Former Twitter security chief said he was asked to burn documents

Elon Musk accused Twitter of forcing former security chief Peiter Zatko to burn 10 notebooks and delete 100 files on his computer before leaving the company.

New details regarding Peiter Zatko were released by Elon Musk after he decided to resume a $ 44 billion agreement with Twitter. In a court filing obtained by Bloomberg , Zatko said that to receive his $ 7.8 million severance pay , he had to burn notebooks and delete computer files on Twitter's orders. These notebooks recorded the contents of his meetings with corporate partners in the role of security director.

Peiter Zatko was sworn in during a hearing on September 13 on the lawsuit related to Twitter. Photo: Reuters

After an unsuccessful attempt to prove the number of virtual accounts on Twitter, Musk turned his focus to Zatko. In late August, the former security chief made shocking revelations about Twitter's security holes. According to Zatko, this could threaten the interests of users, investors and even US national security. He also asserted that Twitter leadership misled the company's management and board about their problems.

Twitter then criticized Zatko, calling them "misrepresentations" of the company. A social media spokesman said Zatko was fired earlier this year because of "poor leadership and poor performance". However, Musk's legal team was still successful in convincing the court to subpoena Zatko to testify in the $44 billion lawsuit between the Tesla CEO and Twitter. According to Musk's attorneys, Twitter's attempt to buy back the former security chief's silence has failed, but the company's second goal is to make sure Zatko's credentials aren't found. expose.

Twitter has not yet commented on the information.

Meanwhile, Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Chancery State Court decided to postpone the lawsuit and delay the deadline to close the deal to October 28. Musk's legal team is asking McCormick to bring penalties to Twitter's lawyers for covering up evidence.

And Twitter is trying to turn its attention to Jared Birchall - Musk's assistant. The representative of this social network said that Birchall appeared at the trial on September 21 without preparation for questions related to the transaction. Birchall was one of Musk's close aides and was a direct participant in the negotiations for the Twitter acquisition.