Parts of the crucial computer code that keeps Twitter up and running was leaked online, the Elon Musk-led company said in a legal filing Friday.
The code’s public exposure came to light after the social media company took legal action to have the leaked information taken off GitHub, an online platform for software development, according to the New York Times.
GitHub agreed to immediately remove the content after Twitter sent over a copyright infringement notice, though it’s unclear how long the code was online.
The Times reported it appeared to have been public for several months.
One concern tied to the leak is the code includes security vulnerabilities that would give hackers the chance to steal user data or take down the site, two people briefed on an internal probe Twitter is conducting told the Times.
Twitter also asked a federal court to force GitHub to reveal who shared the code and to identify any other people that downloaded it, according to the filing.
The internal probe into the leak determined whoever published the code left the company last year as executives handling the investigation were only recently made aware of the leak, two people briefed on the investigation told the Times.
The leaker appeared to go by the name “FreeSpeechEnthusiast” on GitHub, Twitter’s legal filing reportedly said.
The profile, whose pseudonym could be in reference to Musk calling himself a free speech absolutist, shows the person contributed one item to the site in early January.
Musk, who bought the company for $44 billion in October, has faced mountains of turmoil since becoming the social media giant’s CEO.
About 75% of the workforce that was employed before he took control were either laid off or left.
As the company faces stark changes, Musk informed workers in a Friday email that Twitter was now worth about $20 billion as he noted mass layoffs and cost cutting efforts saved the company from bankruptcy, according to an email viewed by the Times.
“Twitter is being reshaped rapidly,” he said in the email, adding he believes the company could be worth $250 billion someday.
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