Twitter: Now you have to pay for two-factor authentication by text

Two-factor authentication by text message (SMS), the main security feature on any platform, now it will be paid on twitter. Those led by Elon Musk have announced that from March 19, the feature will only be available to Twitter Blue subscribers, which is not yet available globally.

In fact, some users have already begun receiving alerts from Twitter notifying them of the change. If you’re not a Twitter Blue subscriber and you currently have text two-factor authentication enabled, you have two options. Disable this security feature or resort to verification through third-party applications., such as Google Authenticator. Otherwise, Twitter doesn’t care if you lose access to the social network.

“Only Twitter Blue subscribers can use the two-factor authentication method via text message. It only takes a few minutes to turn it off. You will still be able to use the security application and security key methods. To avoid losing access to Twitter, turn off two-factor authentication by SMS until March 19th.

Without a doubt, this is one of the most absurd decisions that Twitter has made under the leadership of Elon Musk. Basic security on an internet platform, whatever it may be, should not be limited to users of a payment service.. Moreover, this feature was previously available for free.

Why will Twitter charge for two-factor authentication for text?

According to Twitter, the reasons for this decision are based on a different security issue. They suggest that two-factor authentication via text messages has recently been used maliciously to compromise accounts, so they have restricted its use.

“While historically 2FA has been a popular security method, unfortunately we have seen attackers use and abuse phone number based authentication. Therefore, starting today, we are no longer allowing accounts to sign up for two-factor verification via text message or SMS unless they are a Twitter Blue subscriber.”

Do we believe them? The truth is, if there were indeed concerns about malicious use of the verification system, they would disable it entirely. They wouldn’t make it a subscription exclusive…

The real reason is definitely related to price drop. The use of an SMS authentication system incurs additional costs for companies that use it to enhance their security. Apparently, Elon Musk’s company is unable to continue paying for these services without billing its users.

Since the arrival of Elon Musk at the helm of Twitter, more and more features – both old and new – are now available only to Twitter Blue users. Among them is a confirmation icon and new tweets for 4000 characters. However, they are additional offers that you can easily refuse. Strengthening security, by contrast, should not be limited to paywall.