Starting today, Twitter bars users from enrolling into an SMS-based two-factor authentication for their accounts – unless you’re a Blue subscriber.
Calling this an insecure means of safeguarding your account, Twitter is completely disabling the SMS-based authentication for non-Blue users from March 20th onwards. Instead, it asks users to try a third-party authenticator app or physical security keys to protect their accounts better.
Pay For SMS Verification on Twitter
Years after experiencing SMS-based account hacks on a wide scale, Twitter has now decided to push users to a better form of verification. And it’s by disabling the SMS-based authentication and suggesting users try authenticator apps or physical security keys instead.
This was noted in a blog post on Saturday, where the company announced disabling SMS-based two-factor authentication for non-Blue users from March 20th onwards. Even before that, the company is blocking existing users from setting up this form of verification, starting today.
Well, as per its own transparency report – Only 2.6% of the total Twitter users had enabled a 2FA setting by the end of December 2021, where 74% of them were using SMS as their 2FA method! Though it’s the popular means of verification, Twitter sees it as the most abused by bad actors.
Thus, it’s disabling it for good. Well, Twitter Blue users can have this option working even after the due date since they’re paying! And for non-Blue users, you must set up a new 2FA by any authentication app or a physical security key.
Both are way more secure than the SMS-based verification – on which Twitter too agrees – since your OTPs can be stolen by threat actors to hijack your account. Thus, having a better form of authentication is recommended.
