Peiter Zatko, a former head of security for Twitter, has filed a complaint with securities regulators alleging he “uncovered extreme, egregious deficiencies by Twitter in every area of his mandate.” This includes areas such as privacy, digital and physical security, content moderation, and platform integrity.
Zatko claims that Twitter drastically undercount the prevalence of spam on the social media network. This claim will no doubt further embolden the ongoing legal battle between Elon Musk and Twitter, who is seeking to renegotiate his original $44 billion takeover deal.
Musk has repeatedly insisted on receiving accurate documentation on the prevalence of spam or “bots” on Twitter. Twitter has denied that it has misrepresented its user count or business in response to Musk.
Zatko was fired “for ineffective leadership and poor performance” and that the complaint “is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context”, according to a Twitter spokesperson.
A former hacker known as “mudge”, Zatko is a noted hacker and security expert for decades. His reputation and credibility is highly respected within the security industry. His resume includes stints at top tech and research entities such as Stripe (a part of Alphabet), and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
In 1998, he was a part of a Boston cybersecurity collective known as the “L0pht group” that provided testimony to the U.S. Senate. During one Senate hearing, the group claimed that they could take down the internet within 30 minutes.
Hired in 2020, Zatko was personally recruited by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. He was fired from Twitter earlier this year.
