Twitter source code leaked: Ten possible motivations

“Twitter Says Parts of Its Source Code Were Leaked Online” – NYT

“Parts of Twitter’s source code, the underlying computer code on which the social network runs, were leaked online, according to a legal filing, a rare and major exposure of intellectual property as the company struggles to reduce technical issues and reverse its business fortunes under Elon Musk. Since Mr. Musk bought Twitter in October for $44 billion, about 75 percent of the company’s 7,500 employees have been laid off or resigned.

Musk has worried about the possibility of leaks and theft by disgruntled former employees during his mass layoffs. In November, he locked Twitter’s offices and asked employees not to come in while cuts were being made. Over the last few months, Twitter has also prevented engineers from making changes to the site’s code ahead of layoffs for fear that someone would sabotage the platform on the way out the door.” – NYT

What could be the possible motivations? Where does the word ‘sabotage’ originate ? How did exploited Dutch workers express their grievances?

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How to reduce insider risk

The public posting of Twitter’s code is “concerning,” said Brett Callow, a threat analyst at Emsisoft, a cybersecurity software company. “It does make it a little bit easier and speedier to probe for vulnerabilities. One of the best ways to mitigate insider risk is to keep your employees happy and that certainly hasn’t been the case at Twitter,” Mr. Callow said.

The person who leaked Twitter’s source code appeared to go by the name “FreeSpeechEnthusiast” on GitHub, according to Twitter’s legal filing. The user’s pseudonym appears to be a reference to Mr. Musk, who has referred to himself as a “free speech absolutist.” The GitHub profile for the anonymous user shows a single contribution to the platform in early January. The profile remains online.” – NYT

Sabotage

“Sabot is the French word for clog and sabotage is derived from it… sabotage emerged in 15th century Holland. It occurred when textile workers threw their sabots (clogs) into the gears of new automated looms fearing that their jobs would be lost. This deliberate attack on machinery then was called sabotage. – Madrigal

“At the inception of the Industrial Revolution, skilled workers such as the Luddites (1811–1812) used sabotage as a means of negotiation in labor disputes. Labor unions such as the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) have advocated sabotage as a means of self-defense and direct action against unfair working conditions. The IWW was shaped in part by the industrial unionism philosophy of Big Bill Haywood.” – Wikipedia

Savage Musk layoffs

“The email that Twitter’s new leadership sent to staff was uniquely cold... reminding the thousands of people who were about to be canned “to adhere to Twitter policies that prohibit you from discussing confidential company information on social media, with the press or elsewhere. The brief memo wasn’t even signed by Musk. Instead, the email was signed simply “Twitter,” a reminder to the thousands of people who have built Twitter for years that it now belongs to people who have been with the company about a week.

Even if Twitter and Musk don’t suffer legal consequences from the WARN Act lawsuit, it seems inevitable that the brutality of the layoffs will leave a stain on the company’s reputation and internal culture, which has been singled out in the tech world as being notably inclusive and open — characteristics that are rarely, if ever, attributed to Musk’s other companies.” – Protocol

TakeAway: Respect workers and treat them fairly.

Deepak
DemLabs

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