Twitter’s chief information security officer is reportedly leaving the company.
According to The Verge, sources say Twitter’s Chief Information Security Officer, Michael Coates, announced internally about three weeks ago that he was stepping away from his role, but there was no external announcement. The security head is reportedly leaving to start his own company.
It’s turning out to be a tumultuous week among top level security executives at technology companies. Also on Wednesday, Google’s head of information security engineering Michał Zalewski announced on Twitter he was leaving after nearly 11 years. On Monday, news broke that Facebook’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, would be leaving the company.
The technology platforms are under greater scrutiny for allowing misuse and abuse on their platforms leading up to the 2016 US presidential election and mounting pressure to act. For its part, Twitter made policy changes to curb spam and bot activity by restricting simultaneous tweets from multiple accounts. Twitter has long been accused of not addressing abusive and malicious behavior on its site.
Coates has been with Twitter for just over three years now, joining the company in January, 2015. The Verge reports his interim replacement will be Joseph Camilleri, who currently serves as Twitter’s senior manager for information security and risk.
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Amy Gesenhues is Third Door Media’s General Assignment Reporter, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs.com, SoftwareCEO.com, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy’s articles.