The former Twitter security chief central to Elon Musk’s attempt to back out of buying the social media company has accused its leadership of prioritising “profits over security”.
Peiter “Mudge” Zatko said Twitter was “over a decade behind industry security standards” in an appearance before the US Senate judiciary committee. His testimony has opened up the social media company’s cyber security practices to scrutiny and could shape the future of Musk’s high-stakes legal battle.
Zatko, who was fired by Twitter in January and filed a whistleblower complaint to US authorities in early July, accused its executives of “misleading the public, lawmakers, regulators and even its own board of directors” over its security practices.