Peiter Zatko also asserted that Twitter miscalculated the number of phony and spam accounts that were present on its network.
The allegations could have an impact on Twitter’s legal spat with billionaire Elon Musk, who is attempting to back out of his $44 billion (£37 billion) purchase agreement with the business.
Twitter claims that Mr. Zatko’s accusations are untrue and contradictory.
According to the report, he was fired in January due to poor performance and ineffective leadership.
Peiter Zatko also asserted that Twitter miscalculated the number of phony and spam accounts that were present on its network.
The allegations could have an impact on Twitter’s legal spat with billionaire Elon Musk, who is attempting to back out of his $44 billion (£37 billion) purchase agreement with the business.
Twitter claims that Mr. Zatko’s accusations are untrue and contradictory.
According to the report, he was fired in January due to poor performance and ineffective leadership.
One of the issues Mr. Zatko has with Twitter, he claims, is that there is “about one security incident each week important enough that Twitter was forced to report it to regulators.”
He claimed that “nearly unmonitored” security concerns posed by individuals within the organization were known as “insider threats.”
By claiming that too many workers had access to private networks and user information, the former security chief expressed his concern about how Twitter handled data.
He expressed concern that there was no effective disaster recovery plan in place at the company and asserted that in the past, Twitter had not properly deleted the data of users who had terminated their accounts.
He claimed that the tech company’s handling of fake and spam accounts was marked by “deliberate ignorance,” and he charged Twitter executives with lacking motivation to accurately measure the number of such accounts actually active on their site.
The Washington Post notes that he “provides little substantial evidence” to support these claims.
However, Elon Musk’s legal team has already reacted to the remarks. The Tesla CEO’s legal team is currently attempting to back out of the agreement by claiming that Twitter lacks the ability to confirm how many of its 229 million daily active users are indeed human.
Following the disclosures made by Mr. Zatko, Mr. Musk tweeted screenshots of the article from The Washington Post along with the words “give a small whistle.”
According to Mr. Zatko’s attorney, who spoke to CNN, his client began the whistleblower procedure before the takeover proposal became known and had not gotten in touch with Elon Musk.
However, Mr. Zatko has been subpoenaed to be a prospective witness, according to Alex Spiro, one of Elon Musk’s attorneys, who spoke to CNN.
Peiter Zatko, a former hacker, is well-known in the world of computer security.
He went by the moniker Mudge and was a member of the L0pht (pronounced “loft”) think tank for computer security. In 1998, he participated in congressional hearings on cyber-security.
Additionally, he has held executive positions at Google and DARPA, the research and development arm of the US government.
A representative for Twitter said: “What we’ve seen so far is a false narrative that is devoid of crucial context, rife with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and about Twitter and our privacy and data-security practices.
“Mr. Zatko’s accusations and shrewd timing seem to be intended to garner attention and hurt Twitter, its users, and its stockholders.
Security and privacy have always been and will remain top considerations at Twitter.
Pieter Zatko’s supporter Whistleblower Aid’s John Tye spoke to him as a “hero” and urged authorities to look into the claims right away.
