The Twitter platform announced that it has added a new feature to its paid service package (Twitter Blue) - two-factor authentication via SMS, which has been one of the main ways to protect user accounts for many years.
The platform said that after March 20 next year, this feature will be available only to subscribers of the service (Twitter Blue), so users who do not subscribe to the service must find alternatives.
Don't worry ; There are safer, free, and easier ways to continue protecting your Twitter account with two-factor authentication without a phone number, and we cover them in this article:
First, what is the two-factor authentication feature?
Two-factor authentication is one of the most important security factors for protecting accounts today because it adds an additional verification step to the account registration process. In addition to entering your username and password, you enter another verification code and this code is sent to your phone via SMS, or it is a code that you generate using an authentication application or with a security key.
Security experts often advise users to ditch phone-based authentication solutions and start using app-based or security key-based authentications as SIM swapping attacks are common, making it easier to access 2FA messages and hack accounts.
In particular, the founder and former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, was the victim of a SIM hack in August 2019, in which hackers used a deceptive operation (SIM splitting) to obtain his phone number, allowing them to send a tweet via SMS that could generate the number and send it to his Twitter account.
When you enable two-factor authentication for your Twitter account, you have three options to choose from:
- SMS: If you are not a Twitter Blue subscriber, this option will not be available after 3 months.
- App Authentication: This option allows you to use app-based authentication to protect your account.
- Security Key: This option allows you to protect your account with a security key, sold separately, that generates a security code and is the strongest option because hackers need to steal this key to access your account.
second; What authenticator app can you use?
At any price ; If you have a two-factor authentication app on your phone, you can receive 2FA codes and generate additional passwords on an ongoing basis. Therefore, the code can only be used on your real phone and cannot be sent via SMS.
You can use several authentication app options including:
1- Google Authenticator app.
2 Microsoft authentication application.
3- Authy application.
These apps are available on Google Play for Android users and the App Store for iOS users.
third; To enable two-factor authentication on Twitter using an authenticator app:
- Go to the Twitter app on your phone. Then tap on the file image in the upper left corner.
- Click Options (Settings and Privacy) Settings and Privacy.
- Click on the Security and Account Access option.
- Click on the Security option and then click on the two-factor authentication option.
- Click on the Application Authentication option.
- Enter your Twitter account password and click Confirm.
- Click Startup Options.
- Click on the Link App option and follow the onscreen instructions for the app to generate the code for you.
- Enter the code generated by the verification application, tap Confirm, and then tap Done.
fourth; Using a USB dongle:
The second two-factor authentication option available for Twitter accounts is a dongle, which is a small USB-like device that you can purchase separately and connect to your device via USB or USB-C to secure your account.
Some security keys connect to devices via Bluetooth and NFC, as well as USB ports, all of which are designed to the FIDO standard, allowing you to use your device keys in a variety of ways.
Here are the security keys you can rely on:
1- YubiKey 5 NFC key.
2- Solokeys Som key.
3- FIDO U2F BLE key.
4- Key titan from Google.
To use Twitter's two-factor authentication security key, you can follow these steps:
- Go to your Twitter account.C
- lick More options in the sidebar on the left side of the screen.
- Click Options (Settings and Privacy) Settings and Privacy.
- Click on the Security and Account Access option.
- Click Security Options.
- Click Options (Two-Factor Authentication).
- Click on the Security Key option.
- Click Startup Options.
- Plug the dongle into a USB port on your computer or sync via Bluetooth and once connected, press the button on the dongle.
- Click the Add key option and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the setup process.
