[Epoch Times, September 13, 2022](The Epoch Times reporter Daphra comprehensive report) US Senator Grassley said in his opening remarks at a Senate hearing on Tuesday (September 13) that a whistleblower had It was a Twitter executive who disclosed that at least one CCP agent works at Twitter.
Peiter Zatko, known as “Mudge,” is a well-known hacker who served as Twitter’s head of security until he was fired last year. On Tuesday, he told a congressional hearing that some Twitter employees were concerned that the Chinese government could collect data on the company’s users.
During Tuesday’s hearing, he cited a Reuters report detailing internal conflicts between some teams looking to maximize ad revenue opportunities from Chinese advertisers, while others were concerned The prospect of doing business in China amid heightened geopolitical tensions.
“His disclosure also stated that the FBI notified Twitter that the company had at least one Chinese agent,” Chuck Grassley said in his opening remarks.
Grassley noted that Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal declined to appear at the hearing for fear it could jeopardize the company’s lawsuit against Elon Musk. The court also hears next month a battle between Twitter and Musk over whether the $44 billion deal should be completed.
On Tuesday, Twitter shareholders voted to approve Musk’s acquisition.
The San Francisco-based Twitter company sued Musk to terminate the acquisition agreement, while Musk countersued, accusing Twitter of misrepresenting the number of fake and spam accounts on its service.
A Delaware judge ruled last week that Musk could include Zatko’s whistleblower statement in the case against Twitter, but rejected his request to delay the trial.
Zatko’s claim that Twitter misled regulators in compliance with a 2011 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over mishandling of user data was questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Zatko’s complaint to regulators in July said Twitter had made “some meaningful progress on fundamental security, integrity and privacy systems” since then.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Democratic Senator Dick Durban, is also expected to question Zatko on allegations that one or more Twitter employees worked on behalf of foreign governments.
Durbin told reporters on Monday that Zatko’s report was “a serious personal and privacy issue.”
“Mr Zatko’s allegations of widespread security breaches and foreign actor interference on Twitter raise serious concerns,” Senators Durbin and Grassley said in a statement announcing the hearing last month. .
Zatko’s whistleblower complaint appears to contain more than two pages of supporting documents, such as an email link between Zatko and Twitter CEO Agrawal, and an assessment of misinformation and disinformation on Twitter.
Twitter criticized Zatko and defended the allegations, saying his revelations were a “false narrative” of Twitter. A company spokesman said Zatko was fired for “poor leadership and poor performance.”
Zatko himself argued in his disclosures that the company fired him in retaliation for raising concerns about security breaches and claiming Twitter executives made false statements to its board.
Responsible editor: Lin Yan#