A Twitter whistleblower could lead to a Big Tech raid.

The bombshell allegations of Twitter’s former cybersecurity chief, who accused the company of being lax with user data and lying to the feds — could leave regulators open to cracking down on big tech companies, experts told the Post.

Prominent hacker Peter “Mudge” Zatko, who was hired two years ago by then-CEO Jack Dorsey to improve Twitter’s weak cybersecurity infrastructure, told the Securities and Exchange Commission that he was fired after company executives told him to downplay his security risks.

Zatco gave Twitter executives low- and mid-level employees access to sensitive controls — leaving the system vulnerable to spying.

Zatko’s allegations were first reported by The Washington Post and CNN.

Industry analysts told the Post that Zatco’s claim sounds good and deserves credit for coming forward.

“The hacker is doing the right thing here,” Brian Hornung, CEO and founder of Xact IT Solutions, told the Post.

“Zatko points out that everything is why companies are hacked at the level they are today.”

Hornung says it’s common for American companies to overlook the importance of cybersecurity. They are playing with fire.

“Businesses big and small think it will never happen to them,” he said.

CEOs like to gamble with their information security and ultimately their business.

Cybersecurity experts and legal analysts told the Post that Zatko’s claims could lead to tighter controls on Twitter.

Steve Stransky, a business litigation expert who teaches at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, told the Post that the Federal Trade Commission could find Twitter in violation of its licensing obligations — again.

Earlier this year, Twitter was ordered to pay a $150 million fine and install new safeguards after the company was found to have violated a 2011 agreement with the FTC to protect user data.

“Twitter may face new scrutiny from various government regulators, who will view Zatko’s allegations as evidence that Twitter is violating the representations it made to its users about how it collects, uses and protects consumer information,” Stransky told the Post. .

“In recent years, we’ve seen government regulators become more willing to investigate social media companies on consumer protection issues, and Zatco’s allegations could be a catalyst for further investigation in this area.”

Aaron Solomon Zatko, chief legal analyst at digital marketing firm Esquire Digital, thinks it could provide an excuse for government regulators to impose restrictions on Twitter and other powerful tech companies.

“The danger here on Twitter is real,” Solomon said.

“There is a chance of fines, but the biggest risk is that Twitter itself will embolden lawmakers to find reasons to create new laws to limit what Big Tech (especially social media companies) can’t and can’t do.”

“New government regulations could be a nightmare for big tech companies, as the over-regulated platform is so difficult to monetize it could really hit the business model of social media companies.

Zatko criticized his former boss, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, particularly for his lax approach to protecting user data and the proliferation of bots and spam accounts.

Art Sheik, founder and CEO of Chicago-based software company CircleIt, says spam and bot accounts — a major bone of contention between Twitter and Elon Musk — are rampant across social media.

Tech companies have financial incentives to maximize user engagement, although spam and bots are also created for “more nefarious reasons, such as scamming people,” according to Shaikh.

“Agrawal is a good CEO,” Sheikh told the Post.

However, this is a problem with the entire social media landscape, so it’s unfair to single it out.

Sheik thinks Twitter could land in more hot water because of Zatko’s claims that the company lacks robust security tools and is a prime target for foreign spies.

Earlier this month, former Twitter manager Ahmed Abuamo, a US-Lebanese dual citizen, was convicted of acting as a Saudi Arabian agent, CNN reported.

Abuamo is accused of receiving Saudi money to provide information to the government in Riyadh on Twitter accounts critical of the Saudi opposition and the regime.

In addition, Zatco forced the Indian government to put Twitter on the payroll of one of its representatives – which authorities in New Delhi accused of restricting civil liberties and public protests.

“[T]There could be national security implications here,” Shaikh said.

“As someone who has long advocated for security and data privacy, and built my company on these fundamental principles, it is absolutely disgusting to me that any company would turn to these issues.”