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Twitter suffers data breach; Find details
Twitter executives only recently learned of the source code leak. Unfortunately, developers often hold source codes sacred and may reveal vulnerabilities that can help hackers attack users.
Twitter's source code, the core of any app, has been leaked, and the company suspects a former employee is behind it. Parts of the code were available on GitHub, an online software development platform, "for at least several months" but were removed after the social media company filed a "notice of copyright infringement." As The New York Times reported, Twitter has also asked the US District Court for the Northern District of California to order GitHub to reveal the user's identity, apparently named "FreeSpeechEnthusiast." The username slightly references the current owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, who refers to himself as a "free speech absolutist."
The report also claims that Twitter executives only recently learned of the source code leak. Developers often hold source codes sacred and may reveal vulnerabilities that can help hackers attack users. Sometimes companies only release parts of the source code to improve the security of the application. Musk also plans to open source code used to recommend tweets later this month.
In a tweet earlier this month, Musk said that "our algorithm' is overly complex and not fully understood internally. People will discover many silly things, but we'll patch issues as soon as they're found! We're developing a simplified approach to serve more compelling tweets, but it's still a work in progress. That'll also be open source. Providing code transparency will be incredibly embarrassing at first, but it should lead to rapid improvement in recommendation quality. Most importantly, we hope to earn your trust."
It must be made clear if hackers have already exploited the vulnerabilities discovered through the source code. However, the latest leak will deal a heavy blow to the company, which is finding different ways to increase revenue.
Since Musk's inauguration last year, more than 50 per cent of Twitter's global workforce has been laid off, with some leaving the company voluntarily. The company employs around 3,000 workers, up from 7,500 in September 2022.
A cybersecurity expert, Brett Callow, told the publication that "public posting of Twitter's code is concerning." However, he adds that "one of the best ways to mitigate insider risk is to keep your employees happy, and that certainly hasn't been the case at Twitter."
