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How to enable Twitter login verification

Christopher Park

Christopher Park

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After Twitter was hacked back in February, it announced that it would roll out two-factor verification. Now in May, the company is rolling out the feature its users. Enabling the feature will add a second layer of security to your account. Twitter is mimicking the security measures of popular sites like Facebook, Dropbox, Google, and Apple.

Twitter is currently pushing the login verification option to users so if you don’t see it yet, it will be updated in your profile settings page soon.

Access your Settings

To enable two-factor verification, you have to access your Twitter account through the web. Once you log in, open your Settings by clicking on the gear icon and selecting settings.

The option is for verification is called Account security. Be aware that when you enable two-factor authentication, Twitter will send a code to your phone through text message. Depending on your carrier, this may be an additional cost.

If you’ve already connected your phone number to Twitter for SMS tweets and alerts, you can bypass this step. If you need to add a phone, just follow Twitter’s prompts. All you need to do is assign a phone number, and then text Twitter to verify your number.

After you have verified your phone, you should sign out and sign back into the service to make sure that verification is enabled correctly. Twitter will send you a login code for Twitter.com.

Anytime you need to log into Twitter.com, it will send you an new verification code to enter the site. There’s no way to mark an authorized machine to prevent Twitter form asking for a code every time.

Applications require temporary passwords

If you use apps to access Twitter, you will have to generate temporary passwords so these apps can reconnect. You can only create temporary passwords through the website so if you are updating mobile apps, it’s good to complete them all at once if possible.

You will need to reenter your Twitter password to generate the temporary password.

Here’s an example when I tried to log back into my Twitter on my Android. It recognized that I needed to create a temporary password.

For apps that you are currently logged in, Twitter doesn’t automatically sign you out. This means it’s also a good time to look through connected apps and revoke access to apps that you don’t use anymore.

Adding security to apps you use a lot is good to protect your user data and to prevent someone from hijacking your profile. Twitter is a little late to the two-factor verification game, but it wouldn’t be unusual for Tumblr or Pinterest to eventually introduce the system for users to protect their profiles. Along with two-factor verification, it’s also good to make sure your passwords are strong with a combination of words, numbers, and symbols.

Christopher Park

Christopher Park

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