Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR)'s former security chief and prominent hacker Peiter ‘Mudge’ Zatko has accused the company of “extreme, egregious deficiencies" in its handling of user information and spam bots.
Zatko had filed a complaint last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, as well as the FTC claiming that he had warned colleagues that half the company’s servers were running out-of-date and with vulnerable software.
Amongst his complaints, he alleges that Twitter suffered from a usually high rate of security incidents - "approximately one security incident each week serious enough that Twitter was required to report it to regulators".
Zatko goes on to say that Twitter has "major security problems that pose a threat to its own users' personal information, to company shareholders, to national security, and to democracy"
These accusations could affect a legal battle between Twitter and billionaire Elon Musk, who is trying to cancel his US$44 billion deal to buy the company.
Zatko will testify before the Senate about his allegations of security failures at the social network, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Wednesday.
Fodder for Musk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 23, 2022
Over the years, Twitter has been a victim of embarrassing hacks, including the commandeering of accounts held by such high-profile users as Elon Musk and former presidents Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Kanye West.
Meanwhile, Musk’s legal team has served a subpoena to Zatko in connection with the ongoing legal battle with Twitter.
Earlier, the team had also already served one to former boss and founder of Twitter Jack Dorsey as well.
Zatko alleges that Twitter’s compliance officers understood the gravity of the situation in which its CEO Parag Agarwal had misled the Board.
Meanwhile, Parag Agrawal has responded to the allegations internally in a memo to the staff, accusing Zatko of spreading a false narrative.
He said that Zatko was terminated from the company in January 2022 for “ineffective leadership” and “shoddy performance”.
Who is Zatko ?
Better known as Mudge, Peter Zatko is a highly respected person in the field of cybersecurity. One who became prominent as one of the first hackers to have an open channel with the government.
Today is the anniversary of the testimony I and other members of the l0pht gave to the US Senate in 1998.
It was the first time the US Govt. publicly referenced “hackers” in a positive context.
The coverage was national and even international.
Come behind the scenes.
/Thread pic.twitter.com/S2kZA8g8vd
— Mudge (@dotMudge) May 20, 2019
Gaining prominence first in the 1990s, Zatko has collaborated with the government and went on to work for the Pentagon agency Defense Advanced Research Agency. He has also held senior positions at Google as well as prominent payment service Stripe.
He was hired by former Twitter head Jack Dorsey after Twitter suffered a massive cyberattack in 2020.