What you need to know
- Twitter’s SMS-based two-factor authentication incurs a monthly subscription fee.
- Security features will be limited to Twitter Blue subscribers only from March 20th.
- Accounts with SMS 2FA enabled will automatically lose this feature after that date.
After locking some long-standing features like blue checkmarks behind monthly subscriptions, Twitter now charges for SMS-based two-factor authentication.
The social networking platform surprised users. announcement (opens in new tab) Starting March 20th, only Twitter Blue subscribers can use this security option to secure their accounts. After that, this feature will be automatically disabled.
Please note that disabling SMS 2FA does not automatically remove your phone number from your account.
Twitter is suspending the SMS-based 2FA option for free users after confirming that “phone number-based 2FA is being used and abused by malicious actors.” This form of authentication is widely considered the least secure due to the increasing number of cases of SIM swap attacks. This allows the hacker to contact the carrier to steal her phone number and trick her into activating her SIM card in her possession. Once a scammer hijacks your phone number, all security measures for his online account are over.
Security experts have long promoted authenticator apps and security keys as a more secure alternative to SMS. However, texting is still a popular choice among Twitter users.
According to the company, transparency report (opens in new tab) From July 2021 to December 2021, nearly 75% of users used SMS for 2FA. Meanwhile, authenticator apps make up nearly 29% of him, while physical authentication keys make up just 0.5%.
This makes Twitter’s decision to remove that option for security reasons very concerning unless you’re paying $8/month for Twitter Blue ($11/month on iOS). Otherwise, now is the time to switch to a generator app or security key.
Additionally, you can enable multiple 2FA methods on your account. This is highly recommended, especially for users in countries where Blue is not available.
