Twitter is Looking to Beef up its Two-Factor Authentication Options with Physical Security Keys

Twitter is looking to beef up its account security options with the expansion of its support for physical security keys to mobile devices, which will enable anyone to use physical security keys to log in to Twitter via iOS and Android.

What’s that, you say? Physical keys? Like your house keys?

Kind of.

Through Twitter’s WebAuthn API, people are able to utilize browser-to-hardware-based authentication, which facilitates additional account security through the use of devices like security keys, mobile phones, and touchid.

Twitter made these extra security measures available via desktop back in 2018, and now, it’s expanding its authentication support to all device types, providing more ways for users to secure their profiles.

That could be particularly useful for those who would prefer not to use their mobile phone number for such a purpose.

Account security came into sharp focus for Twitter back in July, when several high profile user accounts were hacked and used to promote a crypto scam.

The actual hack process, in this instance, utilized social engineering – the hackers tricked Twitter employees into giving them access to a control console, which then enabled them to access an account they wanted.

As such, two-factor authentication wouldn’t have mattered – but even so, the incident served as a powerful reminder of the need to vigilance in your account security and the potential damage that can be caused by hackers getting access to your credentials.

Definitely, hackers are becoming a larger concern. A US Government report filed in 2018, estimated that the economic cost of malicious cyber activity in America alone was between $57 billion and $109 billion in 2016. That’s four years ago, and with the pandemic putting even more pressure on the economy, you can bet that criminal groups are more desperate than ever and that more cybercrime operations are now in effect.

As such, improving your account security is important, and adding more ways to implement safeguards will help Twitter ensure more people are better protected.

You can read more about Twitter’s authentication options here.