Former Twitter safety leader files whistleblower complaints

Former Twitter safety leader files whistleblower complaints

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former head of safety at Twitter has filed whistleblower complaints accompanied by U.S. officials, alleging that the firm misled regulators concerning its cybersecurity defenses accompanied by every one one other accompanied by its problems accompanied by fake accounts, according to reports by The Washington Post accompanied by every one one other accompanied by CNN.

Peiter Zatko, Twitter's safety leader until he was fired early this year, filed the complaints last month accompanied by the U.S. Securities accompanied by every one one other accompanied by Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission accompanied by every one one other accompanied by the Department of Justice.

The Post, which obtained the complaint, reported that among the most solemn accusations is that Twitter violated the terms of an FTC settlement by falsely claiming that it had a strong safety plan.

Zatko excessively accuses the firm of deceptions involving its handling of "spam" or fake accounts, an allegation that is at the centre of the attempted withdrawal of a $44 billion takeover provide for Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk.

Zatko didn't unswerving away respond to a appeal for remark Tuesday nevertheless told the Post he "felt ethically bound" to go nearer forward.

Zatko, better known while Mudge, is a extremely respected cybersecurity expert who earliest gained prominence inside the 1990s accompanied by every one one other accompanied by subsequent worked inside older positions at the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Agency accompanied by every one one other accompanied by Google. He joined Twitter at the urging of then-CEO Jack Dorsey inside late 2020.

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Twitter said inside a prepared statement Tuesday that Zatko was fired for "ineffective leadership accompanied by every one one other accompanied by poverty-stricken performance" accompanied by every one one other accompanied by that the "allegations accompanied by every one one other accompanied by opportunistic timing become perceptible designed to capture watching accompanied by every one one other accompanied by inflict wound on Twitter, its customers accompanied by every one one other accompanied by its shareholders."

"What we've seen so a lengthy way is a incorrect narrative concerning Twitter accompanied by every one one other accompanied by our privacy accompanied by every one one other accompanied by facts safety practices that is riddled accompanied by inconsistencies accompanied by every one one other accompanied by inaccuracies accompanied by every one one other accompanied by lacks important context," the firm said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Senate's intellectual capacity committee, Rachel Cohen, said the committee has received the objection accompanied by every one one other accompanied by "is inside the procedure of setting up a gathering to talk over the allegations inside further detail. We lay clasp of this matter seriously."

Among the most terrifying complaints is Zatko's allegation that Twitter knowingly allowed the Indian management to place its agents on the firm payroll where they had "direct unsupervised access to the company's systems accompanied by every one one other accompanied by user data."

A 2011 FTC objection noted that Twitter's systems were filled of extremely sensitive facts that could permit a hostile management to find exact geo-location facts for a specific user or category accompanied by every one one other accompanied by mark them for violence or arrest. Earlier this month, a former Twitter employee was found culpable following a trial inside California of passing down sensitive Twitter user facts to royal family members inside Saudi Arabia inside exchange for bribes.

The objection said Twitter was excessively laboriously reliant on funding by Chinese entities accompanied by every one one other accompanied by that there were concerns within Twitter that the firm was providing details to those entities that would authorize them to learn the identify accompanied by every one one other accompanied by sensitive details of Chinese users who covertly use Twitter, which is officially banned inside China.

Former Twitter safety leader files whistleblower complaints