14 DAY TRIAL // As a new Twitter account was hacked this weekend by the Syrian Electronic Army, many went on to say that the two-step authentication doesn’t work in fighting off hackers.
Of course it does, but like any other security feature, it only works if it’s enabled.
Twitter didn’t automatically enable this new feature to all accounts, because that would have been impossible. So, the blame falls on those who handle said accounts.
Everyone can log into their personal Twitter accounts and visit the Settings area. The new two-step log-in feature is called “Account security.”
However, in order to enable this feature, you first have to connect your phone to the account. This means that after providing your phone number, you have to send a text message to a certain number that varies based on your country of residence.
Once this step has been enabled, you can take the further step of having Twitter ask for a verification code each time you sign in. The temporary password can only be filled in for a period of time, so you get a new one at each log-in.
If this sounds pretty easy, that’s because it is. It’s a simple thing you can do to add another protection level to your account.
The problem with accounts from media outlets, such as the ones that have been hacked over the past few months, is that they are handled by more than one person. That makes it nearly impossible to set up this feature since one can only connect a single phone number.
So, unless media corporations start designating a single person to handle their social media accounts, it’s going to be increasingly difficult to protect themselves from hackers.
The situation stands the same with email addresses, whether personal or professional, and accounts on other platforms that have two-step verification available.