Headline Roundup • August 23rd, 2022
Whistleblower Says Twitter Has ‘Egregious’ Cybersecurity Deficiencies
Technology,Business,Cybersecurity,Hacking,Twitter,Social Media,National Security,Jack Dorsey,Elon Musk
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Former Twitter security chief Peiter Zatko accused the social media company of “egregious” cybersecurity failures in a whistleblower complaint dated July 6.
Zatko alleged he had seen “egregious deficiencies, negligence, willful ignorance, and threats to national security and democracy” while at Twitter. He said thousands of employee laptops contained copies of the platform’s source code. Furthermore, he said, many employees had repeatedly and intentionally downloaded spyware on their work computers “at the request of external organizations.” Zatko also said he warned colleagues that about half of the company’s 500,000 servers used outdated and vulnerable software — but executives withheld that information from company directors.
Zatko, a well-known hacker known as “Mudge,” joined Twitter in late 2020 after a high-profile hacking incident and left in January 2022. The Washington Post (Lean Left bias) and CNN (Left bias) first reviewed Zatko’s whistleblower complaint, which was filed with the SEC, the FTC and the Justice Department.
Coverage was widespread and initially balanced across the spectrum. While some outlets prominently featured their coverage, others like Fox News (Right bias) initially appeared not to cover the story at all. Some coverage across the spectrum speculated that Zatko’s complaint could help billionaire Elon Musk’s effort to prove Twitter misrepresented how many spam bots were on its site.
Featured Coverage of this Story
SARAH SILBIGER FOR CNN
Twitter has major security problems that pose a threat to its own users' personal information, to company shareholders, to national security, and to democracy, according to an explosive whistleblower disclosure obtained exclusively by CNN and The Washington Post.
The disclosure, sent last month to Congress and federal agencies, paints a picture of a chaotic and reckless environment at a mismanaged company that allows too many of its staff access to the platform's central controls and most sensitive information without adequate oversight. It also alleges that some of the company's senior-most...
Amy Osborne / Getty Images
Twitter’s former head of security Peiter “Mudge” Zatko has accused his former employer of cybersecurity negligence in an explosive whistleblower complaint first obtained by CNN and The Washington Post.
Zatko, a well-known hacker, was recruited by Twitter to head up the company’s security division in late-2020, months after a very public breach saw hackers hijack the Twitter accounts of some of the world’s most famous people, including Joe Biden and Elon Musk. He was let go from the company less than two years later.
Though his time at Twitter was brief, Zatko says he witnessed “egregious deficiencies, negligence, willful...
Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
A former executive at Twitter alleged that the social media company had lackluster cybersecurity safeguards, according to a whistleblower report obtained by CNN and The Washington Post.
Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, the company’s former head of security who reported directly to the CEO, claimed that leadership misled board members and government officials about potential vulnerabilities that left the platform open to hacking, foreign manipulation, and spying. He also claimed that one or more current employees are working for a foreign intelligence agency.
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