In twist, SEC might save Elon Musk

Allegations about data security problems at Twitter are affecting Elon Musk’s legal case to renege on buying the social media platform.

A former Twitter security chief, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, filed a whistleblower report in July with the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing the microblogging site of letting too many employees have access to the source code and to users' data while at the same time lacking sufficient plans for a scenario in which multiple servers failed. The complaint alleged, too, that Twitter's efforts to secure information on many of its servers is insufficient.

Zatko is experienced and well respected in the cybersecurity world. His charges prompted calls from the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation subcommittee on consumer protection, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), for a Federal Trade Commission investigation. Zatko will testify in a Senate committee hearing later this month.