The former head of security at WhatsApp alleges Meta Platforms Inc. fired him in February because of whistleblowing and escalating privacy and cybersecurity concerns up to its CEO.
Attaullah Baig was fired less than two months after telling CEO Mark Zuckerberg he’d tipped off the Securities and Exchange Commission and one month after informing Meta he’d filed a retaliation complaint with the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to his lawsuit filed Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
Baig said he was let go under the guise of “poor performance,” but the real reason was allegedly the culmination of years of alleged threats from bosses over his reporting. He flagged compliance failures and cybersecurity issues that gave 1,500 WhatsApp engineers “unrestricted access to user data” and allowed account takeovers affecting 100,000 users “daily.”
The whistleblower said he’d first “discovered systemic cybersecurity failures” in 2021, shortly after joining WhatsApp as head of security. That included the flouting of federal securities laws and a Federal Trade Commission order which required then-Facebook to pay a $5 billion civil penalty and heighten privacy protections. Baig also saw what he thought were several Sarbanes Oxley Act violations.
An attorney for Baig at nonprofit Psst.org, Jennifer Gibson, said she couldn’t think of another company with as many whistleblowers as Meta.
“Meta had a choice:...
Did You Lose Money in Semler Scientific, Inc.? If You Suffered Significant Financial Loss in SMLR Contact Robbins LLP for Information About Leading the SMLR Class Action Lawsuit Did You Lose Money...