Twitter whistleblower raises security concerns
A former security chief for Twitter has turned whistleblower and testified that the company misled users and US regulators about gaps in its security, BBC reported.
Peiter Zatko also claimed that Twitter underestimated how many fake and spam accounts are on its platform.
The accusations could affect a legal battle between Twitter and billionaire Elon Musk, who is trying to cancel his $44bn (£37bn) deal to buy the company.
Twitter says Mr Zatko's allegations are inaccurate and inconsistent.
It says he was sacked in January for ineffective leadership and poor performance. In Mr Zatko's damning revelations, first revealed by CNN and The Washington Post, he accused Twitter of failing to maintain stringent security practices and "lying about bots to Elon Musk".
He filed his complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission in July. The BBC has seen a redacted copy of the complaint shared via CBS news.
In it, Mr Zatko also criticised the way in which Twitter handled sensitive information and claimed that it has failed to accurately report some of these matters to US regulators.
Twitter has faced a number of high profile hacks with Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kanye West all targeted.
Among his concerns Mr Zatko alleges that Twitter suffered from an usually high rate of security incidents - "approximately one security incident each week serious enough that Twitter was required to report it to regulators".
He said that so-called insider threats - security risks posed by people with malicious intent from within the company - went "virtually unmonitored".
The former security chief revealed his concern about how Twitter handled data, alleging that too many employees had access to sensitive systems and user data, according to BBC.
On fake and spam accounts, he said that "deliberate ignorance was the norm" at the tech company, and accused Twitter executives of having little incentive to accurately identify how many there really are on its platform.
However in the view of The Washington Post, he "provides little hard evidence" to back up these assertions.
Nevertheless, Elon Musk's lawyers have jumped on the comments. His legal team are currently trying to get the Tesla boss out of the deal, by arguing that Twitter has no way of verifying how many of its 229 million daily active users were actually human.
Following the publication of Mr Zatko's revelations, Mr Musk tweeted screenshots of The Washington Post's story, and tweeted an image carrying the phrase "give a little whistle".
Mr Zatko's lawyer told CNN that his client started the whistleblowing process before the takeover bid became public, and had not made contact with Elon Musk.
A former hacker, Peiter Zatko is a well-known figure in computer security circles.
Nicknamed Mudge, he was a member of computer security think-tank L0pht (pronounced "loft"), and took part in congressional hearings on cyber-security in 1998.
He has also held senior positions with Google and the US government's research and development agency, DARPA.
A Twitter spokesperson said: "What we've seen so far is a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data-security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context, BBC reported.
"Mr Zatko's allegations and opportunistic timing appear designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers and its shareholders.
"Security and privacy have long been company-wide priorities at Twitter and will continue to be."
John Tye, of Whistleblower Aid, which is assisting Pieter Zatko, described him as a "hero" and called on agencies to investigate the allegations quickly, according to BBC.
A way towards educational equity through the digitization of career roadmaps and soft skills
Kailash Raj Pandey and Himal Raj Pandey shared their ongoing work and plans to democratize information on career prospects in various fields in the event held on August 19 in Kathmandu. These experiences are shared by executives from leading Tech ventures around Kathmandu while developing a method to teach soft skills through interactive in-person games (Train-the-Trainer Model). Through this, they hope that each student in Nepal from an under-resourced background will be able to get the same information to become successful in their career ahead. Through this program, all the students involved showed a lot of progress in soft skills which as well enhanced their confidence. They were also able to get a clear picture of the career opportunities in Nepal and were able to dream of a better future for themselves. Reflecting on their own personal experiences, Kailash and Himal recognized that "soft skills" and information on various career opportunities are critical to achieving job/grant/college outcomes after having passed the hurdle of developing core knowledge in a particular subject. They also realized that role models were also crucial in providing them with the right guidance and confidence required at various crossroads of life. During the past months, these two young men conducted a successful pilot program that taught valuable soft skills to 17 higher secondary students at Kankali Secondary School, a government school located in the western hilly suburb of Kathmandu valley. After some sufficient classroom sessions, they connected the students to executives at leading tech companies in Kathmandu (F1Soft, GrowByData, and Bhoos). Kailash and Himal are currently institutionalizing these efforts to contribute to educational equity by focusing particularly at the high school level and will be sharing their plan at the event. Kailash graduated from Middlebury College in the US with a degree in Computer Science and Economics. He will be joining Harvard Kennedy School in the near future for his graduate study. He has been working at Precision Development, a non-profit led by a Nobel laureate and other experts at the forefront of behavioral economics, where he spearheaded both technical and strategic fronts on the applications of satellite remote sensing for large-scale Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs). His experience also includes investment due diligence for a multimillion-dollar revolving fund that aims to enable thousands of smallholder farmers to improve their livelihoods through climate adaptation. Himal is currently a second-year student at Williams College, MA with an interest in the intersection between Neuroscience and Computer Science. He has worked in microbiology research with a Nobel laureate during his high school, and chronobiology research at college. Both Kailash and Himal are passionate about making systems-level changes in education equity.
Nepal logs 634 new Covid-19 cases, one death on Tuesday
Nepal reported 634 new Covid-19 cases and one death on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 2, 757 swab samples were tested in the RT-PCR method, of which 343 returned positive. Likewise, 2, 192 people underwent antigen tests, of which 291 were tested positive. The Ministry said that 417 infected people recovered from the disease. As of today, there are 4, 221 active cases in the country.
Nepalgunj sub-metropolis lacks skilled firefighters
The Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City is facing a shortage of skilled firefighters. So, the sub-metropolis is ill-prepared in case of fire disasters. Bahadur Khadka, Chief of fire brigade at the sub-metropolis, said that fire engines have to be taken to their own office to fill water in the lack of water filling stations. There are three fire engines in Nepalgunj but problems have surfaced in lack of skilled human resources, complained those working in this field. Khadka opined that although at least six firefighters are required for one fire engine, only 12 human resources are working for three fire engines in Nepalgunj. The Urban Disaster and Earthquake Preparedness Project has been carrying out a study about the situation of fire control, and obstacles seen in that connection. Saying that narrow streets and dense settlements in the sub-metropolis were posing a challenge in fire-fighting in the sub-metropolis, Project Chief Shiva Subedi added there would be delay in bringing the fire under control in lack of water filling station. Most of the local levels do not have fire engines in Banke district. Out of eight local levels in Banke, only Kohalpur municipality and Narainapur rural municipality have fire engines.
