Peiter Zatko, Twitter’s Former Head of IT Security Makes Revelations That Would Prove Elon Musk Right.
Peiter Zatko's accusations are more than concerning about Twitter's security practices as well.
Whistleblowers do not spare any social network. After the revelations made by a whistleblower about Facebook's practices in 2021, it is now the turn of a former tech executive to reveal the failings of another social network: Twitter.
Peiter Zatko, former head of IT security for the platform, has just denounced in detail the company's questionable practices in a 200-page report provided to CNN and the Washington Post.
This former hacker, whose reputation is legendary in the field, points the finger at several dozen frauds committed in recent years. Among the most severe facts, he claims that Twitter has violated an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, relating to compliance with certain security standards on the platform. He also filed a complaint with this institution for these same reasons.
This commitment, made in 2011, mainly concerned the security offered by Twitter to its users. However, according to the whistleblower's report, half of the company's servers are still running with obsolete software and are therefore particularly vulnerable to computer attacks.
Peiter Zatko joined Twitter at the request of Jack Dorsey
In an interview with CNN, Zatko says he joined Twitter in 2020 at the request of Jack Dorsey, still CEO of the social network at the time. The creator of Twitter wanted Peiter Zatko's expertise to strengthen security systems. Remember, Twitter had been hit by a massive cyberattack, which had led to the hijacking of accounts belonging to important and famous people, such as that Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Kanye West.
After spending two years trying to correct the many security flaws found on the systems of Twitter, he was dismissed in January 2022 by the new board led by Parag Agrawal. According to Peiter Zatko, he was fired for refusing to keep silent about the company's vulnerabilities and questionable security practices.
The former hacker justifies speaking out by assuring that he still has a duty “to Jack and the users of the platform. I want to finish the job that Jack hired me to do, which is to improve the platform.”
Peiter Zatko's report confirms Twitter's lies to Elon Musk
Zatko's report houses another ticking time bomb. Indeed, Peiter Zatko confirms that Twitter has indeed lied to Elon Musk about the number of fake active accounts. In a tweet published on May 16, 2022, Parag Agrawal assured that these bots represented less than 5% of the 450 million monthly active users.
“That tweet was a lie. In truth, Agrawal knows very well that Twitter executives have no interest in detecting or accurately reporting spam bots,” he denounces.
Even worse, he says that executives are incentivized (via annual bonuses of up to $10 million) to increase the number of users rather than remove bots continually. This confirms what I told you recently, that Elon Musk's lawsuit against Twitter could reveal an inconvenient truth that no one wants to be exposed.
As you might expect, these allegations could have a significant impact on the upcoming trial in October 2022 between Twitter and Elon Musk. The two entities are locked in a legal tug-of-war after the Tesla boss pulled out of a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. And while Jack Dorsey has been added to the list of witnesses called to the stand on August 23, 2022, Elon Musk's lawyers have already “issued a subpoena to Mr. Zatko.”
The representatives of the billionaire add that they found “the exit of Mr. Zatko and those of other employees curious in light of what we have discovered.” A direct reference to the doubts expressed by Elon Musk about the number of fake accounts present on Twitter.
Zatko's accusations are more than worrisome
Of course, Zatko's disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) contain other accusations:
Indiscriminate access: a significant part of the vulnerability of Twitter's systems is due to too many employees having access to the most critical systems. Zatko claims that half of the 7,000 employees can view users' data and access internal software used to alter Twitter's operations.
Access to users' data by government agents, especially in India.
Failure to delete data: Twitter has not deleted user data in the past, despite requests. The reason? The data is too scattered in internal systems to be found.
Twitter's response to these revelations was not long in coming. The social network accuses Peiter Zatko of sensationalism and selective presentation of the facts:
“Mr. Zatko was fired from his senior executive role at Twitter in January 2022 for ineffective leadership and poor performance. What we've seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that are riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lack important context. Mr. Zatko's allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers, and its shareholders. Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be,” Twitter concluded.
Some reading
The 7 Big Lessons That Twitter Massive Hack Teach Us on Bitcoin. It was not Bitcoin that was hacked, it was Twitter.
Elon Musk’s 2 Fundamental Tips for Long-Term Success in the Stock Market. It fits into a simple tweet that shows you don’t have to be complicated to be successful.
Does Telecommuting Kill Innovation? Let us analyze the subject to understand that the real question lies elsewhere.
The Paradox of Elon Musk — The Futurist Entrepreneur Remains Stuck in the Values of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Elon Musk raises real issues about telecommuting, but to serve his interests at Tesla first.
I think it is disingenuous to assume Musk did not know of Zatko and his finding prior to inking the agreement to purchase Twitter. Many may find it reckless of Musk to enter the deal bu tin Musk's always evolving and clever mind he may of been setting a trap for the arrogant CEO of Twitter and his handpicked partners in crime who have managed a securities crime of huge proportions. I believe Musk will eventually own Twitter but at a price that correctly reflects its value of less than 10 billion. Once the Twitter fraud is exposed Twitter will have a contingent liability for all of the advertisers who were cheated based on false accounts. Mr. Agrawal may soon be joining Ms. Holmes in a federal prison.