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Twitter will no longer admit non-Blue subscribers; How to secure your account?

Twitter stated that it will no longer permit users to use text message-based two-factor authentication to secure their accounts if they do not have a Twitter Blue membership.

It’s an odd choice, and despite the rhetorical justification that it aims to increase user security, the implementation schedule and the options accessible to users point to the policy change having the exact opposite impact.

Twitter Non-Blue Subscribers Out Of Luck

The usage of two-factor authentication based on SMS messages should be discouraged for security concerns. It is true, as Twitter points out in its release, that SMS texts used as a second factor for authentication can also be utilized and abused by malicious parties.

The worst authentication method available on Twitter costs money to use. In fact, Twitter will simply disable 2FA after March 20th if you don’t start paying for Twitter Blue ($8 per month on Android; $11 per month on iOS) or change your account to use a much more dependable authenticator app or physical security key.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology first suggested that SMS-based text messages be phased out as a method of two-factor authentication more than six years ago, citing worries that SMS texts (and voice calls) might be intercepted.

With the help of strategies like a SIM switch scam, where a con artist uses stolen personal data to persuade your mobile carrier to shift your mobile number to one of their own SIM cards, texts and calls received to specific phone numbers can be fairly readily forwarded to new devices.

The effectiveness of SMS-based 2FA is significantly impacted by these schemes. In contrast to on-device prompts, which protected 90% of targeted assaults, a 2019 Google research of its own users revealed that SMS-based 2FA blocked only 76% of targeted attacks.

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Meta Verified Subscription

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Without a Twitter Blue subscription, users will no longer be able to employ text message-based two-factor authentication to safeguard their accounts.

Meanwhile, Meta is also following represents a clear departure from Meta’s long-standing free-always strategy, which had set the standard for other social media sites and had amassed user data in order to sell customized adverts.

The corporation used this technique for many years, which allowed it to earn billions of dollars every year.

The firm announced that consumers in Australia and New Zealand will receive the Meta Verified subscription service first this week, followed by users in other nations.

Users can obtain the blue checkmark by authenticating their accounts with a valid government ID, according to Meta. Up to this point, Meta has granted the blue checkmark to prominent users including organizations, politicians, and business leaders.

Additionally, unlike Twitter Blue, Meta will keep the blue checkmark on accounts that have already been verified by the business.

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