Whistleblower Alleges Twitter for Have Security Flaws after Elon Musk’s Acquisition of the Platform

Twitter is continuously in the headlines for numerous reasons since Elon Musk took over the social media platform. This time it comes as a topic of raving for alleged security flaws and concerns raised by an ex-Twitter employee that many workers can tweet under any account.

According to a new Twitter whistleblower, the platform has failed to fix security problems, though it pledged to do so after a significant breach two years ago. In 2020, the media reported the cyberattack on Twitter by some youngsters who hacked the accounts of several high-profile figures and celebrities, including Barack Obama and Elon Musk, aiming to spread a cryptocurrency rip-off.

Security Woes Continue to Hit Twitter  

The whistleblower, who worked as an engineer at Twitter, raised concerns about the internal program that lets employees use any account to tweet on the platform. According to a Twitter employee, around 4000 employees could use the internal program known as GodMode.

A blog post by Twitter revealed that the company restricted access to its internal systems and tools during the investigation of the cyberattack in 2020. However, such programs show that Twitter does not care about its users’ security and privacy, and its public statements to investors and users were false and misleading.

The anonymous whistleblower filed a 24-page complaint in October last year, in which they stated that Whistleblower Aid – a nonprofit law firm, complained to the US Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, saying its client reasonably believes that the evidence in this disclosure shows that Twitter has made legal violations.

In a report by the Washington Post, the whistleblower, a former Twitter employee, requested anonymity, keeping safety and harassment concerns in mind. They revealed Twitter has a GodMode Program, which lets workers tweet for some advertisers on the platform.

The engineers at Twitter renamed the program to Privileged Mode after an internal reaction. The whistleblower reportedly took the FTC and Congress in the loop, revealing that Twitter engineers can still access the program.

Twitter May Face More Investigation from Lawmakers

Another complaint about the same matter by the whistleblower with the US Department of Justice and the FTC came into view in September. It revealed the number of employees who could access Twitter accounts. The complaint also had concerns by another Twitter engineer who discovered workers tweeting as any account in 2020 and raised the same problems again.

Twitter may face more scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers in the wake of the latest allegations during its chaotic time. Before the Tesla owner purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, Peiter Mudge Zaltko – the ex-security of Twitter, highlighted many security issues at the firm. They include allegations that employees had excessive access to user data. Twitter terminated Zatko, who had joined the platform in 2020 following the security breach. Zatko claimed that Twitter violated the FTC settlement made 11 years ago. Twitter turned down his allegations and called them inconsistent and inaccurate, and lacking significant context.