Former WhatsApp security chief Attaullah Baig has filed a lawsuit against Meta, accusing the company of "systemic cybersecurity failures" that could have compromised user privacy, CNBC reports.
Baig claims that he was retaliated against after he reported the vulnerabilities to management, including Mark Zuckerberg. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Baig said that after joining WhatsApp in 2021, he discovered numerous security issues that violated federal law and Meta's obligations under the FTC settlement. In particular, during tests, he found that about 1,500 engineers had unrestricted access to user data, including sensitive information, and could move or copy it without detection.
The lawsuit also alleges that WhatsApp lacked a 24/7 incident response center, a data access monitoring system, and a complete inventory of the servers where the information was stored. Baig repeatedly warned management that these shortcomings posed a risk of regulatory noncompliance.
Meta denied the allegations, saying Baig was fired for poor performance and that his claims were false. In February 2025, he was included in a round of layoffs that affected 5% of the company's workforce.
Baig's lawyers insist his dismissal was the culmination of two years of pressure following the revelations. He also filed complaints with the SEC and OSHA alleging "systemic retaliation," but Meta says the latter was dismissed.