Former Twitter security chief Peiter “Mudge” Zatko testified on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The whistleblower says the platform’s leadership “is misleading the public, lawmakers, regulators, and even its own board of directors.”
Zatko told Senate Judiciary Committee members that security lapses at Twitter were so severe that they threatened national security.
“Twitter’s unsafe handling of the data of its users and its inability or unwillingness to truthfully represent issues to its board of directors and regulators have created real risk to tens of millions of Americans, the American democratic process, and America’s national security,” he said.
Nearly an hour into the hearing, Musk tweeted a popcorn emoji.
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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 13, 2022
Twitter whistleblower “Mudge” opens his statement saying “I’m here today because Twitter leadership is misleading the public, lawmakers… and even its own board of directors.”
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) September 13, 2022
Mudge says the FTC is outmatched by the size and resources of the tech companies, so the regulator is “left letting the companies grade their own homework.”
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) September 13, 2022
Mudge says an employee at Twitter was likely a Chinese intelligence asset.
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) September 13, 2022
Mudge says he’s seen numerous posts on underground forums offering access to individual Twitter accounts, and offering to delete accounts. He suggests those could be offers from rogue Twitter employees with access to the account, but says he doesn’t know if they are real.
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) September 13, 2022
“Upon joining Twitter, I discovered that the Company had ten years of overdue critical security issues, and it was not making meaningful progress on them,” he added.
He also said Twitter prioritized profits over security.
WATCH:
Twitter whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee about Twitter’s security vulnerabilities:
“It is not farfetched to say that an employee inside the company could take over the accounts of all of the senators in this room.” pic.twitter.com/5jcQyYkWoz
— The Recount (@therecount) September 13, 2022
“The FBI notified Twitter of at least one Chinese agent in the company,” said Sen. Grassley.
Zero Hedge reported:
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday morning will focus on Twitter’s former security chief turned whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko. He has accused the social media company of “egregious” security deficiencies.
Lawmakers are expected to question Zatko’s claims that Twitter failed to disclose security and privacy vulnerabilities that could threaten users and investors.
What the former Twitter security head says at the hearings slated for 1000 ET could determine the next steps Congress, federal regulators, and law enforcement officials take against the social media platform. It could warrant a deeper probe into Twitter’s potential undisclosed security and privacy vulnerabilities.
Zatko’s allegations were filed to the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission in August, paving the way for today’s hearing.
“Mr. Zatko’s allegations of widespread security failures and foreign state actor interference at Twitter raise serious concerns,” said senators Dick Durbin of Illinois and Chuck Grassley of Iowa in a statement. “If these claims are accurate, they may show dangerous data privacy and security risks for Twitter users around the world.”
Twitter has hit back at the claims, explaining Zatko was fired over poor work performance and is “opportunistically seeking to inflict harm.”
His testimony could also be pivotal for billionaire Elon Musk who has agreed to acquire Twitter but has tried to exit the deal based on bots and now the whistleblower claims. This comes on the same day Twitter shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal.
Musk, who is currently fighting Twitter in court to get out of a $44 billion acquisition deal, is also likely to be closely watching Zatko’s testimony. Musk’s legal team on Friday sent a third letter to Twitter seeking to terminate the deal, claiming that a purported $7.75 million payment made to Zatko in June, prior to his whistleblower disclosure, violated the company’s obligations in the acquisition contract. The letter claimed that the payment was revealed in a court filing by Twitter earlier this month. Twitter hit back Monday calling Musk’s letter “invalid and wrongful” and saying that it has not violated the deal. -CNN
Watch the hearing’s live stream HERE:
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