Elon Musk vs Twitter: Who is Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko, ‘wild card’ in the clash

Former Twitter security head Peiter "Mudge" Zatko could be the wild card in Elon Musk's legal fight to break a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter. Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, a hacker and an American cybersecurity expert was hired by Jack Dorsey in 2020 after Twitter suffered a massive cyber attack. Zatko remained the security head of the company from November 2020 to January 2022.

Read more: Most Twitter shareholders vote in favor of sale to Elon Musk: Report

Here's everything you need to know about Peiter "Mudge" Zatko:

1. Peter “Mudge” Zatko was born in Boston, US. He graduated from Berklee School of Music before switching his career to hacking and cyber security. "Mudge" is Peiter Zatko's hacker nickname.

2. Peter “Mudge” Zatko was a part of the L0Pht an ethical hacker group and of Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) a hacker group and a DIY media org.

4. After a July 2020 hack on Twitter, the social media network's co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey wanted Peter “Mudge” Zatko to join the micro-blogging platform.

5. In just two years, Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal fired Zatko after "an assessment of how the organization was being led and the impact on top priority work" owing to Zatko.

6. US President Joe Biden's administration had offered Peter “Mudge” Zatko a position at the White House as security director last year. Peter “Mudge” Zatko had declined the job.

6. Peter “Mudge” Zatko is set to testify before a US committee looking into security practices at Twitter.

7. As Elon Musk has listed inauthentic Twitter accounts as among reasons to justify walking away from the buyout deal, Peter “Mudge” Zatko testimony could be crucial for the clash between Elon Musk and Twitter.