Twitter Might Boost Security With Two-Level Authentication

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Shortly after a hacker attack compromised the accounts of some 250,000 users, Twitter is looking into enhancing its users' security by adding two-level authentication, The Guardian reports.

The news comes from a Twitter job posting. The company is looking for a software engineer that would "design and develop user-facing security features, such as multifactor authentication and fraudulent login detection."

The job posting itself does not mean that Twitter will launch the feature soon (or ever), but given the number of high-profile hacker attacks on Twitter users in the past couple of users, it would probably be a wise move.

Two-level authentication usually works as follows: whenever you login from a new device, besides logging in with your standard login credentials (user name and password), you're also required to enter a code sent to your cell phone. Once you authorize a device, you don't have to enter that code again in the next 30 days.

This method makes it a lot harder for a hacker to take over your account; even if he or she manages to capture your password, it's still useless without the code, which is tied to a specific device, your cell phone.

Several high-profile web companies are already offering two-level authentication — Google has it as an option for Gmail, and Dropbox also offers two-step authentication as an option for its users.