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WikipediaBot: Automated Adversarial Manipulation of Wikipedia Articles

2020/06/24 by Filipo Sharevski, Peter Jachim, Sharevski, Filipo +1
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection #Wikis in Education and Collaboration #cs.CR

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2006.13990

arxiv created 2020/06/24 · openalex publication_date 2020/06/24 · arxiv updated 2020/06/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

This paper presents an automated adversarial mechanism called WikipediaBot. WikipediaBot allows an adversary to create and control a bot infrastructure for the purpose of adversarial edits of Wikipedia articles. The WikipediaBot is a self-contained mechanism with modules for generating credentials for Wikipedia editors, bypassing login protections, and a production of contextually-relevant adversarial edits for target Wikipedia articles that evade conventional detection. The contextually-relevant adversarial edits are generated using an adversarial Markov chain that incorporates a linguistic manipulation attack known as MIM or malware-induced misperceptions. Because the nefarious use of WikipediaBot could result in harmful damages to the integrity of wide range of Wikipedia articles, we provide an elaborate discussion about the implications, detection, and defenses Wikipedia could employ to address the threat of automated adversarial manipulations and acts of Wikipedia vandalism.

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