Peiter Zatko, the former Twitter security chief who turned whistleblower, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that the social media company’s security practices were so weak that foreign governments were able to place agents on the company’s payroll.
Zatko also told lawmakers that U.S. regulators are unable to police tech companies, singling out the Federal Trade Commission as being in over its head and allowing tech companies to “grade their own homework.” The U.S. practice of slapping companies with one-time fines is “priced in” by Twitter and other tech companies as the cost of doing business, he said.
His testimony followed complaints that he filed with the FTC, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department. The Washington Post first disclosed his revelations last month.
