Twitter Tries Again with Two-Factor Authentication

Twitter is aiming to improve security for its users with an improved two-factor log-in verification system that goes beyond the SMS-based system that the company first deployed two months ago. Security experts eWeek spoke with have mixed opinions on whether Twitter’s latest attempt at user security will really make a difference.

Two-factor authentication refers to a site’s or service’s requirements for a second password or token in order to gain access. The idea is that a single username and password combination can potentially be breached, but adding in the second factor for authentication, increases the complexity and reduces the risk. Typically, two-factor authentication systems use a randomly generated password that is time-based, in order to make the log-in more secure.

Twitter first implemented two-factor authentication in May, after the accounts of a number of high-profile media users were exploited. The initial May implementation relied on users receiving a Short Message Service (SMS) text on their smartphones in order to provide the two-factor log-in verification.

Read the full story at eWeek:
Twitter Gives Two-Factor Security a Second Shot

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.