Twitter has announced that it’s temporarily turning off the ability to Tweet via SMS, to protect people’s accounts from vulnerabilities with mobile carriers.
In case you missed it, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account was hacked last week. Hackers were able to use a SIM swap attack to give them access to his phone number, and by doing so they were then able to tweet out racial slurs via SMS.
While Dorsey got his account back, he now admits he still doesn’t have a phone number as a result of the hack. In response to this hack, Twitter is now temporarily disabling the ability to send tweets via SMS.
In an announcement earlier this week, the company explained that this was to protect people’s accounts:
We’re temporarily turning off the ability to Tweet via SMS, or text message, to protect people’s accounts.
— Support (@Support) September 4, 2019
However, the other reason is “because of vulnerabilities that need to be addressed by mobile carriers.” Part of the problem is the “reliance on having a linked phone number for two-factor authentication.”
Twitter now promises it’s now “working on improving this.”
It’s not clear how long the feature will be disabled, but Twitter did say that it’s working to reactivate it “in markets that depend on SMS for reliable communication soon.” The company is also working on a more long-term strategy to deal with the problem.
You might also like
More from Twitter
Twitter Blue Subscribers Now Get Up To One Hour To Edit Their Tweets
Not only do Twitter Blue subscribers get to edit their tweets, but now they will have up to 60 minutes …
Twitter Now Publicly Shows Who You Are Paying To Subscribe To
Twitter added a "Subscriptions" button to the user profile that lets anyone see who you are paying to subscribe to. Ever …
Twitter Blue Verified Subscribers Can Now Upload 2-Hour Videos
It probably still won't convince you to sign up, but Twitter Blue subscribers can now upload videos up to 2 …
Twitter Launches Encrypted DMs, But Only For Paid Subscribers
To send an encrypted DM on Twitter, you will need to be a Twitter Blue verified user, a verified organization, …
Twitter Is Purging Old Inactive Accounts
The purge of old and inactive Twitter accounts could free up many long-coveted usernames. Musk says Twitter will be removing accounts …
Is Twitter Working On A Cheaper Verification Plan For Organizations?
Twitter is reportedly working on a cheaper alternative for organizations to get verified on its platform. Currently, the only available …
Twitter Will Offer Free API Access For Public Announcement Accounts
Twitter announced it will revert to making its API free to use for accounts posting public announcements such as weather alerts, …
Twitter Will Require All Advertisers To Be Verified
It seems Twitter has found yet one more way to force users into paying for verification: Advertising on the platform …
The Twitter Blue Check Apocalypse Has Begun
Twitter has begun removing blue checkmarks from legacy verified accounts, leaving paid verification as the only way to own a …
