Peiter Zatko says India government forced Twitter to put agent on payroll

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Written By:Rwit

Updated: August 24 2022 12:09:18 AM ET San Francisco, CA, USA

Peiter Zatko in his complaint to the Securities Exchange Commission wrote that the Indian government had forced Twitter to put one of its own agents on the microblogging site’s payroll.

In the 84-page complaint submitted to the SEC last month, Zatko made a host of allegations about the loose cybersecurity at the social media company. The former Twitter security chief wrote that the government agent would likely have had access to sensitive information because of the company’s weak security infrastructure, according to a redacted version of the complaint that was posted by the Washington Post.

Also Read: Peiter Zatko’s SEC complaint breaks down Twitter security flaws

“The company did not in fact disclose to users that it was believed by the executive team that the Indian government had succeeded in placing agents on the company payroll,” Zatko wrote in his complaint to the SEC.

A source within the company told Reuters that the complaint about the government agent had surfaced within the company.

This is likely to put Twitter in a tough spot, one that is likely to be exacerbated by its ongoing legal battle with the Indian government. The microblogging site filed a legal challenge in a Bangalore High Court last month in July against the government’s take down notices of tweets, especially those coming from politicians. Twitter has argued that removing tweets made by politicians is an attempt to hinder free speech (a fundamental right according to the Constitution of India) and is an abuse of power by officials.

Also Read: Musk right about Twitter bot numbers? Whistleblower Peiter Zatko explains

Zatko’s complaint has added a new dimension to the ongoing legal battle between Twitter and Elon Musk, who had terminated the $44 billion buyout of the company early in July 2022 citing the platform’s spam and bot accounts as his reason for doing so.

Lately, Twitter has been finding itself at the center of controversy, especially after a former employee was convicted earlier this month in August for acting as a spy for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ahmad Abouammo was convicted on six criminal counts, including acting as an agent for another country as well as trying to disguise a payment made to him by a member from the Saudi Royal Family.