Twitter whistleblower says company had Chinese and Indian intelligence agents on its payroll

Details from the whistleblower complaint of the former Twitter head of security, Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, were revealed as he testified to the United States Congress on Tuesday. Zatko alleged the social media company had employed foreign intelligence agents from China and India but "lacked the ability" to identify them.

The hearing took place more than two months after Zatko filed an 84-page whistleblower complaint (PDF) accusing Twitter of "grossly negligent" security practices. Zatko also said, "a U.S. government source" warned the company of the presence of "one or more particular company employees" planted by a foreign intelligence agency.

More details about this claim came to light at Tuesday's hearing. Sen. Chuck Grassley, a ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Twitter was informed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the supposed infiltration of at least one agent of China's intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security.

The complaint filed last July also claimed that India "forced" the social media company to hire specific individuals, who turned out to be government agents. Zatko suggested that, because of the flaws in Twitter's security systems, these individuals could have gained access to the company's sensitive data.

"In the hands of a foreign agent embedded at Twitter, a foreign adversary could use the same technology to track down pro-democracy dissidents within their country or spy on Americans," Grassley said in his opening speech on Tuesday. The U.S. senator also referenced the indictment of two former employees paid by Saudi Arabia to acquire information on dissidents from Twitter data. One of those ex-employees, Ahmad Abouammo, was found guilty on several charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, last month.

It is unclear if the alleged Indian and Chinese government agents had already been removed from Twitter's payroll. But in his testimony, Zatko said, "We simply lacked the ability to hunt for foreign intelligence agents and expel them on our own."

Reuters said Twitter dismissed Zatko's claims, saying the whistleblower's disclosures and testimony "are riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies." The company maintained that it is not influenced by foreign entities in hiring its employees and that it has background checks and protocols in place to monitor access to its data.

Photo by Akshar Dave? on Unsplash