controls and sensitive information without adequate oversight. zatko also alleges some of the company s senior most executives tried to cover up twitter s vulnerabilities. cnn s donie o sullivan is here with the exclusive details. what are we seeing, what are the main headlines out of this disclosure? that s right, kaitlan, a lot to break down in this. this disclosure is in the hands of multiple u.s. law enforcement agencies, including the s.e.c. and the department of justice and today zatko is speaking out for the first time to cnn. have a look. ready? yes. why are you coming forward? all my life i ve been about finding places where i can go, and make a difference. reporter: this is peiter zatko. until january this year he was head of security at ftwitter, bt now a whistle-blower. he said the problems are so grave, they re a risk to national security and democracy. twitter is a critical resource to the entire world. i think it is an extremely important platform.
security peiter zatko, alleging the social media giant s leadership misled its own board, and government regulators about security vulnerabilities that could potentially open the door for foreign spying, hacking and disinformation campaigns. those are stunning, serious claims sent to congress and several federal agencies last month. our very own cnn correspondent donie o sullivan sat down with him to talk about this. here s the story. reporter: ready? yes. reporter: why are you coming forward? all my life i ve been about finding places where i can go, and make a difference. reporter: this is peiter zatko, until january of this year he was head of security at twitter, but now he s a whistle-blower, and he says twitter security problems are so grave, they are a risk to national security and democracy. twitter is a critical resource to the entire world. i think it is an extremely important platform. reporter: he handed over information about the company to various
national security and democracy. twitter is a critical resource to the entire world. i think it is an extremely important platform. reporter: he handed over information about the company to various u.s. law enforcement agencies, the fcc, the ftc and the department of justice. may i ask your name. mudge. reporter: zatko is better known in the hacking world by his nickname mudge. he s been a renowned cybersecurity expert for decades. his roots are in hacking, figuring out how computers and software work. reporter: that expertise might be why jack dorsey then ceo of twitter hired zatko after the company was hit by a massive attack in 2020, when hackers took over the accounts of some of the world s most famous people. mudge is one of the top fiber fix executives at the company. reporter: he s represented by john tye who founded whistle-blower aid, the same group that defended frances haugen. they re taking this seriously. reporter: twitter is pushing back, saying zatk
twitter is a critical resource to the entire world. i think it is an extremely important platform. reporter: he handed over information about the company to various u.s. law enforcement agencies, the fcc, the ftc and the department of justice. may i ask your name. mudge. reporter: zatko is better known in the hacking world by his nickname mudge. he s been a renowned cybersecurity expert for decades. his roots are in hacking, figuring out how computers and software work. reporter: that expertise might be why jack dorsey then ceo of twitter hired zatko after the company was hit by a massive attack in 2020, when hackers took over the accounts of some of the world s most famous people. mudge is one of the top fiber fix executives at the company. reporter: he s represented by john tye who founded whistle-blower aid, the same group that represented facebook whistle-blower frances haugen. they re taking this seriously. reporter: twitter is pushing back, saying zatko is p