“Human beings can’t help it: we need to belong.”
— Seth Godin, Tribes.
Twitter Just Weakened Account Security For Almost 368 Million Users
Forbes: “The latest twist in the Twitter tale since Elon Musk bought the company is one of the most worrying to date. In a truly bizarre move, which appears to put penny-pinching before account security, Twitter has announced it will limit the use of SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) to Twitter Blue subscribers from March 20. Twitter disables SMS 2FA for the majority of users – In a notice posted to the Twitter help center’s two-factor authentication pages, Twitter states that “Effective 20 March 2023, we will no longer support two-factor authentication using text messages for non-Twitter Blue subscribers.”
With as many as 368 million active monthly users, of which less than 300,000 are thought to subscribe to Twitter Blue, that leaves a huge number of people with potentially weakened account security. Indeed, even if you are a Twitter Blue subscriber, that doesn’t mean you will necessarily still be able to use SMS-based 2FA. The announcement notice added that “the availability of text message 2FA for Twitter Blue may vary by country and carrier.”
See also Wired – How to Protect Yourself From Twitter’s 2FA Crackdown. “Twitter is disabling SMS-based two-factor authentication. Switch to these alternatives to keep your account safe.”