With all the oh-so-many Twitter hacks we’ve been seeing lately, guess who has finally provided us with two-factor authentication. If you guessed Twitter (or read the title of this post), you’re right! This has been long overdue and is great news.
What does this mean for your brand’s Twitter security?
Once you’ve enabled the two-factor authentication on your Twitter account, any time someone attempts to login, a secret code will be sent to the mobile phone associated to your account. Without this code, that person will not gain access.
Of course, nothing on the Internet is ever completely secure, but adding this two-factor authentication option is a great step towards maximizing the security of your Twitter account.
How can you set up two-factor authentication on your Twitter account?
- Go to Settings > Account from within your Twitter account
- Where you see “Require a verification code when I sign in”, right below this in the description, click “add a phone”
- Follow the necessary steps to add a phone to your account
- Go back to Settings > Account and click the check box beside “Require a verification code when I sign in”
- Follow the instructions and you’re all set!
Check out Twitter’s short explanatory video here:
What if you have more than one person associated to your brand’s Twitter account?
Whether your entire team tweets from within the Twitter platform or from a third party platform such as Hootsuite, once they’re set up and logged in, as long as you have the password saved and the account set to “keep me logged in” or “remember me”, they shouldn’t need to reenter the password each time they want to access your brand’s Twitter account. However, if it happens that they need to access the account from a different device, make sure that each member of your team knows whose phone number is associated with the two-factor authentication and, of course, that person’s number. On the rare occasion that they need the code, they will simply have to call that person and request it at that time. (Note: a new code will be sent to the device with each login attempt)
The whole point of this security measure is to protect your brand’s account from being hacked. With how hot Twitter hacks are these days, be sure to go over to your account and set up your two-factor authentication right away!
Note: Linkedin now offers two-step verification! Find out how to secure your Linkedin account with this security feature here.
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
Thanks for sharing this Melissa, very valuable info.
Hi Celina, I'm very glad you enjoyed the post. It is extremely important for both individuals and brands to protect themselves as much as possible online, and Twitter has finally got with the program!