Live data from Hacker News

Still locked out of my AWS account

docs.google.com

11–20 of 283 posts

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#12

8 days ago I tried to log in to my Amazon retail account, and received a password invalid error. As it turned out my account had been closed, as it appeared to Amazon that it had received a suspicious log in. This is the same account that I use for AWS - hosting websites critical to my business. Today it appears I am no closer to gaining access back to my AWS account than I was on day 1, even though I have been bille…

If anything this, along with similar situation(s?) with Google, should stand as a strong warning against single sign on systems across multiple services with multiple TOS.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#13
post #9

Might sound obvious in hindsight, but _always_ create separate AWS accounts for your different projects.

Doesn't this require separate gmail addresses? If so, then that's an extremely bad idea. I already had one gmail account completely banned with no notice. I wasn't doing anything abusive -- I used it for some npm projects and a github account.

Actually, is there a reasonable free gmail alternative for situations like this? I'd like to migrate. FastMail is worth paying for, but it's too expensive for one-off side projects. And while I don't trust gmail, I think I trust most services even less.

EDIT: My point was, if you use a single account, it's far less likely to get banned. I think my account was caught in some sort of automated purge, since I certainly wasn't abusing anything. Some proof: http://i.imgur.com/H5RRkyP.png I'm not sure which policy violation they're referring to, but all appeals failed. I lost all emails in that account, which thankfully wasn't very serious because the account was still young.

eropple and drbawb pointed out that you can use plus addresses with AWS, e.g. foo+aws1@gmail.com.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#14
post #3

8 days ago I tried to log in to my Amazon retail account, and received a password invalid error. As it turned out my account had been closed, as it appeared to Amazon that it had received a suspicious log in. This is the same account that I use for AWS - hosting websites critical to my business. Today it appears I am no closer to gaining access back to my AWS account than I was on day 1, even though I have been bille…

Are services offline or are you just locked from accessing the account?

My services are still online, so it's not a total disaster (yet), but I cannot sign in to the AWS control panel.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a meaningless statement. What exactly are you trying to convey?

Don't ever use services provided by a third party. That's why I cut my own hair, make my own toothpaste, and create my own electricity from coal I mine myself!

>not generating it in a home-made hamster wheel magnetic generator

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#16
post #9

Might sound obvious in hindsight, but _always_ create separate AWS accounts for your different projects.

Doesn't this require separate gmail addresses? If so, then that's an extremely bad idea. I already had one gmail account completely banned with no notice. I wasn't doing anything abusive -- I used it for some npm projects and a github account. Actually, is there a reasonable free gmail alternative for situations like this? I'd like to migrate. FastMail is worth paying for, but it's too expensive for one-off side proj…

You can use plus addresses for multiple AWS accounts. They're fine with that.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#18
post #9

Might sound obvious in hindsight, but _always_ create separate AWS accounts for your different projects.

Doesn't this require separate gmail addresses? If so, then that's an extremely bad idea. I already had one gmail account completely banned with no notice. I wasn't doing anything abusive -- I used it for some npm projects and a github account. Actually, is there a reasonable free gmail alternative for situations like this? I'd like to migrate. FastMail is worth paying for, but it's too expensive for one-off side proj…

Multiple gmail addresses is not a bad idea, but a highly supported and recommended setup.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#19

This should be a good warning about what you can expect when relying on other companies for service.

This is such a meaningless statement. What exactly are you trying to convey?

There's always a danger when you rely on outside provider for something that's critical to your business or life. Sometimes you can't avoid it or it's completely infeasible to, but choose carefully.

I see too many companies using AWS for stuff they could fairly easily self-host.

Re: Still locked out of my AWS account

#20
Stories like this are frustrating and a symptom of the impact very large companies can have on multiple facets of our lives.

One possible approach is to keep accounts separate for personal and each business that you are involved with. For example, you probably have at least a separate personal checking account and business checking account. Likewise, it would make sense to have all accounts used for a given business to only be used for that business.

In addition to providing some safety against automated action, division of accounts provides a nice legal line, wherein if a court order requires you to disclose information, you can simply dump everything on the account without touching any of the other businesses or personal documents.

Stymieing this, of course, is companies (Facebook?) that have a policy of prohibiting a single real person from having distinct accounts.

Post reply on HN