Los Angeles — In a surprising move, popular micro-blogging outfit Twitter has adopted a novel way to strengthen a company’s security than to hire someone familiar with evading it? Well, the tweeting company is hiring Charlie Miller, famous for his hacks on the iPhone and MacBook Air, finding holes in iOS and devising ways to hijack Android phones with NFC, will be starting his new job at the micro-blogging company next week.
Yes, the micro-blogging hub confirmed to VentureBeat that the social site has finally hired the gray-hat security expert, who got his start working for the U.S. National Security Administration.
Moving on to Twitter’s turf, Miller will be functioning as systems software engineer and reports to Moxie Marlinspike, the hacker who ran Android security shop Whisper Systems until Twitter acquired it last year.Miller, a mobile security expert who has made a name for himself with hacks of Apple’s iPhone, naturally tweeted the news today of his new position on Friday. “Monday I start on the security team at Twitter. Looking forward to working with a great team there!” Miller tweeted this morning.
Miller informed CNET today that he cannot discuss about his new job until he gets settled in it. But, according to a Twitter spokeswoman, Miller’s official designation will be Software Engineer, but no further details about his duties are available.
After completing his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Notre Dame, Miller made a five-year stint as a “global network exploitation analyst” for the National Security Agency. He then worked for a financial-services firm and at Independent Security Evaluators and Accuvant.
During his tenure, Miller went on to hack Apple products of all kinds and was the first hacker to find a critical bug in the MacBook Air. He also created a proof-of-concept app for hacking iPhones and iPads; the app got into the App Store, smudging a bit more egg on Apple’s face in the process.
Besides, it is his hacking and penetration testing expertise that has earned him a reputation. Apart from highlighting numerous security flaws within Apple software over the years, one of his most high-profile discoveries was a vulnerability in the mobile version of Safari in 2007, shortly after the first iPhone was released. Additionally, he has been a fixture at the Pwn2Own security contest, in which people vie to gain control of Apple’s Mac OS X computers through the built-in Safari Web browser.
However, according to Forbes reports that Twitter’s interest in Miller has been swirling since last winter. The gossip is that Miller will be used by the company as a full-time penetration tester looking for and fixing vulnerabilities.
More recently, Miller has turned to Google’s Android platform, defeating the “Bouncer” program for detecting malware in the app store, Forbes reported, and wirelessly compromising Samsung and Nokia phones. Also, in July, Miller demonstrated a way to hijack an Android smartphone via the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology that is turned on by default on the device.
Miller earned a Ph.D in mathematics from the University of Notre Dame. He is working remotely from his home office in St. Louis, Missouri.
“It’s going to be bug genocide, my friend!” the hacker quipped on Twitter.