Twitter Unable to Identify, Expel Foreign Agents With Access to User Data - Whistleblower
Twitter is unable to independently identify and expel foreign agents in their workforce with access to sensitive user data, former Twitter security chief turned whistleblower Peiter Zatko said during a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2022) Twitter is unable to independently identify and expel foreign agents in their workforce with access to sensitive user data, former Twitter security chief turned whistleblower Peiter Zatko said during a US Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.
"If you are a foreign agent and you are hired and you are an engineer, you've got access to all of that (user) data we talked about," Zatko said when asked about foreign agents within Twitter. "I had been told... that there was at least one agent of the MSS, which is one of China's intelligence services, on the payroll inside Twitter. While it was disturbing to hear, I and many others, recognizing the state of the environment at Twitter, were really thinking: if you are not placing foreign agents inside Twitter... as a foreign intelligence company you're most likely not doing your job."
Zatko said Twitter lacks the ability to internally identify inappropriate access within their own systems and only an outside agency alerting the company to the presence of a foreign agent would enable it to find that person.
The FBI alerted Twitter of the presence of the Chinese agent within their workforce, Zatko noted.
Zatko also informed the public about an instance where India purportedly placed a foreign agent within the company to gather information about negotiations between Twitter and the Indian government.
Zatko's appearance before the Judiciary Committee comes after the publication of his whistleblower report in August that outlined how Twitter lacks adequate cybersecurity and misleads users about the availability and use of their data.
He also alleges that Twitter executives place profits and user growth over combating issues such as spam accounts.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal declined to participate in the hearing alongside Zatko, citing concerns about an appearance's potential impact on ongoing litigation between the company and entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is attempting to cancel his acquisition of the company due to alleged misrepresentation of the number of fake accounts on the platform.