Tech Brew Ride Home Thu. 11/07 - Alleged Spies Inside Twitter
Nov 7, 2019
Former Twitter employees face serious allegations of spying for Saudi Arabia, raising concerns over user privacy. A bizarre glitch leaves many puzzled as they receive long-lost Valentine's Day texts. AMD unveils powerful new desktop CPUs, while startups like Ghost Locomotion aim to transform regular cars into self-driving vehicles. Uber's reliance on Waymo’s technology comes under scrutiny, and the Pwn2Own hacking contest reveals surprising resilience in smart speakers against hacks.
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Twitter Spying Scandal
- Two ex-Twitter employees were charged with spying for Saudi Arabia by accessing user accounts.
- One allegedly accessed 6,000 accounts in 2015, acting as an intermediary between Twitter and Saudi officials.
Insider Threats in Tech
- Foreign agents likely work inside major tech companies, potentially as an open secret.
- Tech companies are good at technical defense, but human intelligence is a vulnerability.
Alphabet Executive Misconduct
- Alphabet's board is investigating executive misconduct, including their chief legal officer, David Drummond.
- This follows shareholder lawsuits alleging cover-ups of sexual misconduct.