Two-step authentication becoming new normal as LinkedIn adds option

Two-step authentication is becoming the new standard in social media security. LinkedIn is the latest major social network to finally add the option.

The opt-in feature for the professional social network follows up a similar move by Twitter last week.

Two-factor identity authentication lines up both platforms better with the likes of Facebook and Google as well as plenty of other enterprise-focused cloud platforms that already implement higher security for protecting sensitive data.

The lack of such an option has definitely plagued Twitter the most -- at least from a public viewpoint.

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.

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. 

LinkedIn director Vicente Silveira added in a blog post on Friday that "most internet accounts that become compromised are illegitimately accessed from a new or unknown computer (or device)."

Thus, the LinkedIn version is similar enough to these other deployments that it can be set up quickly and immediately as it is available now.

After turning on two-step authentication in the settings menu, the system requires the user to type a numeric code (delivered to the user via SMS) when logging in from an unrecognized device for the first time.

To read up more about the new LinkedIn security precaution, flip through the slideshow below: