Topline
Twitter’s former head of cybersecurity accused the social media firm of committing fraud and quite a few “egregious” safety violations in an explosive whistleblower criticism revealed Tuesday, shaking confidence within the much-maligned platform and sending its inventory spiraling.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal
Key Information
Peiter Zatko, a well known hacker often known as “Mudge” who labored at Twitter from 2020 till he was fired in January 2022, filed the criticism with the Division of Justice, the Securities and Trade Fee and the Federal Commerce Fee final month, first reported on by the Washington Publish and CNN.
Zatko, who’s represented by the authorized group Whistleblower Support, alleged within the criticism revealed by the Publish that Twitter misled traders, customers and the federal authorities.
Twitter deliberately undercounted the proportion of “bots” or pretend and spam accounts on its platform by incentivizing executives to pursue a coverage of “deliberate ignorance,” Zatko alleged, referencing Elon Musk’s ongoing try and stroll away from his $44 billion buy of the corporate over his insistence that greater than 5% of Twitter accounts had been bots like the corporate maintains.
Zatko claimed Twitter has made repeated “false and deceptive statements” to the FTC about its consumer safety and privateness measures, and that he refused Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal’s instruction to current “false and deceptive” paperwork to the corporate’s board, resulting in Zatko’s firing (a Twitter spokesperson attributed the dismissal to efficiency points).
Amongst Zatko’s extra contentious assertions is that the corporate knowingly employed an agent of the Indian authorities, giving a international authorities widespread entry to consumer knowledge.
Chief Critic
Agrawal known as the allegations a “false narrative riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and introduced with out necessary context” in a word to workers Tuesday morning obtained by CNN.
Huge Quantity
4.5%. That’s how a lot Twitter inventory is down in Tuesday morning buying and selling amid a broader market rise.
What To Watch For
Zatko was subpoenaed by Musk’s authorized staff as a part of the October trial between the billionaire and Twitter over his deal to purchase the corporate, considered one of Musk’s legal professionals Alex Spiro instructed the New York Occasions, saying he discovered Zatko’s firing “curious.”
Additional Viewing
Additional Studying
Former safety chief claims Twitter buried ‘egregious deficiencies’ (Washington Publish)
Ex-Twitter exec blows the whistle, alleging reckless and negligent cybersecurity insurance policies (CNN)
