Ex-security chief accuses Twitter of hiding major flaws

Twitter misled users and federal regulators about glaring weaknesses in its ability to protect personal data the platforms former security chief claimed in whistleblower testimony likely to impact the companys bitter legal battle over Elon Musks takeover bidIn a complaint filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and published in part Tuesday by The Washington Post and CNN Peiter Zatko also accused Twitter of significantly underestimating the number of automated bots on the platform a key element in Musks argument for withdrawing his 44 billion buyout dealCNN quotes the disclosure by Zatko as accusing Twitter of negligence willful ignorance and threats to national security and democracyZatko who Twitter says it fired earlier this year for poor performance warns of obsolete servers software vulnerable to computer attacks and executives seeking to hide the number of hacking attempts both to US authorities and to the companys board of directorsAlso Read Twitter working on new feature to put label on verified phone numbers of usersThe hackerturnedexecutive who goes by the nickname Mudge also claims that Twitter prioritizes growing its user base over fighting spam and bots according to the reportsIn particular according to The Washington Post he accuses the platforms boss Parag Agrawal of lying in a tweet in MayIn the tweet Agrawal says Twitter is strongly incentivized to detect and remove as much spam as we possibly canTwitter has dismissed the allegationsA company spokesperson told AFP Tuesday that Zatko was fired in January this year for ineffective leadership and poor performanceWhat weve seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context the spokesperson said in a statementAlso Read Elon Musk countersuit accuses Twitter of fraudThe opportunistic timing of the allegations appears designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter its customers and its shareholders the statement continuedSecurity and privacy have long been companywide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be Subpoena by Musk The issue of fake accounts is at the heart of the legal battle between Twitter and Tesla chief MuskThe billionaire has repeatedly accused the company of minimizing the number of fake accounts and spam on its platformMusk is relying on the argument to justify abandoning his plan to buy Twitter for 44 billion and avoid paying severanceCNN said Zatko had not been in contact with Musk and that he had begun the whistleblower process before there was any sign of the billionaires involvement in TwitterWe have already issued a subpoena for Mr Zatko and we found his exit and that of other key employees curious in light of what we have been finding Musks lawyer Alex Spiro told AFP on TuesdayThe Washington Post and CNN both reported that the US Senate Intelligence Committee wants to meet with Zatko to discuss his accusationsZatko was hired in late 2020 by the founder and former boss of Twitter Jack Dorsey after a massive hack which saw the accounts of major users including Joe Biden Barack Obama reality star Kim Kardashian and Musk himself compromised