New York
CNN
—
Twitter Blue subscribers would be the platform’s solely customers ready to make use of textual content messages as a two-factor authentication technique, Twitter announced Friday.
The change will happen on March 20. Twitter customers can have two different methods to authenticate their Twitter log-ins without charge: an authentication cell app and a safety key.
Two issue authentication, or 2FA, requires customers to sort of their password after which enter a code or safety key to entry their accounts. It is likely one of the major strategies for customers to maintain their Twitter account safe.
“Whereas traditionally a preferred type of 2FA, sadly now we have seen phone-number based mostly 2FA be used – and abused – by dangerous actors,” the corporate stated in a weblog publish Friday. “So beginning at the moment, we are going to now not permit accounts to enroll within the textual content message/SMS technique of 2FA except they’re Twitter Blue subscribers.”
Twitter Blue, which prices $11 a month for iOS and Android subscribers, provides a blue checkmark to the account of anybody keen to pay for one.
As of 2021, solely 2.6% of Twitter customers had a 2FA technique enabled – and of these, 74.4% used SMS authentication, a Twitter account safety report stated.
Twitter stated non-subscribers can have 30 days to disable the textual content technique and enroll in one other option to check in utilizing 2FA. Disabling textual content message 2FA gained’t robotically disassociate the person’s telephone quantity from their account, Twitter stated.
Musk responded “Yup” to a tweet claiming a telecommunications firm used bot accounts “to Pump 2FA SMS” and that Twitter was shedding $60 million a yr “on rip-off SMS.”
