Twitter steps up security with two-factor authentication option

After a long string of high profile attacks on accounts held by government and news agencies, Twitter is finally stepping up its game.

The microblogging business is adding the option for two-factor authentication. It's quite similar to the models employed by Google and Facebook.

Twitter users can simply access their security settings to find the new feature and opt-in to require a verification code to be sent via SMS each time they sign in.

Jim O'Leary from Twitter's product security team acknowledged in a blog post on Wednesday that "even with this new security option turned on, it’s still important for you to use a strong password and follow the rest of our advice for keeping your account secure."

Nevertheless, it's a worthy (and arguably necessary) improvement for the social network.

Some of the more recent and widely-reported attacks have hit targets ranging from The White House to the Associated Press to more than 250,000 users at large earlier this year.

At the end of April, the San Francisco-based private company penned a memo to news media outlets warning that such cyber attacks would continue.

In regards to the media, Twitter added at the time that most of the security breaches appeared to be "spear phishing attacks" targeting corporate email. 

For a closer look at Twitter's new security feature, check out the promo clip below:

Image via The Official Twitter Blog