A whistleblower complaint against Twitter accuses the social network of deceiving the public, federal regulators and the company’s board of directors about serious security vulnerabilities, according to reports Tuesday from The Washington Post and CNN.
The “explosive” whistleblower complaint reportedly comes from Twitter’s former head of security Peiter “Mudge” Zatko. It alleges that the vulnerabilities pose a threat to national security and to democracy, in addition to putting the company’s nearly 230 million daily users at risk, according to the reports.
The complaint was filed last month with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, according to the Post, which obtained a redacted version that was also given to some congressional committees.
Zatko was hired to lead the company’s security efforts in late 2020 and was reportedly fired by CEO Parag Agrawal in January.
Among the accusations in the complaint, Zatko reportedly alleges that the company’s servers were using “out-of-date and vulnerable software” and that “thousands of employees still had wide-ranging and poorly tracked internal access to core company software,” according to the Post. In addition to security vulnerabilities, the complaint also alleges that Twitter “prioritized user growth over reducing spam,” the Post reported.
Spam and bot accounts have become a contentious point in a high-profile legal battle between Twitter and Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who is trying to back out of purchasing the company for $44 billion.
In a statement on Tuesday, a Twitter spokesperson pushed back on the reports, calling the whistleblower complaint inaccurate and opportunistic.
“What we’ve seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context,” said the spokesperson in an emailed statement. “Mr. Zatko’s allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers and its shareholders.”
The spokesperson added that “security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be.”
Zatko is being represented by Whistleblower Aid, which also represented former Facebook product manager turned whistleblower Frances Haugen. The nonprofit law firm didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The SEC and FTC declined to comment. The DOJ didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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