Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Twitter whistleblower raises security concerns before US Congress

Twitter whistleblower raises security concerns before US Congress

‘I am here today because Twitter leadership is misleading the public,’ company’s former security chief tells lawmakers.

The former security chief at Twitter has told the United States Congress that the social media platform is plagued by weak cyber-defences that make it vulnerable to exploitation by “teenagers, thieves and spies” and put the privacy of its users at risk.

“I am here today because Twitter leadership is misleading the public, lawmakers, regulators and even its own board of directors,” Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a respected cybersecurity expert, said before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

“They don’t know what data they have, where it lives and where it came from and so, unsurprisingly, they can’t protect it,” Zatko added. “It doesn’t matter who has keys if there are no locks.”

His message echoed one brought to Congress against another social media giant last year, but unlike that Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, Zatko did not bring troves of internal documents to back up his claims.

His testimony comes as US lawmakers attempt to crack down on disinformation campaigns that risk skewing elections and public health campaigns.

Zatko was the head of security for the influential platform until he was sacked early this year.

The 51-year-old first gained prominence in the 1990s as a pioneer in the ethical hacking movement and later worked in senior positions at an elite Department of Defense research unit and at Google. He joined Twitter in late 2020 at the urging of then-CEO Jack Dorsey.




He filed a whistleblower complaint in July with Congress, the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Among his most serious accusations is that Twitter violated the terms of a 2011 FTC settlement by falsely claiming that it had put stronger measures in place to protect the security and privacy of its users.

US Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who heads the Judiciary Committee, said Zatko has detailed flaws “that may pose a direct threat to Twitter’s hundreds of millions of users as well as to American democracy”.

“Twitter is an immensely powerful platform and can’t afford gaping vulnerabilities,” he said.

Unknown to Twitter users, there’s far more personal information disclosed than they — or sometimes even Twitter itself — realise, Zatko testified. He said that “basic systemic failures” that were brought forward by company engineers were not addressed.

The FTC has been “a little over its head”, and far behind European counterparts, in policing the sort of privacy violations that have occurred at Twitter, Zatko also said.

Many of Zatko’s claims are uncorroborated and appear to have little documentary support.

Twitter has called Zatko’s description of events “a false narrative … riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies” and lacking important context.


Spam accounts


Zatko has also accused the company of deception in its handling of automated “spam bots” or fake accounts.

That allegation is at the core of billionaire tycoon Elon Musk’s attempt to back out of his $44bn deal to buy Twitter. Musk and Twitter are locked in a bitter legal battle, with Twitter having sued Musk to force him to complete the agreement.

The Delaware judge overseeing the case ruled last week that Musk can include new evidence related to Zatko’s allegations in the high-stakes trial, which is set to start on October 17.

Senator Charles Grassley, the committee’s ranking Republican, said on Tuesday that Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal declined to testify at the hearing, citing the ongoing legal proceedings with Musk.

But the hearing is “more important that Twitter’s civil litigation in Delaware”, Grassley said. Twitter declined to comment on Grassley’s remarks.

In his complaint, Zatko accused Agrawal as well as other senior executives and board members of numerous violations, including making “false and misleading statements to users and the FTC about the Twitter platform’s security, privacy and integrity”.

Twitter has said Zatko was fired for “ineffective leadership and poor performance”, and that his allegations appeared designed to harm the company.

Zatko testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington on Tuesday


India, China connection


Among the assertions from Zatko that drew attention from US lawmakers on Tuesday was that Twitter knowingly allowed the government of India to place its agents on the company payroll, where they had access to highly sensitive data on users.

Twitter’s lack of ability to log how employees accessed user accounts made it hard for the company to detect when employees were abusing their access, Zatko said.

India has not commented on that assertion.

The whistleblower disclosures had also noted that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had informed Twitter of at least one Chinese agent inside the company, Senator Grassley said in his opening statement.

Zatko said on Tuesday that in the week before he was sacked, he learned an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security, or MSS, an agency comparable to the US Central Intelligence Agency, was on the payroll at Twitter.

It was not immediately clear if the alleged Chinese agent was still working at the company.

Twitter has said Zatko was fired for ‘ineffective leadership and poor performance’ and that his allegations appeared designed to harm the company

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
×