old employees
• Make it part of the daily/weekly running of your business to check this
• Don’t enable users to modify their own permission levels; limit admin ability to one or two people
• Don’t grant users the ability to view and edit the seller bank account
• Try not to make lots of changes to your account settings all at once but, if you must, alert Amazon seller support first so your account does not get flagged and suspended for suspicious activity
• “Seller configuration” allows a person to see last 4 digits of a credit card - turn off this setting so others cannot verify your account if they file a ticket with Seller Support
• Create a regular user account for yourself and use that one instead of your admin account as much as possible

Get Alerted

You can set the alert settings within your seller account to notify you if changes are detected to your account.