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Dem Lawmakers Investigating Twitter Whistleblower's Explosive Claims

https://www.theepochtimes.com/lawmakers-investigating-twitter-whistleblowers-explosive-claims_4685434.html
https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_to_federal_regulators_on_twitter_whistleblower_allegationspdf.pdf
https://energycommerce.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/pallone-opening-remarks-at-subcommittee-markup-of-bipartisan-bicameral

Congressional lawmakers are probing allegations made by Twitter's former
chief of security in an explosive whistleblower complaint that includes
claims of deception related to data security and privacy and misleading
tech entrepreneur Elon Musk about the number of bots on the platform.

Peiter Zatko, the whistleblower who served as Twitter's head of security
for about 14 months before being fired earlier this year, asserted in a
disclosure obtained by The Epoch Times that Twitter's security and privacy
systems were grossly inadequate and that the company misled regulators,
investors, and Musk about fake "spam" bots on the platform.

While Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has called Zatko's claims a "false
narrative," U.S. lawmakers appear determined to make up their own minds
and are investigating.

`Serious Concerns'

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said
in a statement that he is looking into Zatko's allegations.

“The whistleblower’s allegations of widespread security failures at
Twitter, willful misrepresentations by top executives to government
agencies, and penetration of the company by foreign intelligence raise
serious concerns," he said.

“As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will continue
investigating this issue and take further steps as needed to get to the
bottom of these alarming allegations,” he said, adding that if the
whistleblower's claims are accurate, there may be "dangerous" risks for
Twitter users in terms of data privacy and security.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter (pdf) to the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice expressing "significant
concerns" about the whistleblower's allegations.

“According to Peiter Zatko, Twitter’s former head of security, Twitter
has systematically and repeatedly failed to take basic security measures
to protect its user data and has misled investors, regulators, and the
public about the strength of its security systems,” Markey said in a
statement.

Markey added that Zatko's allegations suggest that Twitter has again
"flagrantly violated" its consent decree with the FTC, just months after
the company agreed to pay a $150 million penalty for failing to keep
Twitter users' data secure.

"I strongly urge the federal government to investigate Zatko’s claims
and, if necessary, take strong and swift action against Twitter to ensure
Twitter user data is properly protected,” the senator wrote.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who chairs the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, said in a statement that he was "carefully reviewing this
whistleblower disclosure and assessing next steps."

"These allegations are alarming and reaffirm the need to pass my
comprehensive privacy legislation to protect Americans’ online data,"
Pallone added, referring to the American Data Privacy and Protection Act
that he co-sponsored.

Several other lawmakers have issued similar statements.

Twitter officials didn't respond by press time to a request by The Epoch
Times for comment on Zatko's claims.

parag-agrawalparag-agrawal Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, walks to a
morning session during the Allen & Co. Sun Valley Conference in Idaho, on
July 7, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

`False Narrative'

Twitter spokesperson Anna Hughes was cited by The Washington Post as
saying that Zatko's complaint seems to contain "inconsistencies and
inaccuracies" and takes things out of context.

“Mr. Zatko’s allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to
capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers and its
shareholders,” she said, according to the outlet.

Agrawal also pushed back on Zatko's claims, reportedly writing in a
message to staff that was shared on social media by CNN's Donie O'Sullivan
that the whistleblower's complaint appears to be a "false narrative that
is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and presented without
important context."

"We will pursue all paths to defend our integrity as a company and set the
record straight," Agrawal wrote.

Key Takeaways from Whistleblower Complaint

Zatko claims that, despite Twitter agreeing in its settlement with the FTC
to put in place stronger data security protections, the situation over
time actually became worse.

His complaint alleges that Twitter's internal systems let far too many
employees access users' personal data that they didn't need for their
jobs, opening the door to potential abuse.

Experts who were deeply familiar with Twitter's problems with the FTC told
Zatko "unequivocally that Twitter had never been in compliance with the
2011 FTC Consent Order, and was not on track to ever achieve full
compliance," the complaint reads.

Zatko's disclosure also claims that Twitter had difficulty
identifying—much less restricting—the presence of foreign agents on
its platform, while alleging that Chinese entities gave money to Twitter,
raising concerns that these entities could access sensitive information
about Twitter users.

The complaint also claims Twitter experienced server vulnerabilities,
alleging that over 50 percent of Twitter's 500,000 data center servers had
kernels or operating systems that were non-compliant and many had problems
with encryption.

An image of Elon Musk is seen on smartphone placed on printed Twitter
logos in this picture illustration taken on April 28, 2022. (Dado
Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Zatko's complaint also states that Musk, who's embroiled in a legal fight
with Twitter over his backing out of a deal to buy the platform for $44
billion, was right in claiming that Twitter executives have little
incentive to carry out accurate measurements of the amount of fake
accounts and spam bots on the platform.

“Senior management had no appetite to properly measure the prevalence of
bot accounts,” Zatko's complaint states.

It alleges that Twitter executives were concerned that accurate bot counts
would be damaging to Twitter's “image and valuation.”

Zatko's disclosure also includes the allegation that the true number of
spam accounts and bots on Twitter is probably "meaningfully higher" that
the 5 percent of daily monetizable users that the social media firm
claims.

Key to Musk's backing out of the buyout agreement is his claim that
Twitter's longstanding position that spam accounts and bots make up fewer
than 5 percent of monetizable daily users is a fallacy.

Twitter has repeatedly insisted that its 5 percent estimate is accurate.

The two sides are scheduled to go to trial in October in a Delaware court,
with experts saying Zatko's disclosure could give Musk's legal team more
ammunition in their legal fight against Twitter.