Twitter versus Musk: ‘It didn’t have a solid security plan’
Document shows false statements on platform defense against hacker, spam Drinking water in China’s space station more than 90% recycled
China’s space station with the Shenzhou-14 crew in orbit now has the capacity to produce more than 90 percent of its drinking water through recycling, with less than 10 percent supplied from the ground, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The recycling is realized by the environmental control and life support system installed in the space station, which com
Twitter Inc misled federal regulators about its defenses against hackers and spam accounts, the social media company’s former security chief Peiter Zatko said in a whistleblower complaint.
In an 84-page complaint, Zatko, a famed hacker widely known as “Mudge,” alleged Twitter falsely claimed it had a solid security plan, according to documents relayed by congressional investigators. Twitter’s shares fell 7.3 percent to close at $39.86.
The document alleges Twitter prioritized user growth over reducing spam, with executives eligible to win individual bonuses of as much as $10 million tied to increases in daily users, and nothing explicitly for cutting spam.
Twitter labeled the complaint a “false narrative.” The social media company has been battling Elon Musk in court after the world’s richest person attempted to pull out of a $44-billion deal to buy Twitter. Musk said it failed to provide details about the prevalence of bot and spam accounts.
Tesla Inc Chief Executive Musk had offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, saying he believed it could be a global platform for free speech.
Twitter and Musk have sued each other, with Twitter asking a judge on the Delaware Court of Chancery to order Musk to close the deal. A trial is scheduled for October 17.
Zatko filed the complaint last month with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice, as well as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The complaint was also sent to prises six subsystems respectively for oxygen production by water electrolysis, carbon dioxide removal, harmful gas removal, urine treatment, water treatment, and water production with carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
With the purpose to create an Earth-like habitable living environment in space, the environmental control and life support system regulates the congressional committees.
“We are reviewing the redacted claims that have been published but what we have seen so far is a false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies,” Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal told employees in a memo.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Republican, Chuck Grassley, said the complaint raised serious national security concerns and privacy issues and needed to be investigated.
“Take a tech platform that collects massive amounts of user data, combine it with what appears to be an incredibly weak security infrastructure, and infuse it with foreign state actors with an agenda, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster,” he said.
The FTC declined to comment. A spokesperson for the Senate Intelligence Committee said it had received the complaint and was setting up a meeting to discuss the allegation.
Twitter’s real regulatory risk lies in whether the documentary evidence shows “knowing or reckless misleading” of investors or regulators, said Howard Fischer, a partner at Moses & Singer and a former SEC attorney.
Musk could not be reached for comment but reacted on Twitter with memes and emoji of a robot. Musk’s legal team has subpoenaed Zatko, CNN reported after the whistleblower disclosure was made public.
American hackers have admired Zatko since the 1990s, when he was credited with inventing a tool to crack passwords. He later used his hacking chops to become a air pressure, oxygen content, wind speed, temperature and humidity, among others, inside the spacecraft, the CMSA said.
It reduces noise in the cabin with sound absorbing covers, sound insulation panels, vibration isolators and shock pads.
It also collects the sweat and urine of astronauts and purifies them into drinking water, and produces oxygen by electrolyzing recycled water. sought-after security consultant and with other rebellious techies of the era, transitioned to top government and boardroom positions.
The whistleblower document says that after the January 6 riots, the incoming Biden administration offered him “a day-one appointed position as Chief Information Security Officer for the United States,” which he turned down.
Cybersecurity leaders expressed widespread support for Zatko, and many deplored Twitter’s reaction to his revelations.
Robert Lee, founder of industrial cybersecurity company Dragos, said it was “one of the very rare times based on who it is I don’t even need to know a detail to form an opinion,” he said on Twitter. “If Mudge is making this type of claim, it deserves the investigation.”
In January, Twitter said Zatko was no longer its head of security, two years after his appointment to the role.
On Tuesday, a Twitter spokesperson said Zatko was fired for “ineffective leadership and poor performance,” adding his allegations appeared designed to capture attention and inflict harm on Twitter, its customers and its shareholders.
