Twitter's Former Security Chief Says Firm Lied About Security, Bots: Report

Twitter's former security chief Peiter Zatko alleged that executives in the firm don’t have the resources to fully understand the true number of bots on the platform, and were not motivated to

Twitter said Zatko, a famed hacker more widely known as "Mudge" was no longer its head of security, two years after being appointed to the role.

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Twitter Inc misled federal regulators about its security defences and spam accounts, CNN and the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing whistleblower disclosures by the social media company’s former security chief Peiter Zatko, the Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Zatko alleged that executives in Twitter don’t have the resources to fully understand the true number of bots on the platform, and were not motivated to, according to the report.

The micro-blogging platform is embroiled in a legal battle with Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk after the world's richest person in July said he was terminating an agreement to buy the company in a $44 billion deal alleging Twitter had violated the deal contract.

Musk earlier had accused Twitter of hiding information about how it calculates the percentage of bots on the service.

A court hearing is scheduled for October 17.

The complaint by Zatko was filed last month with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, as well as the Federal Trade Commission, according to the paper.

Zatko did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment, while Musk could not be reached out for a comment.

In January, Twitter said Zatko, a famed hacker more widely known as "Mudge" was no longer its head of security, two years after being appointed to the role.

A spokesperson of the social media platform on Tuesday said Zatko was sacked from his senior executive role at Twitter in January 2022 for ineffective leadership and poor performance.

Meanwhile, Musk has asked for the dismissal of a shareholder lawsuit against him over cancelling the $44-billion buyout agreement and subpoenaed the social media company's former CEO.

The legal tussle between the Tesla CEO and Twitter intensified after Musk announced in July that he would abandon the deal in a few months after the agreement was finalised in April and Twitter claimed that the company suffered financial losses as a result of Musk’s withdrawal.