Sputnik
In an open letter on the social media network Minds, Vorhies said that he had investigated the suspension of the Google account of conservative thinker Jordan Peterson in 2017.
He wrote: “What I found was that Google had a technical vulnerability that, when exploited, would take any gmail account down. Certain unknown 3rd party actors are aware of this secret vulnerability and exploit it.”
According to the whistle-blower, “malicious actors” would change one letter in a target’s email address to create a “spoof” account and repeat this process until there is a network of bogus accounts.
These accounts, not linked with the original one in any way except for their similar name, would then start generating spam emails, triggering an AI system which fixed the problem by taking down the spam accounts and also Jordan Peterson’s original account.
“To my knowledge, this bug has never been fixed,” Vorhies said. “When Google says an account was deactivated because of ‘suspicious’ activity, this is how they often do it.”
While his revelation does not mean that Google itself was behind the scheme, it indicates that the company had failed to address the vulnerability in a timely manner.
He suggested that this knowledge may be of use to Tulsi Gabbard’s attorneys.
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Tulsi Gabbard, a
vocal proponent of breaking up the tech monopolies, had her campaign’s
advertising account suspended by Google after the Democratic debate in
late June and is currently seeking $50 million in damages.
Zach
Vorhies, a former Google employee who has been leaking documents
suggesting political biases within the company, has rendered assistance
to the representatives of 2020 Democratic candidate Tulsi Gabbard, who
is suing Google for disabling her search ads account.In an open letter on the social media network Minds, Vorhies said that he had investigated the suspension of the Google account of conservative thinker Jordan Peterson in 2017.
He wrote: “What I found was that Google had a technical vulnerability that, when exploited, would take any gmail account down. Certain unknown 3rd party actors are aware of this secret vulnerability and exploit it.”
According to the whistle-blower, “malicious actors” would change one letter in a target’s email address to create a “spoof” account and repeat this process until there is a network of bogus accounts.
These accounts, not linked with the original one in any way except for their similar name, would then start generating spam emails, triggering an AI system which fixed the problem by taking down the spam accounts and also Jordan Peterson’s original account.
“To my knowledge, this bug has never been fixed,” Vorhies said. “When Google says an account was deactivated because of ‘suspicious’ activity, this is how they often do it.”
While his revelation does not mean that Google itself was behind the scheme, it indicates that the company had failed to address the vulnerability in a timely manner.
He suggested that this knowledge may be of use to Tulsi Gabbard’s attorneys.
Read more
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