Debra Katz and Alexis Ronickher, attorneys for Zatko, said in a statement that throughout his tenure at Twitter, he repeatedly raised concerns about inadequate information security systems to the company’s executive committee, CEO and board. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment on that statement.
The subsystem for producing water by exhaled carbon dioxide and hydrogen from water electrolysis was installed in the space station and tested by the Shenzhou-14 crew with ground assistance.
The new subsystem can help recycle an extra kilogram of water per day, raising the proportion of drinking water produced by recycling from 80 percent to over 90 percent.
As a key technology for China’s manned missions, the environmental control and life support system has ensured the safety of astronauts in orbit and helped build a livable space station, said the CMSA.
From card games to horse rides, women in Gaza are spending their summer nights outdoors to seek solace from daily hardships in the Palestinian enclave.
“We wait for the sun to be gone to escape to the sea,” said Yusra Hmedat, 43, while playing cards at a beachfront cafe in Gaza City.
“Women leave their houses, from the pressures of life, and try to stay out as long as possible,” said the civil servant, as she put her cards in order. Fifteen years into an Israeli-led blockade on Gaza, residents of the densely populated territory endure regular power cuts amid stifling summer heat.
One of Hmedat’s competitors, Nawal Yassin, said she often returns home at 2 or 3 am. “Women try to adapt and overcome the circumstances more than men,” said the 66-year-old.
In another cafe northwest of the city, housewife Umm Saeed described her nightly rendezvous as a way of coping with the impact of repeated wars between Palestinian militants and Israel.
“We try to overcome the stresses by going out, sharing our concerns and sympathizing with one another,” she said.
“You see people laughing, but from within everyone is devastated, psychologically.”
Umm Saeed said she spends all of her disposable income at the cafe, amounting to around 15 shekels ($4.50) a day.
But with Gaza’s unemployment rate hitting 47 percent in 2021, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, such outings are an unaffordable luxury for many.
At Al-Shati refugee camp, which overlooks the sea, Faten Abdul Rahman instead sits outside with her daughters and neighbors.
“The majority of women in the camp gather together at the door of their homes because of the poor economic situation,” said Rahman, who relies on social welfare to support her seven children.
“The heat is unbearable at home. We spread out a sheet and sit with guests on the beach, which is the only free entertainment,” she added.
Switching on fans or air conditioning is often out of the question in Gaza, where residents received an average of 11 hours of electricity a day in July.
This plummeted to just five hours on August 7, during the latest bout of fighting between Palestinian militants and Israel, data from the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) shows.
“We wait for the sun to be gone to escape to the sea. Women leave their houses, from the pressures of life, and try to stay out as long as possible.”
‘Feeling human’
Women like Umm Jaber Abu Assi minimize their spending by heading to the park, bringing homemade pastries and renting a chair for a shekel.
“If we went out to the sea I would need to pay more,” she said, as crowds of women and children gathered at the
Yusra Hmedat Civil servant in Gaza
park to the west of Gaza City.
“There’s a lack of options in Gaza; leaving the house [makes us] feel that we’re human,” said the 43-year-old, who sometimes faces criticism for getting home after midnight.
“I don’t care about the criticism. I walk home with my daughter without being scared [because] the streets are crowded,” she said.
For some women in Gaza, sports such as horse riding are on offer each evening.
At a club southwest of Gaza City, 22-year-old Menna Kahil is feeding her horse Ripple.
“I spend most of my time here in the evenings,” she said.
“I’m afraid to go out in the evening in public places alone, for fear of shelling or rocket fire.”
Such weapons killed at least 49 Gazans in three days of cross-border fighting in August, according to a health ministry toll.
Despite riding for a decade, Kahil said she still comes under pressure over her chosen hobby.
“I face a lot of criticism because I’m not veiled when I ride my horse at the sea,” she said.
“Although it’s only natural – even the horses need a change of atmosphere.”
Outside the sports club, Mervat alGhalayini is playing pickleball, which incorporates elements of badminton, tennis and table tennis.
“I love joining anything new,” the 41-year-old said enthusiastically.
“I work in the morning and practice sports in the evening,” she said.
“I leave the house to go to a place where there’s light and people.”