Both Amazon and Apple were docked for how easy it was to modify an account over the phone -- and, in close succession, have both put at least a momentary lockdown on the changes that led to Honan losing much of his digital presence and some irreplaceable photos.

ENGADGET: Amazon, Apple stop taking key account changes over the phone after identity breach

Several apps he tested are stored in such a way that that it's easy to modify apps' data files and Internet Explorer 10 requests.

ENGADGET: Microsoft pins Windows Store app purchase exploits on insecure code