The SEC is investigating a Twitter security breach that occurred prior to Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform. According to anonymous sources close to the investigation, the SEC is investigating the former top executives, who allegedly failed to adequately disclose those privacy issues to shareholders. The investigation found that a bug on the social media platform had let outsiders view user email addresses during password resets. This in turn revealed the identity of users.
The executives in charge at the time included Twitter’s former Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and former Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal. None of the former executives are facing accusations of any wrongdoing. However, the report alleges that the executives failed to put in proper controls to fix this bug.
Also Read: SEC Launches Investigation Into Elon Musk’s Twitter Purchase
After Elon Musk completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, now X, the former CFO and CTO were removed from their posts. Neither of the former executives has commented publicly on the new SEC investigation yet.
2018 saw many security issues and breaches in the then Twitter. A computer virus that left users’ passwords exposed was discovered. In addition, a security flaw in Twitter’s system made it possible to identify the country codes of users’ phone numbers. Once Musk purchased Twitter, the SEC began investigating the details of the transaction and previous breaches soon after. The agency sued Musk Thursday, seeking to force him to testify about whether his actions in the run-up to his Twitter buyout bid violated securities laws