Peiter

Twitter has serious issues, according to new testimony from the company’s former security chief, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, who emerged as a whistleblower in August. It’s central issue: The sensitive personal information of its 400 million users is at risk, he says. During a bipartisan hearing before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Zatko shared new details about his earlier allegation that some 50 percent of Twitter’s over 7,000 employees could potentially access any user’s personal information, including…

It probably sucks to be Twitter today.Photo: Lionel Bonaventure / AFPTwitter essentially received a shellacking on Capitol Hill on Tuesday after its ex-security chief Peiter Zatko told a room full of senators that the company is essentially an insecure hot mess infiltrated with more than one foreign government spy.Hosted by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the hearing covered a range of serious allegations against Twitter made by Zatko, who in July sent a 200-page whistleblower complaint to federal agencies and lawmakers.…

When Peiter Zatko, the famous hacker best known as Mudge, got the job heading up Twitter’s security in November 2020, internet archivist Jason Scott tweeted, “you have my full support to walk away after setting the place on fire.” Zatko may have done just that, if not quite in that order. Several months after he was fired by CEO Parag Agrawal, Zatko blew the whistle on the company, telling the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Twitter did basically nothing to improve its terrible security — the reason for…

In November 2020, Twitter Inc. TWTR 1.08% co-founder Jack Dorsey picked a famed ex-hacker, Peiter Zatko, to solve some of his social-media company’s most pernicious problems: protecting user privacy and the security of its computer systems.His choice was a man with near-legendary status in the industry who had been finding flaws and ways to correct them for nearly 30 years. Mr. Zatko, known as “Mudge,” is now…

Image: GettyThe former chief of security at Twitter has filed a whistleblower testimony that its physical and digital security systems for protecting user privacy and moderating content suffered extreme deficiencies. Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko was hired as Twitter's chief security officer by company co-founder Jack Dorsey in November 2020, but was terminated in January 2022 by current CEO Parag Agrawal, who assumed that role after Dorsey stepped down in November 2021. Zatko filed his 86-page redacted report to the…

Remember when Elon Musk was actually excited to buy Twitter? Seems like ages ago.Image: FellowNeko (Shutterstock)There’s a new twist in As Elon’s World Turns, which is what I imagine the tech billionaire’s soap opera would be called. After months of Musk claiming bots were the reason he wanted to terminate his deal to buy the social media company, a Twitter whistleblower may have handed the billionaire fresh ammunition in his battle. Former Twitter head of security Peiter Zatko, who was fired from the blue bird app in…