The former Twitter security chief accused the social network of covering up vulnerabilities in its protection system and lying about its fight against false accounts, according to a complaint revealed on Tuesday, August 23, by the Washington Post and CNN.
Outdated servers and software vulnerable to attacks
In an 84-page document sent last month to the US stock exchange regulator (SEC), the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the US competition authority (FTC), Peiter Zatko denounces “serious deficiencies and ignorance and shocking and deliberate threats”. to national security and democracy.
Twitter reacted, in a press release sent to AFP, calling a complaint “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies” and ensuring that security and data protection were among its priorities.
The company also denounces the opportunism of the former director who intends to “undermine Twitter, its clients and its shareholders.”
Peiter Zatko talks about outdated servers, software vulnerable to hacking, and managers trying to hide the number of hacking attempts from both US authorities and company board members.
He also claims that Twitter prioritizes growing its user base over fighting spam and bots.
An upcoming interview with the US Senate Intelligence Committee.
In particular, Peiter Zatko describes as a lie a tweet published in May by the head of the platform, Parag Agrawal, in which the leader claimed that Twitter was doing everything possible to detect and eliminate spam as quickly as possible.
The issue of fake accounts is at the heart of the legal battle between Twitter and Elon Musk, as the billionaire has repeatedly accused the company of downplaying the proportion of fake accounts and spam, estimated at 5% by the platform.
Musk is counting on this argument to justify abandoning his plan to buy Twitter for $44 billion in early July and avoid paying severance pay.
According to the Washington Post and CNN, the US Senate Intelligence Committee wants to speak with Peiter Zatko to discuss his charges.
The former hacker known by the nickname “Mudge”, Peiter Zatko was hired at the end of 2020 by the founder and former head of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, after the accounts of many personalities (Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Kim Kardashian, etc). He was fired in January due to “ineffective leadership and poor performance,” according to Twitter.
Source: BFM TV
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