YubiKey is a FIDO2 U2F security key that is used to sign-in to some of the FIDO U2F security key supporting services like Dropbox, Google, Facebook etc. Since Twitter has also announced the support for FIDO U2F security keys a few days ago, now you can use any FIDO U2F keys like YubiKey for signing-in to your Twitter account. Once configured all you will have to do is insert the security key to one of the USB ports in your computer, tablet or smartphone, press a small button on the key and you will be logged in to Twitter. The requirement of the physical key ensures that nobody else can login to your account even if they somehow acquire login details.
Note: In Firefox web browser, you must enable the support for FIDO U2F security keys before you can use them. You can learn how to enable YubiKey /FIDO U2F support in Firefox.
- Visit https://twitter.com/settings/account in your desktop web browser and make sure that you have Two-factor authentication enabled using your mobile phone number.
- Click on Review your login verification methods under the Security section.
- When a list of the various supported login verification methods is displayed, click on the Set Up against the Security Key method.
- Insert the security key to your computer’s/device’s USB port and press the small button on the security key.
- When asked verify once more by pressing the button on the key and you are all ready to use your security key for Twitter authentication.
After you have enabled YubiKey for login authentication in Twitter, the username and password will no longer work for signing in to your Twitter account. From now on, you will have to use the security key to sign in to Twitter. One YubiKey can be configured and used to sign-in to many Twitter accounts.