Twitter launched its two-factor authentication (2FA) with a phone number back in 2017. Two years later, the social media platform rolled out 2FA where users didn’t need to provide their phone number and instead use apps like Authy or Google Authenticator to generate a two-factor code.
Fast forward to now and users are able to access their accounts using security keys as their only method of two-factor authentication. This change makes it more difficult for unauthorized individuals to get access to your Twitter account by bypassing 2FA through verification code from your email or SMS and is sure to keep hackers and people with malintent at bay.
Now security keys can be your one and only two-factor authentication method on mobile and web.
Learn more about how security keys can protect your account from attacks: https://t.co/Ta7uQSFhi6 pic.twitter.com/aPDOnbRtVk
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) June 30, 2021
“While any form of 2FA is better than no 2FA, physical security keys are the most effective,” reads Twitter’s blog post. “Security keys offer the strongest protection for your Twitter account because they have built-in protections to ensure that even if a key is used on a phishing site, the information shared can’t be used to access your account.”
Twitter added security key support for 2FA in 2018. While the functionality was only available on Twitter-web, it was subsequently added to the mobile app in 2020, and now, it can be your primary way of logging into your account.
If you’re interested in setting up a security key for your Twitter account, the social network has a handy step-by-step guide featured on its website.
Source: Twitter
