Skip to main content

Twitter finally getting serious about security, considering two-step authentication

twitter lock
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Twitter passwords are just too easy to crack. But according to Wired, the platform is finally getting its act together and working on a sorely-needed two-step authentication system.

We’ve even taken an inside look at the flourishing black market for hacked Twitter accounts, and it’s clear that much of this activity is being controlled by inexperienced hackers who are willing to compromise and takeover an account for less than $100, in most cases. 

Recommended Videos

While hacking Twitter accounts isn’t terrible difficult, the consequences are very real. Recently, we witnessed the effects a falsified tweet can have in the real world. The Associated Press’ Twitter account was surreptitiously hacked and in turn tweeted out something that would make you jump in your seat. At least it made investors very, very nervous. The @AP account, which was temporarily suspended (but is now back up) tweeted, “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.” The stock market took a dive in response to the hoax and a hacker group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility.

That White House hoax is just the latest public hack since NPR’s Twitter accounts were compromised, along with CBS’s account. And if it’s of any concern, North Korea’s Twitter account was recently hacked by Anonymous.

So what is Twitter to do? When pressed in the past about its security vulnerabilities, it’s done little more than throw around generic PR statements talking about how security is a priority at Twitter.

Ironically for a company that was mobile first, you’d think that two-factor authentication (which sends a code to a mobile device when logging in using a new device or a device in a new country) would be a feature they would have implemented from the get-go. Thankfully, it should be on the way. There’s no release date for the feature, but we’ve reached out to Twitter for comment and will update this space with the company’s reply.

The one issue though that poses a problem when it comes to two-step authentication is when there are multiple managers of one account. One account is tied to one mobile phone number so in the case of a two-step authentication process, one person would have to receive the SMS from Twitter and relay that code to the person trying to access the account from a different device. That could be one solution, but we’ll leave it up to Twitter’s engineers to solve that problem more efficiently.

Francis Bea
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Francis got his first taste of the tech industry in a failed attempt at a startup during his time as a student at the…
Topics
Bluesky finally adds a feature many had been waiting for
A blue sky with clouds.

Bluesky has been making a lot of progress in recent months by simplifying the process to sign up while at the same time rolling out a steady stream of new features.

As part of those continuing efforts, the social media app has just announced that users can now send direct messages (DMs).

Read more
Reddit just achieved something for the first time in its 20-year history
The Reddit logo.

Reddit’s on a roll. The social media platform has just turned a profit for the first time in its 20-year history, and now boasts a record 97.2 million daily active users, marking a year-over-year increase of 47%. A few times during the quarter, the figure topped 100 million, which Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders had been a “long-standing milestone” for the site.

The company, which went public in March, announced the news in its third-quarter earnings results on Tuesday.

Read more
Worried about the TikTok ban? This is how it might look on your phone
TikTok splash screen on an Android phone.

The US Supreme Court has decided to uphold a law that would see TikTok banned in the country on January 19. Now, the platform has issued an official statement, confirming that it will indeed shut down unless it gets some emergency relief from the outgoing president.

“Unless the Biden Administration immediately provides a definitive statement to satisfy the most critical service providers assuring non-enforcement, unfortunately TikTok will be forced to go dark on January 19,” said the company soon after the court’s verdict.
So, what does going dark mean?
So, far, there is no official statement on what exactly TikTok means by “going dark.” There is a lot of speculation out there on how exactly the app or website will look once TikTok shutters in the US.

Read more