Vandalbot: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 19:56, 3 May 2004

A vandalbot is a bot that acts like a human vandal, to blank, revert or garble page titles and content. It typically must be coded very specifically to a content management system, e.g. wiki code, so it is not usually possible to simply use a generic vandalbot against a new wiki - for these reasons bot code is often closely guarded and shared with friends of the developers.

Several typical vandalbot attacks were launched against Recyclopedia within a week of its launch. These blanked pages and moved them to random titles to maximize the difficulty of undoing the damage or tracking references to those pages. Specifically, pages criticizing Wikimedia and documenting Wikimedia corruption were attacked consistently over several such attacks.

Any MediaWiki-based service is vulnerable to attacks from these people. Likewise GetWiki is probably vulnerable, so other wiki code might be desirable if these people continue their technological escalation against their political opponents.

The Consumerium Governance Organization must take a strong stand against the use of vandalbots or crapflood techniques to resolve political issues. If it is targetted by such tactics, it must be able to respond legally, politically and technologically in tandem, to stay as resilient as possible

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-A '''vandalbot''' is a [[bot]] that acts like a human [[vandal]], to [[blank]], [[revert]] or [[garble]] page titles and content.  It typically must be coded very specifically to a [[content management system]], e.g. [[wiki code]], so it is not usually possible to simply use a generic vandalbot against a new wiki - for these reasons bot code is often closely guarded and shared with friends of the developers.  For instance, [[Tim Starling]] shares his bot code only with those he personally trusts.
+A '''vandalbot''' is a [[bot]] that acts like a human [[vandal]], to [[blank]], [[revert]] or [[garble]] page titles and content.  It typically must be coded very specifically to a [[content management system]], e.g. [[wiki code]], so it is not usually possible to simply use a generic vandalbot against a new wiki - for these reasons bot code is often closely guarded and shared with friends of the developers.
-Several typical vandalbot attacks were launched against [[Recyclopedia]] within a week of its launch.  These blanked pages and moved them to random titles to maximize the difficulty of undoing the damage or tracking references to those pages.  Specifically, pages criticizing [[Wikimedia]] and documenting [[Wikimedia corruption]] were attacked consistently over several such attacks.  This plus the confident quick use of bot code led many to conclude that Starling or other [[MediaWiki]] developers were personally involved in those attacks.  It has never been denied.
+Several typical vandalbot attacks were launched against [[Recyclopedia]] within a week of its launch.  These blanked pages and moved them to random titles to maximize the difficulty of undoing the damage or tracking references to those pages.  Specifically, pages criticizing [[Wikimedia]] and documenting [[Wikimedia corruption]] were attacked consistently over several such attacks.
 Any [[MediaWiki]]-based service is vulnerable to attacks from these people.  Likewise [[GetWiki]] is probably vulnerable, so other [[wiki code]] might be desirable if these people continue their [[technological escalation]] against their political opponents.
-The [[Consumerium Governance Organization]] must take a strong stand against the use of vandalbots or [[crapflood]] techniques to resolve political issues.  If it is targetted by such tactics, it must be able to respond legally, politically and technologically in tandem, to totally destroy its opponents.
+The [[Consumerium Governance Organization]] must take a strong stand against the use of vandalbots or [[crapflood]] techniques to resolve political issues.  If it is targetted by such tactics, it must be able to respond legally, politically and technologically in tandem, to stay as resilient as possible