On Monday Twitter assigned Pieter Zatko, also known by his hacker handle name Mudge, as their new head of security. Zatko will be responsible for recommending changes in the structure and functions of the social media giant.
Zatko is under a 40 to 60-day review and will be reporting to Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, during this time. During his residency in this role, Zatko will be taking over management of key functions. In an interview, he said that he will examine “information security, site integrity, physical security, platform integrity — which starts to touch on abuse and manipulation of the platform — and engineering.”
Previously Zatko has worked at the electronic payment company, Stripe, as well as working on projects for Google. He also oversaw grants assignment for cybersecurity projects that were part of the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research and Projects Agency (DARPA). With his wealth of experience and the online reputation that precedes him, it will be interesting to see how Zatko takes to his new role at Twitter.
