Twitter has a new whistleblower, as another former employee has sounded the alarm about security issues, according to The Washington Post. The new com

Twitter engineers can still use 'GodMode' to tweet as any account, claims whistleblower

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2023-01-25 18:00:06

Twitter has a new whistleblower, as another former employee has sounded the alarm about security issues, according to The Washington Post. The new complainant, who has spoken with Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), says any Twitter engineer still has access to an internal program — formerly called “GodMode” — that lets them tweet from any account.

The whistleblower’s complaint alleges GodMode (now renamed to “privileged mode”) remains on the laptop of any engineer who wants it, requiring only a production computer and a simple code change from “FALSE” to “TRUE.” Screenshots of the code, included in an October complaint filed with the FTC, show a warning to anyone attempting to use it: “THINK BEFORE YOU DO THIS.”

This isn't the first time Twitter security has drawn scrutiny. In 2020, teenage crypto scammers hacked the company’s internal systems, sending fake tweets from the accounts of President Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Musk and others. Twitter’s at-the-time executives said they had fixed the issue and launched a “comprehensive information security program that is reasonably designed to protect the security, privacy, confidentiality, and integrity of nonpublic consumer information.”Turn on browser notifications to receive breaking news alerts from EngadgetYou can disable notifications at any time in your settings menu.Not nowTurn onTurned on Turn on

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