Peiter Zatko, popularly known as “Mudge,” who served as Twitter’s previous head of security, said in a whistleblower complaint that the social media platform has serious security issues. According to CNN and The Washington Post together, he claimed that the problems threaten shareholders, democracy, national security, and the privacy of Twitter users.
Zakto claims that the management of Twitter has misled both its own board and authorities over the firm’s security flaws. These supposedly include several that could allow for outside intervention.
Another of his claims was that even after users cancel their accounts, Twitter does not consistently erase their data. Sometimes this occurs as a result of the business losing track of the data.
The whistleblower further claims that the executives of the company lack the resources necessary to fully comprehend the true scope of the bot presence on the site. Recent Elon Musk attempts to back out of a $44 billion bid to buy the company have revolved around bots.
According to a source acquainted with Zatko’s stint at Twitter, the business looked into a number of allegations he made just before being let go. The person went on to say that Zatko occasionally lacked comprehension of Twitter’s FTC requirements.
The assertion that Twitter doesn’t know how many bots are using its network lacks context, the company told CNN, adding that not all bots are harmful. It further stated that concentrating on the total number of Twitter bots would include those that the corporation may use.
While we haven’t had access to the specific allegations being referenced, what we’ve seen so far is a narrative about our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and lacks important context. Mr. 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 we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The charges made by the whistleblower could support Musk’s main contention that the number is significantly higher than Twitter has made public.
Source: CNN
