US Politics | Who is Twitter whistleblower Peiter ‘Mudge’ Zatko?
TWITTER'S former head of security Peiter ...Mudge... Zatko claims the social media company misled board members about the app's security. Zatko was fired by the company in January 2022, only two years after he was hired to deter hackers from breaking into the platform. 
AlamyPeter Zatko has worked to secure online information for over two decades '/ ' Who is Peiter Zatko? Peiter ...Mudge... Zatko was hired by then-Chief Executive Jack Dorsey to look into any potential security threats. "I joined Twitter because it's a critical resource to the world," Zatko told The Washington Post. ...All news seems to be either from Twitter or goes to Twitter for the coloring and context, and as such, it not only paints public opinion, it can change governments." Zatko grew up in Alabama and Pennsylvania, and as the son of a chemistry professor and mining scientist, he would break into digital copyright locks found in electronic games and became a member of early text discussion boards found online. READ MORE ON WHISTLEBLOWERS 
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GRIMES' TIME Grimes 'dating whistleblower Chelsea Manning' after splitting with Elon Musk Now 51 years old, Zatko's experience in the hacking industry dates back to his 30s, when he created one of the most powerful and frequently used tools to crack passwords and was a co-founder of one of the first hacking consultancies. He attended Berklee College of Music in 1988 after years of playing the violin and guitar but turned to a security job at BBN Technologies. There, he was able to use his hacking skills to work for a government contractor whose purpose was to maintain the internet's basic security needs. In 1996, Zatko moved on to work for Lopht (pronounced Loft) \- a company that specialized in issuing security warnings for security flaws in the software. Most read in News SEARCH ENDS Missing hiker, 29, found after being swept to her death in Utah flash floods RAINING HELL Terrifying moment flesh-melting 'thermite bombs' rain down on Ukrainian town HAUNTING CALL Chilling words of missing woman, 22, before she vanished revealed by family TRAGIC MEMORIES Kiely Rodni's family are trying to sell lodge where teen was raised HEARTBREAKING FIND Tragic death of missing teen Kiely Rodni, 16, confirmed after body found DEATH TO THE WEST Russia threatens West with nuclear war & vows to prepare BOMB SHELTERS He continued to move his way up across the hacking sphere to work for big-name companies like Google and Motorola Mobility where he informed the companies of any potential security threats. Zatko was working as head of security for Stripe when Dorsey reached out to him to make the jump to Twitter. A source familiar with the initial conversation told The Washington Post: "Jack loves hackers, and Mudge is a hacker legend.... Why did Peiter Zatko leave Twitter? Less than two months into his role at Twitter, Zatko was confronted with the issue of deciding if they should suspend former President Donald Trump's account. He was working to determine if Trump's posts were inciting violence among his supporters and asked if there was a way Twitter could secure its company compliance. That same day, he had been told it couldn't be done and simultaneously received a phone call from President Joe Biden's transition team. The team was offering him the position of chief information security officer for the entire federal government, beginning on January 20, 2021. Zatko told The Washington Post he debated the offer but ultimately decided to stay with Twitter, thinking he would be able to make a bigger difference. Nearly a year after Zatko turned down the job offer, he claims he spoke with Twitter's CEO, Parag Agrawal about the alleged security issues within the company. However, he claims after speaking with members of the board about security concerns, he was fired from the position. Rebecca Hahn, Twitter's global vice president of communications commented on Zatko's release from the company. "Mr. Zatko was fired from Twitter more than six months ago for poor performance and leadership, and he now appears to be opportunistically seeking to inflict harm on Twitter, its customers, and its shareholders,... she told The Washington Post. Agrawal did not respond to The U.S. Sun's request for comment. 
GettyPieter Zatko accused Twitter of mishandling user information '/ ' What did he say in his whistleblower allegations? In a whistleblower attempt, Zatko claims Twitter has not taken security concerns seriously. Zatko accused Twitter of "extreme, egregious deficiencies... in which the company allegedly underreported the number of spam bots and its alleged mishandling of user information. "Twitter is grossly negligent in several areas of information security," Zatko wrote in a February analysis that was included in his complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). "If these problems are not corrected, regulators, media, and users of the platform will be shocked when they inevitably learn about Twitter's severe lack of security basics." Zatko claims Twitter violated its 2011 settlement with the FTC to make securing user information a top priority. The settlement resolved the charges against Twitter for putting consumers' privacy at risk by allowing hackers to obtain unauthorized administrative control of the platform. Twitter was barred for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent of its security measures. The FTC press release said: ...Under the terms of the settlement, Twitter will be barred for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent to which it protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information, including the measures it takes to prevent unauthorized access to nonpublic information and honor the privacy choices made by consumers.... However, Zatko claims Twitter has broken the settlement, saying user data is still vulnerable to hackers. Twitter denied Zatko's allegations in a statement to CNN, saying: ...What we've seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context." The statement continued: "Mr Zatko's allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers, and its shareholders. ...Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be." Read More on The US Sun 
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BENEATH THE SHEETS The number of times you should be having sex each week to keep healthy Zatko maintains his claims, telling The Washington Post: "This would never be my first step, but I believe I am still fulfilling my obligation to Jack and to users of the platform. "I want to finish the job Jack brought me in for, which is to improve the place."
