Facebook SMS spam risks spoiling adoption of 2FA • Graham Cluley

It’s hard enough to get people to use two-factor authentication (2FA) without a problem like Gizmodo reports of Facebook sending unwanted texts to users’ phones:

“I’ve been getting these text-spam messages since last summer, when I set up a new Facebook account and turned on two-factor authentication…

At first, I only got one or two texts from Facebook per month. But as my profile stagnated, I got more and more messages. In January, Facebook texted me six times—mostly with updates about what my ex was posting. This month, I’ve already gotten four texts from Facebook. One is about a post from a former intern; I don’t recognize the name of one of the other “friends” Facebook messaged me about.”

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If you’re similarly stalked by spammy Facebook text messages, there’s fortunately a way to opt out. Go to Settings, choose Notifications, and ensure that notifications via text are disabled.

Facebook security chief Alex Stamos has said that the unwanted text messages were not sent intentionally – but were the result of a bug:

“It was not our intention to send non-security-related SMS notifications to these phone numbers, and I am sorry for any inconvenience these messages might have caused. We are working to ensure that people who sign up for two-factor authentication won’t receive non-security-related notifications from us unless they specifically choose to receive them, and the same will be true for those who signed up in the past. We expect to have the fixes in place in the coming days. To reiterate, this was not an intentional decision; this was a bug.”

But don’t forget that there are strong arguments for choosing a form of authentication that doesn’t involve you giving your mobile number to Facebook in the first place. After all, that’s data that Facebook will use to try to match you up with potential Facebook friends who shared their contact lists with the social network.

Using a U2F security key or code generator for Facebook two factor-authentication is probably a better way to go.

It’s good that Facebook is fixing the issue, but what a shame that this latest faux pas will have damaged the reputation of two-factor authentication when it is so clearly needed.

5 comments on “Facebook SMS spam risks spoiling adoption of 2FA”

Binary Blogger

February 20, 2018 at 2:53 pm

If Facebook followed the recommendations of NIST for two factor they wouldn't use SMS in the first place.

Naggey

February 20, 2018 at 2:56 pm

People may not just ignore enabling the 2FA for they don't want spam-SMS, they may also know it's insecure to use SMS as the transport medium for the authentication code.

Spryte

February 21, 2018 at 11:22 am

Made by facebook?

What could go wrong?

Phil Champ

February 27, 2018 at 6:41 pm

The websites in the linked articles above all use 2SV, which as far as I can tell always involves supplying the company in question with your mobile number. Like logins that consist of your email address, these companies can't resist the temptation to "engage" with customers. And that's not even considering the security implications. Only Amazon uses an authenticator app.

1. Graham Cluley · in reply to Phil Champ
  
  February 28, 2018 at 12:17 am
  
  It's perfectly possible to implement 2SV without requiring a user's mobile phone number. I've signed up for plenty of services online that only require an authenticator app.
  
  Of course it would be great if less sites insisted on requesting mobile numbers.