Dramatic congressional testimony last week by whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko about Twitter’s “major” security problems left some Capitol Hill aides on edge.
Zatko, Twitter’s former security chief, described a series of suspected privacy and national security risks, including the site employing a Chinese spy and giving thousands of employees access to user accounts.
“[It’s] It’s not out of place to say that employees within the company can take over the accounts of all the senators in this chamber,” Zatko warned last Tuesday.
His comments caused some Capitol Hill staffers to worry not only about their bosses’ Twitter accounts, but their own as well.
When they’re not getting coffee or talking politics, many congressional staffers use Twitter direct messages to gossip with each other and leak information to reporters.
Zatko’s comments left some aides wondering if their private messages could fall into the hands of foreign spies or get back to their bosses.
“It was terrible,” a congressional staffer told The Post, adding that people on the Hill are “nervous.”
With the threat of Chinese spies intercepting their DMs, Capitol Hill conversations can turn to texting, old-fashioned phone calls or encrypted messaging apps like Signal.
“I wouldn’t have any substantive conversations on Twitter at this point,” the aide said.
Twitter says users have no reason to worry if their accounts have been compromised.
After Zatko’s testimony last week, the site said its hiring process is secure and that last week’s testimony “only confirms that Mr. Zatko’s claims are filled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies.”
Twitter hired Zatko in November 2020 following a high-profile breach in which hundreds of accounts belonging to figures such as Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Elon Musk and Kanye West were hijacked to promote a cryptocurrency scam.
The company fired him in January 2022 for what it said was “poor performance and ineffective leadership.”
