Twitter has faced a new problem: part of the source code has been leaked on GitHub. The filing has since been withdrawn and a complaint has been filed. The pseudonym of the author suggests that he is an admirer of Elon Musk, but it could be a decoy.
This is one more boredom for Twitter. The social network has been informed of a computer security incident these days, with the publication of certain portions of its source code, without authorization. These elements have been posted on GitHub, a platform specializing in hosting software projects – and which has belonged to Microsoft since 2018.
A problem which seems for the moment circumscribed nevertheless. According to The New York Times, in its edition of March 26, the community site intervened with GitHub to ask it to remove this source code without delay – which was done on the 24th, after a report from the American company for a copyright infringement.
The case has also taken a more legal turn, since Twitter is now seeking to know the identity of the Internet user who posted this source code, but also those who downloaded it. A lawsuit has been filed in a California court to require GitHub to provide anything that can be used in the investigation, such as IP addresses.
Obviously, the leak of this computer code – which includes all the instructions for running a program, in this case Twitter – has long passed under the radars of the company belonging to Elon Musk. The repository on GitHub is several months old, according to the American daily.
Dark motives behind the leak
Another mystery that the investigation could possibly solve, if the Internet user at the origin of the wild deposit on GitHub is found: what were his motivations? Hacking the platform seems unlikely: why make this code public? The culprit, if he was malicious, would have more interest in keeping his advantage secret to exploit possible vulnerabilities.
The pseudonym found on GitHub and used by the said user – a certain FreeSpeechEnthusiast – may be a lead. This name may echo the posture that Elon Musk regularly takes on Twitter. The Twitter boss calls himself a ‘free speech absolutist’ – although in practice he has shown that’s not so true.
Elon Musk has sometimes presented his takeover of Twitter as an imperative, in order to free speech on the social network. He has repeatedly stated his intention to make public the operating elements of the platform, including the algorithm, which is the tool for organizing the display of tweets, according to various criteria. He was still involved in it last February.
Did FreeSpeechEnthusiast want to force the hand of Elon Musk, sometimes accused of delaying revealing the bowels of the platform? The pseudonym may be a red herring: the revenge of a former Twitter employee who was part of a wave of layoffs remains plausible. Several thousand employees have been laid off in recent months.
The opening of the source code of Twitter, promised by Elon Musk, is supposed to be able to improve the functioning of the social network, benefiting from third-party contributions to identify security vulnerabilities or optimize the functioning of the service. This opening must also demonstrate that there is no hidden functionality, in the way of displaying tweets for example.
However, publishing usually doesn’t happen in such a raw way. Portions shared publicly are usually checked internally, to ensure that they will not pose a security risk. Also, Twitter’s move to open source doesn’t mean that all code will be. More critical elements will likely remain secret.
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