A former Twitter security chief turned whistleblower testified in court that the company misled customers and US regulators about security flaws. Peiter Zatko also asserted that Twitter miscalculated the number of phoney and spam accounts that were present on its network.
The allegations may have an impact on Twitter's legal dispute with billionaire Elon Musk, who is attempting to back out of his $44 billion (£deal to acquire the business.
Twitter claims that Zatko's accusations are false and contradictory. According to the report, he was fired in January due to poor performance and ineffective leadership.
In his damning revelations, Zatko charged Twitter with breaking strict security protocols and "lying about bots to Elon Musk," which were first made public by CNN and The Washington Post.
In July, he submitted his grievance to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The media displayed a copy of the complaint that had been redacted. In it, Zatko also criticised Twitter's handling of private information and asserted that some of these issues had not been accurately reported to US regulators.
Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Kanye West have all been targeted in high-profile Twitter hacks. One of the issues Zatko has with Twitter, he claims, is that there is "roughly one security incident each week serious enough that Twitter was required to report it to regulators."
He claimed that "virtually unmonitored" security risks posed by individuals within the organisation were known as "insider threats." The former security chief revealed his concern about how Twitter handled data, alleging that too many employees had access to sensitive systems and user data.
He expressed concern that there was no effective disaster recovery plan in place at the company and asserted that in the past, Twitter had not properly deleted the data of users who had cancelled their accounts.
He claimed that the tech company's handling of fake and spam accounts was marked by "deliberate ignorance," and he charged Twitter executives with lacking motivation to accurately count the number of such accounts actually active on their platform.
The Washington Post notes that he "provides little hard evidence" to support these claims.
However, Elon Musk's legal team has already reacted to the remarks. The Tesla CEO's legal team is currently attempting to back out of the agreement by claiming that Twitter lacks the ability to confirm how many of its 229 million daily active users are actually human.
After Zatko's revelations were made public, Elon Musk tweeted screenshots of the article from The Washington Post along with the phrase "give a little whistle."
According to Zatko's attorney, who spoke to CNN, his client began the whistleblowing procedure before the takeover bid became known and had not gotten in touch with Elon Musk.
However, Zatko had been subpoenaed to be a potential witness, according to Alex Spiro, one of Elon Musk's attorneys, who spoke to CNN.
Elon Musk made a bold attempt to acquire Twitter, but he now wants to back out of the deal.
Peiter Zatko, a former hacker, is well-known in the world of computer security.
He went by the moniker Mudge and was a member of the L0pht (pronounced "loft") think tank for computer security. In 1998, he participated in congressional hearings on cyber-security.
Additionally, he has held executive positions with Google and DARPA, the research and development arm of the US government.
"What we've 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. Zatko's allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers and its shareholders. Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be," said a Twitter spokesperson.
(Source:www.timesnownews.com)
The allegations may have an impact on Twitter's legal dispute with billionaire Elon Musk, who is attempting to back out of his $44 billion (£deal to acquire the business.
Twitter claims that Zatko's accusations are false and contradictory. According to the report, he was fired in January due to poor performance and ineffective leadership.
In his damning revelations, Zatko charged Twitter with breaking strict security protocols and "lying about bots to Elon Musk," which were first made public by CNN and The Washington Post.
In July, he submitted his grievance to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The media displayed a copy of the complaint that had been redacted. In it, Zatko also criticised Twitter's handling of private information and asserted that some of these issues had not been accurately reported to US regulators.
Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Kanye West have all been targeted in high-profile Twitter hacks. One of the issues Zatko has with Twitter, he claims, is that there is "roughly one security incident each week serious enough that Twitter was required to report it to regulators."
He claimed that "virtually unmonitored" security risks posed by individuals within the organisation were known as "insider threats." The former security chief revealed his concern about how Twitter handled data, alleging that too many employees had access to sensitive systems and user data.
He expressed concern that there was no effective disaster recovery plan in place at the company and asserted that in the past, Twitter had not properly deleted the data of users who had cancelled their accounts.
He claimed that the tech company's handling of fake and spam accounts was marked by "deliberate ignorance," and he charged Twitter executives with lacking motivation to accurately count the number of such accounts actually active on their platform.
The Washington Post notes that he "provides little hard evidence" to support these claims.
However, Elon Musk's legal team has already reacted to the remarks. The Tesla CEO's legal team is currently attempting to back out of the agreement by claiming that Twitter lacks the ability to confirm how many of its 229 million daily active users are actually human.
After Zatko's revelations were made public, Elon Musk tweeted screenshots of the article from The Washington Post along with the phrase "give a little whistle."
According to Zatko's attorney, who spoke to CNN, his client began the whistleblowing procedure before the takeover bid became known and had not gotten in touch with Elon Musk.
However, Zatko had been subpoenaed to be a potential witness, according to Alex Spiro, one of Elon Musk's attorneys, who spoke to CNN.
Elon Musk made a bold attempt to acquire Twitter, but he now wants to back out of the deal.
Peiter Zatko, a former hacker, is well-known in the world of computer security.
He went by the moniker Mudge and was a member of the L0pht (pronounced "loft") think tank for computer security. In 1998, he participated in congressional hearings on cyber-security.
Additionally, he has held executive positions with Google and DARPA, the research and development arm of the US government.
"What we've 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. Zatko's allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers and its shareholders. Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be," said a Twitter spokesperson.
(Source:www.timesnownews.com)
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