Saudi Arabia reportedly groomed Twitter employee to spy on user accounts

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/20/18003644/saudi-arabia-twitter-jamal-khashoggi-twitter-employee-spy

By Andrew Liptak
The Verge
Oct 20, 2018

On Saturday, The New York Times published a report detailing Saudi 
Arabia’s efforts to combat dissent on platforms like Twitter, such as 
slain US journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was subjected to intense and 
personal attacks online before his death. As part of those efforts, the 
kingdom’s reportedly worked to groom a Twitter employee to spy on user 
accounts.

According to the Times, western intelligence officials contacted the 
social media company, saying that the Saudi government was "grooming" one 
of its employees, Ali Alzabarah, "to spy on the accounts of dissidents and 
others." Alzabarah worked at Twitter beginning in 2013 as an engineer with 
access to user accounts, and was convinced by Saudi intelligence officials 
to look into several accounts.

Once alerted, Twitter reportedly placed Alzabarah on administrative leave 
while an investigation took place, and while "they could not find evidence 
that he had handed over Twitter data to the Saudi government," he was 
fired at the end of 2015. The company then notified a "few dozen accounts" 
that they might have been targeted. Following his dismissal, Alzabarah 
returned to Saudi Arabia.

Reached for comment, a Twitter spokesperson said that the company has 
"nothing to add at this time." The Times says that among the accounts that 
were notified belonged to security researchers, academics, and 
journalists, including individuals who worked for the Tor project. Prior 
to his death, Khashoggi was involved in launching a project designed to 
combat online abuse.

[...]

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