After being taken over by Elon Musk, Twitter will still have security flaws
Twitter’s security problems are not over yet. According to a former employee of the social network quoted in the complaint filed in October, the platform has not addressed its security issues, despite promising to do so after a major incident in 2020. That year, teenagers hacked politicians’ accounts. , celebrities and other high-profile individuals, including former President Barack Obama and billionaire Elon Musk, to spread cryptocurrency scams. There is Twitter
was assured said it restricted access to its internal systems and tools while investigating the attack.
The whistleblower, a former Twitter engineer, is concerned about internal software that allows employees to tweet under any account. A Twitter employee estimated that about 4,000 employees had signed up to the program, formerly known as GodMode. The existence of this program indicates that “
Twitter’s public statements to users and investors were false and/or misleading
A witness named in the complaint says. The non-profit law firm Whistleblower Aid filed the complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the US Department of Justice.
GodMode app for Twitter employees
The Washington Post, which interviewed this former Twitter engineer, has already reported on these allegations. The person, who asked not to be named for harassment and security reasons, told the Daily that Twitter created GodMode to allow employees to tweet for specific advertisers. Twitter engineers reportedly renamed the app “privileged mode” after internal backlash. This witness told Congress and the FTC that Twitter engineers could still access the program. It also filed another complaint with the FTC and the US Department of Justice in September, raising similar concerns about employee access to its Twitter accounts. In the same complaint, another Twitter engineer revealed that in 2020 they discovered that employees could tweet under any account and raised the same issue two years later.
Before Elon Musk struck a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion late last year, Peiter Zatko, the social network’s former head of security, exposed a number of security problems within the company. Twitter fired him. In his complaint, Peiter Zatko accuses Twitter of violating an 11-year-old settlement with the FTC. Social network claims ”
it is full of inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context
“. Whistleblower Aid also represents Peiter Zatko. After Elon Musk’s takeover, the company cut its workforce in half, eliminated its Trust and Safety committee and made other sweeping changes that raised questions about Twitter’s ability to address safety and security issues.
The FTC declined to comment on the whistleblower’s latest complaint. The latter also met with the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Washington Post reported.
This week, Democrat-elect Ian Schakowsky of Illinois announced himself.
Of particular concern is the potential impact of Twitter user data, as well as Elon Musk’s debts owed to foreign powers.
“, added that the informant’s statement”
highlights that technology companies routinely fail to protect the security and privacy of consumer data
“. He urged Congress and regulators to pass legislation to help better protect consumer data.
CNET.com article adapted from CNETFrance
Photo: James Martin/CNET
