The Twitter ‘whistleblower’ testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday amid damning allegations of widespread security failures and vulnerabilities at the popular social media platform.
Peiter Zatko was Twitter’s head of security until he was fired early this year.
Last month, he brought sweeping allegations to Congress and federal regulators, contending that Twitter misled regulators about its cybersecurity capabilities and efforts to control millions of fake accounts.
Independent Security Consultant and Twitter Whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko swears in before testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2022.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Zatko to tesitfy, worried that his allegations “raise serious concerns” and potentially “show dangerous data privacy and security risks for Twitter users around the world.”
Zatko was hired in 2020, reporting directly to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. His review of the platform contended that Twitter may currently have foreign intelligence agents on its payroll, among other alleged security vulnerabilities.
After learning of the scope of the spam accounts and other alleged security failures, billionaire Elon Musk has attempted to back out of a his $44 billion offer to acquire Twitter.
This is a developing story, Please check back for updates.
