London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

From cat videos to credit cards, Amazon says customers have to secure own data

From cat videos to credit cards, Amazon says customers have to secure own data

Amazon’s cloud computing customers have to decide themselves how best to protect sensitive information online, a senior executive said on Tuesday, following accusations by U.S. lawmakers that the web giant has not done enough to secure data on its servers.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of Amazon.com (AMZN.O), has come under fire following a series of high-profile data breaches, including one this year involving the personal information of 106 million people stored on its servers by Capital One Financial Corp (COF.N).

Chief Technology Officer Werner Vogels said AWS provided multiple services to help customers identify if their data was being stored appropriately and flag any possible problems, but the decision about which settings to use lay with those clients.

“We feel we have a responsibility in making sure you take the right actions, but in the end it’s only you who can decide what is the right action there and what’s not,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon.

“I’m not going to look at your data thinking like ‘hey, these are cat videos, maybe you shouldn’t do that’.” He added that customers should use tighter security controls for sensitive data such as credit card information.

Cybersecurity researchers say data hosted on AWS servers is often accidentally exposed due to mistakes made by the company’s clients configuring their security settings.

The alleged Capital One hacker, for example, was able to access the firm’s data due to a wrongly-configured web application firewall, U.S. prosecutors have said.

Analysts at Gartner predict client mistakes will account for 99 percent of “cloud security failures” over the next six years.

Vogels said the AWS system warned customers with a “massive red button” when they configured online storage containers - known as buckets - to be accessible by anyone online, a setting deliberately chosen for some products and applications.

The company also provides tools which clients can run to analyze the type of data they are storing and spot commonly associated slip-ups, he said.

“If you (change) the configuration on your bucket to world-readable, you will get lots of alarm bells going off,” he said. “It’s up to the individual customer to decide what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×