Unsurprisingly, X users locked out in the cold after botched authentication switch

(Image credit: Shutterstock / Algi Febri Sugita)

Users are unable to access X.com due to botched authentication switchover
Endless redirects are being reported
Migration from twitter.com to x.com is causing issues

Numerous users of X (formerly Twitter) are reporting being locked out of their accounts thanks to a botched authentication switchover.

The issue relates to the retirement of the old twitter.com domain in favor of Elon Musk’s apparent sentimental attachment to x.com.

Users who rely on passkeys and hardware security keys are being sent into an endless loop to re-enroll their chosen form of two-factor authenticator.

Logging in has never been harder

The move from twitter.com to x.com began in May 2024, with X warning users that if they did not manually migrate their passkey or hardware security key authentication by November 10, they would be locked out of their accounts until they migrated or chose a different form of authentication (such as an authenticator app, which hasn’t been affected by the migration).

Lo and behold, November 10 has passed and users are being forced to migrate their authentication method. Unfortunately for them, many users are experiencing error messages during migration, or are being caught in a perpetual loop of redirects.

Passkeys and hardware security keys are supposed to be a quick and secure way to ensure that the person logging in to your account is actually you, but currently for X users, that's not the case.

Outage tracker site Downdetector still shows some users are struggling to log in three days after the deadline, and X hasn’t released an official comment on the matter.

This isn’t the first time X has been subject to a botched security change. In 2023, the Tor onion service that allowed users in areas with restricted or censored internet access to Twitter went down, and thanks to Musk’s massive layoffs the service remained offline.

Elon has made several questionable changes to the platform since its purchase for $44 billion in May 2022, including changes to the way blocking worked on the platform that resulted in millions of users flocking to X-alternative BlueSky. X has also seen large-scale layoffs following Elon’s purchase of the platform.

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Benedict is a Senior Security Writer at TechRadar Pro, where he has specialized in covering the intersection of geopolitics, cyber-warfare, and business security.

Benedict provides detailed analysis on state-sponsored threat actors, APT groups, and the protection of critical national infrastructure, with his reporting bridging the gap between technical threat intelligence and B2B security strategy.

Benedict holds an MA (Distinction) in Security, Intelligence, and Diplomacy from the University of Buckingham Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (BUCSIS), with his specialization providing him with a robust academic framework for deconstructing complex international conflicts and intelligence operations, and the ability to translate intricate security data into actionable insights.

Logging in has never been harder

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