How hackers have manipulated Twitter’s trending algorithm for years
Writer at Neural by TNW — Thomas covers AI in all its iterations. Likes Werner Herzog films and Arsenal FC. Writer at Neural by TNW — Thomas covers AI in all its iterations. Likes Werner Herzog films and Arsenal FC.
A new study has discovered a vulnerability in Twitter’s trending algorithm that makes the platform susceptible to astroturfing attacks.
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) found that the social network doesn’t consider whether a tweet has been deleted when determining which keywords should trend.
As a result, attackers can artificially push topics up the list of Twitter trends and then remove evidence of the manipulation.
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