Twitter this week introduced login verification, which it says is "a form" of two-factor authentication intended to help users better secure their accounts.

Those who sign up for login verification will have to enter their normal password plus a six-digit code sent via text every time they sign into Twitter.com.

To activate login verification, head to the account settings page and select "Require a verification code when I sign in." You'll need a confirmed email address and phone number, which Twitter will test before finalizing login verification.

"With login verification enabled, your existing applications will continue to work without disruption," Twitter said in a blog post. "If you need to sign in to your Twitter account on other devices or apps, visit your applications page to generate a temporary password to log in and authorize that application."

The rollout comes amidst a number of high-profile hackings of Twitter media accounts, many at the hands of the Syrian Electronic Army. The incidents prompted Twitter to warn its users that such attacks would surely continue, so users should always select strong passwords - something it reiterated in its blog post.

An attack that hit The Onion's Twitter feed this month was perpetrated via email sent to staffers that appeared to include a link to a Washington Post story. The link, in fact, eventually redirected users to a bogus Google URL, which asked for Google Apps credentials. Those who signed in unwittingly gave the hackers access to their accounts - and Twitter passwords. Presumably if login verification had been enabled, the hackers would not have been able to log in to the Twitter accounts without the six-digit code sent to the corresponding cell phone.

A number of top Web companies have embraced two-factor authentication recently, including Microsoft, which rolled it out across its services last month, and Apple, which did the same in March.

For more, check out What You Need to Know About Two-Factor Authentication.