Thought Leadership
A former WhatsApp employee accuses the company of ignoring critical cybersecurity issues and firing him after internal complaints. Meta denies the allegations.
A new whistleblower lawsuit against Meta is causing a stir: Former WhatsApp employee Attaullah Baig accuses the social media company of systematically ignoring massive cybersecurity problems. Filed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), the lawsuit is directed against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other top managers.
Uncontrolled data access on WhatsApp?
Baig, who worked at WhatsApp from 2021 to February 2025, alleges that hundreds of engineers were able to access user data without legitimate authorization.
The allegations regarding an FTC data protection agreement from 2020 are particularly serious: Meta is said to have been obliged to monitor data access but failed to do so. The alleged lack of notification to the SEC could have legal consequences.
The plaintiff claims to have worked as a security manager – a claim that Meta vigorously denies. According to SecurityWeek, the company classifies Baig as a first-level “software engineering manager”.
Retaliation instead of problem solving?
Instead of addressing the reported security gaps, Meta retaliated against him, according to the accusation. Baig describes negative reviews, increased scrutiny and the discontinuation of his team’s security projects. The termination took place a few months after his direct report to the SEC.
In addition to Zuckerberg, the lawsuit also names WhatsApp boss Will Cathcart, head of engineering Nitin Gupta and directors Pinaki Mukerji and Mark Tsimelzon as responsible.
“Known procedure” according to Meta
Meta spokesman Andy Stone dismissed the accusations as a “familiar pattern”: an employee dismissed for poor performance was now trying to discredit “the hard work of the team”. Several senior engineers had independently rated Baig’s quality of work as inadequate.
Documents from the US Department of Labor are said to support Meta’s position: OSHA had found no retaliation and denied Baig’s whistleblower status under SOX.
Baig, meanwhile, is demanding a jury trial as well as reinstatement, back pay and damages.
