Whistleblower says Twitter’s security measures ‘a decade’ behind

Peiter Zatko, who worked at Twitter between 2020 and 2022 before being fired for what were described as “performance shortcomings”, has now turned whistleblower and claimed that the platform’s security is a decade behind where it should be.

“Twitter’s unsafe handling of the data of its users and its inability or unwillingness to truthfully represent issues to its board of directors and regulators have created real risk to tens of millions of Americans, the American democratic process, and America’s national security,” Zatko said in the hearing being held in Washington DC to examine data security at risk. 

Duped regulators and lied to the public

Zatko claimed Twitter’s executives “repeatedly covered up its security failures by duping regulators and lying to users and investors”.

He also told senators that the social media platform was a “ticking bomb of security vulnerabilities”.

Zatko has further alleged that Twitter allowed foreign agents to operate on its payroll and consented to the demands of countries like China, which tend to be at odds with the US on a range of matters.

“Twitter is an immensely powerful platform that cannot afford gaping security vulnerabilities,” Judiciary Chairman, Dick Durbin, said in his opening remarks on Tuesday.

In a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Google, published early this year, 64% of consumers said they mistrusted companies to protect their personal data and privacy online.