Twitter has reported that sections of its proprietary code were leaked online, and were exposed until the company had the material removed from the web. The company then filed for a court order to track down the source of the leak.
Twitter’s source code is the programming that powers its platform and internal tools. The files were posted by a pseudonymous GitHub user, identified only by the handle FreeSpeechEnthusiast. Leaked source code can give criminals the chance to find or exploit security flaws and vulnerabilities. Twitter has launched an effort to identify the person or group behind the GitHub account, as well as anyone who may have interacted with the leaked code. Twitter filed for a subpoena at the US District Court for the Northern District of California to compel GitHub to hand over IP addresses, contact information, and access logs associated with the incident.
“The purpose for which Twitter’s DMCA Subpoena is sought is to obtain the identity of an alleged infringer or infringers, and such information will only be used for the purpose of protecting Twitter’s rights,” Twitter wrote in its filing to the court.
GitHub removed the content after Twitter submitted a copyright claim to the company. The leak comes as CEO Elon Musk has sought to reverse a sharp decline in revenues through substantial layoffs and other cost-cutting measures that some experts had already said risked making the platform less safe.
Musk has blamed the advertiser revolt for steep losses at the company, and has aggressively pushed the company’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, as an alternative revenue stream. He has also said Twitter will charge fees for other software applications to access Twitter’s platform.
