Peter Zatko, Twitter’s former security chief turned whistleblower, detailed his allegations of serious vulnerabilities at the social network before US senators on Tuesday in a closely watched hearing amid the dispute between Twitter and Elon Musk. “Twitter management has lied to elected officials, regulators, and even its own board members,” immediately launched the cybersecurity expert, better known by his pseudonym, Mudge.
As the platform’s security chief, from being hired in late 2020 until being fired last January, he claims to have discovered serious vulnerabilities and says he tried to alert management, to no avail. “They don’t know what data they have, where it is, where it came from. And obviously they can’t protect themPeter Zatko said in his opening statement before the judicial commission. “Employees have too much access (…) it doesn’t matter who has the keys if you don’t have locks on the doors“, he noted.
At the end of August, the disclosure of the report submitted by the press to the American authorities this summer had the effect of a bombshell. His intervention came just in time for billionaire Elon Musk, who used it to justify his withdrawal from a $44 billion takeover of the California-based company. Especially since Peter Zatko in his report directly mentions the questions asked by the head of Tesla in automated Twitter accounts. He notes statementsmisleadingnetwork chief Parag Agrawal and confirms that Twitter’s tools areout of date“his teams”overloaded“and”ineffective“.
Elon Musk, who launched an attack in mid-April to acquire the platform, has argued for months that the proportion of fake accounts and spam he believes is far higher than the 5% estimated by Twitter management. The social network has launched lawsuits against Elon Musk to force him to honor his commitment to the acquisition. The trial is scheduled for mid-October in a specialized court.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco-based group’s shareholders must vote on the agreement signed in late April to acquire Twitter for $54.20 per share, or a total valuation of $44 billion. “I did not make my whistleblower disclosures out of malice or to harm TwitterOn Tuesday, Mudge assured the senators. “Given the real harm to users and national security, I decided it was necessary to take personal and professional risk for me and my family to raise the alarm.“, he explained.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.