Twitter will introduce a change to its so-called "two-factor authentication" (2FA) method starting next month by only allowing its paying subscribers to use text messages as a security measure to secure their accounts. This change will take place starting March 20, 2023 and will only be available to “Twitter Blue” users, the company announced on its blog on Friday.

While historically a popular form of 2FA, unfortunately we have seen phone-number based 2FA be used – and abused – by bad actors. So starting today, we will no longer allow accounts to enroll in the text message/SMS method of 2FA unless they are Twitter Blue subscribers. The availability of text message 2FA for Twitter Blue may vary by country and carrier.

Source Twitter

Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk recently confirmed a user query with a "yup" that Twitter was suffering a loss of $60 million annually due to malicious bots abusing the system through fraudulent SMS messages.

In response, the company announced that it would change its policies to combat bad actors and improve user security.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a method designed to help make accounts more secure!

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a method designed to help make accounts more secure by requiring a second authentication method in addition to the password. Twitter has previously offered 2FA via text messages, but will now only make this method available to its paying subscribers. Authentication apps and security keys remain accessible to all users and are generally considered more secure than 2FA SMS.

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However, some users have reacted critically to this change and accused Twitter and Musk of greed and neglect of user safety. However, Twitter recommends its paying users switch to more secure 2FA methods such as app-based or security keys.

It remains to be seen how these changes will be received and whether Twitter will take further measures to improve the security of its platform in the future.

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