AlamyPeter Zatko has worked to secure online information for over two decades '/ ' Who is Peiter Zatko? Peiter ...Mudge... Zatko was hired by then-Chief Executive Jack Dorsey to look into any potential security threats. "I joined Twitter because it's a critical resource to the world," Zatko told The Washington Post. ...All news seems to be either from Twitter or goes to Twitter for the coloring and context, and as such, it not only paints public opinion, it can change governments." Zatko grew up in Alabama and Pennsylvania, and as the son of a chemistry professor and mining scientist, he would break into digital copyright locks found in electronic games and became a member of early text discussion boards found online. READ MORE ON WHISTLEBLOWERS THERANOS REBELS The fate of Theranos whistleblowers Erika Cheung and Tyler Shultz revealed GRIMES' TIME Grimes 'dating whistleblower Chelsea Manning' after splitting with Elon Musk Now 51 years old, Zatko's experience in the hacking industry dates back to his 30s, when he created one of the most powerful and frequently used tools to crack passwords and was a co-founder of one of the first hacking consultancies. He attended Berklee College of Music in 1988 after years of playing the violin and guitar but turned to a security job at BBN Technologies. There, he was able to use his hacking skills to work for a government contractor whose purpose was to maintain the internet's basic security needs. In 1996, Zatko moved on to work for Lopht (pronounced Loft) \- a company that specialized in issuing security warnings for security flaws in the software. Most read in News SEARCH ENDS Missing hiker, 29, found after being swept to her death in Utah flash floods RAINING HELL Terrifying moment flesh-melting 'thermite bombs' rain down on Ukrainian town HAUNTING CALL Chilling words of missing woman, 22, before she vanished revealed by family TRAGIC MEMORIES Kiely Rodni's family are trying to sell lodge where teen was raised HEARTBREAKING FIND Tragic death of missing teen Kiely Rodni, 16, confirmed after body found DEATH TO THE WEST Russia threatens West with nuclear war & vows to prepare BOMB SHELTERS He continued to move his way up across the hacking sphere to work for big-name companies like Google and Motorola Mobility where he informed the companies of any potential security threats. Zatko was working as head of security for Stripe when Dorsey reached out to him to make the jump to Twitter. A source familiar with the initial conversation told The Washington Post: "Jack loves hackers, and Mudge is a hacker legend.... Why did Peiter Zatko leave Twitter? Less than two months into his role at Twitter, Zatko was confronted with the issue of deciding if they should suspend former President Donald Trump's account. He was working to determine if Trump's posts were inciting violence among his supporters and asked if there was a way Twitter could secure its company compliance. That same day, he had been told it couldn't be done and simultaneously received a phone call from President Joe Biden's transition team. The team was offering him the position of chief information security officer for the entire federal government, beginning on January 20, 2021. Zatko told The Washington Post he debated the offer but ultimately decided to stay with Twitter, thinking he would be able to make a bigger difference. Nearly a year after Zatko turned down the job offer, he claims he spoke with Twitter's CEO, Parag Agrawal about the alleged security issues within the company. However, he claims after speaking with members of the board about security concerns, he was fired from the position. Rebecca Hahn, Twitter's global vice president of communications commented on Zatko's release from the company. "Mr. Zatko was fired from Twitter more than six months ago for poor performance and leadership, and he now appears to be opportunistically seeking to inflict harm on Twitter, its customers, and its shareholders,... she told The Washington Post. Agrawal did not respond to The U.S. Sun's request for comment. GettyPieter Zatko accused Twitter of mishandling user information '/ ' What did he say in his whistleblower allegations? In a whistleblower attempt, Zatko claims Twitter has not taken security concerns seriously. Zatko accused Twitter of "extreme, egregious deficiencies... in which the company allegedly underreported the number of spam bots and its alleged mishandling of user information. "Twitter is grossly negligent in several areas of information security," Zatko wrote in a February analysis that was included in his complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). "If these problems are not corrected, regulators, media, and users of the platform will be shocked when they inevitably learn about Twitter's severe lack of security basics." Zatko claims Twitter violated its 2011 settlement with the FTC to make securing user information a top priority. The settlement resolved the charges against Twitter for putting consumers' privacy at risk by allowing hackers to obtain unauthorized administrative control of the platform. Twitter was barred for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent of its security measures. The FTC press release said: ...Under the terms of the settlement, Twitter will be barred for 20 years from misleading consumers about the extent to which it protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of nonpublic consumer information, including the measures it takes to prevent unauthorized access to nonpublic information and honor the privacy choices made by consumers.... However, Zatko claims Twitter has broken the settlement, saying user data is still vulnerable to hackers. Twitter denied Zatko's allegations in a statement to CNN, saying: ...What we've seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context." The statement continued: "Mr Zatko's allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers, and its shareholders. ...Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be." Read More on The US Sun WORRIED FOR WENDY Wendy clings to bodyguard and struggles to walk amid health crisis BENEATH THE SHEETS The number of times you should be having sex each week to keep healthy Zatko maintains his claims, telling The Washington Post: "This would never be my first step, but I believe I am still fulfilling my obligation to Jack and to users of the platform. "I want to finish the job Jack brought me in for, which is to improve the place."
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