Top security expert says that 8 out of 10 Twitter accounts are bogus as Musk chuckles

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, attacked Parag Agrawal’s platform once more on Thursday after a leading cybersecurity expert asserted that as many as eight out of ten Twitter accounts are false.

Dan Woods, Global Head of Intelligence at cybersecurity firm F5, who spent more than 20 years working for US federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, told The Australian that more than 80% of Twitter accounts are likely bots. This is a huge assertion given that Twitter states that only 5% of its users are bots or spam.

Musk tweeted, citing the news piece and saying, “Sure sounds higher than 5 per cent,”
He grinned, “On a $/bot basis, this deal is awesome,”

On a $/bot basis, this deal is awesome

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2022

Due to the existence of bots on the platform, Musk cancelled the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. The dispute is currently being heard in a US court, and Agrawal is being questioned in an open forum.

Woods, a senior cybersecurity expert for the CIA and FBI, claims that both Musk and Twitter have underestimated the bot issue on the microblogging network. With the Twitter trial scheduled to begin on October 17, Musk is currently attempting to buy additional time from the judge by referring to Peiter “Mudge” Zatko’s testimony.