Updated August 23, 2022 at 5:19 PM ET
Peiter Zatko, who until January served as Twitter's security head, has filed an explosivewhistleblower complaint, alleging the company ignored major security vulnerabilities and misrepresented the number of "bots," or fake accounts, on the platform.
Zatko, who's also a well-known former hacker known as "Mudge," filed the complaint last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. The complaint was first reported by The Washington Post and CNN.
Zatko claims Twitter executives ignored multiple security vulnerabilities, including failing to follow basic conventions like properly safeguarding staff access to core software, promptly deleting closed accounts, and updating security software on company laptops and servers.
The whistleblower also accuses Twitter of misleading federal regulators about its progress toward tightening up the privacy and security of its users' accounts after a major hack.
The complaint adds that Twitter's policy toward fake accounts incentivized "deliberate ignorance" by undercounting spam accounts and providing bonuses to executives for growing the number of users on the platform, but not sniffing out bots.
Twitter's security vulnerabilities makes the platform vulnerable to foreign spies, hacking and disinformation campaigns, Zatko further alleges.
The complaint comes at a sensitive time for Twitter, which is preparing for a...
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