Teen unleashes computer worm on Twitter as site's popularity grows
Last Updated: Monday, April 13, 2009 | 8:00 PM ET
CBC News
An American teenager unleashed a computer worm over the weekend, infecting many user accounts on Twitter.com, which has become a target for mischief-makers as its popularity grows.
Michael "Mikeyy" Mooney, 17, confessed to BNONews.com that he was behind the self-replicating computer program, which was used to promote Twitter knockoff, StalkDaily.com.
The worm, which was designed to automatically reproduce itself once its links were clicked on, displayed unwanted messages on infected Twitter accounts that read, "Hey everyone, join StalkDaily.com. It's a site like Twitter but with pictures, videos and so much more."
But it didn't steal any personal information from the more than six million people with Twitter accounts, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said in a Twitter posting about the worm. Nearly 10,000 Twitter messages, known as "tweets," had to be deleted to contain the potential damage, he said.
"We are still reviewing all the details, cleaning up and we remain alert," Stone reassured Twitter users.
Mooney told the Associated Press on Monday he wanted to promote his website and also to expose Twitter's weaknesses.
"I really didn't think it was going to get that much attention, but then I started to see all these stories about it and thought, 'Oh my God,'" said Mooney, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mooney began having second thoughts about what he had done after reading Stone's posting, which also stated that Twitter may pursue legal action against its tormentor. In a Monday email sent to the AP, Stone said he didn't know whether Twitter will go after Mooney.
The computer worm represents another rite of passage for San Francisco-based Twitter, which has emerged as a popular way to communicate on the web since its debut three years ago.
Twitter's site, which limits messages to 140 characters, is used to broadcast information by users that include ordinary people, celebrities and news agencies.
Its popularity makes it a target for mischief-makers and scam artists. Two of the internet's biggest online social networking groups, Facebook and MySpace, both have had to grapple with similar threats.
With files from the Associated PressShare Tools
Top News Headlines
- Greece passes new austerity deal amid rioting
- Greek lawmakers have approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the debt-crippled nation from bankruptcy, after riots in Athens and other cities left stores looted and burned and more than 120 people hurt. more »
- Quebec town 'heartbroken' after killing of woman, sisters
- A small Quebec town is in mourning Sunday after a Quebec man was charged with killing his nieces and his mother, who were found dead in their family home. more »
- Houston autopsy results withheld by police
- Whitney Houston was found in a hotel bathtub but it'll take weeks to determine precisely how she died, a Los Angeles coroner's official says. more »
- Musicians who died before their time
- The growing list of musicians who have died young. more »
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- Ancient Antarctic lake may harbour microbial life
- If scientists find microbes in a frigid lake 3.2 kilometres beneath the thick ice of Antarctica, it will illustrate once again that somehow life finds a way to survive in the strangest and harshest places, and it will offer hope that life exists beyond Earth. more »
- B.C. killer whale habitat protection ruled a legal duty
- The federal minister of fisheries has no discretion when it comes to protecting the critical habitat of B.C.'s southern resident killer whales, the Federal Court of Appeal has ruled. more »
- Game developer seeks $400K, makes $1M in a day
- Videogame studio Double Fine went on the website Kickstarter to raise $400K US in a month to develop a new game. They reached that target in a matter of hours. more »
- McGill asbestos study review criticized
- A group of anti-asbestos activists and scientists are criticizing McGill University's plans for an internal review of a major asbestos research study that has been called into question. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Glacier Discovery Walk: Will the visitor centre enhance the view? Feb. 10, 2012 3:17 PM Environment minister Peter Kent has announced the construction of a new Glacier Discovery Walk and visitor centre on the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. It raises the issue of how to balance commercial development in our National Parks against the preservation of the last refuges of wilderness.
Quirks & Quarks
- February 11: Inside the Mind of a Neandertal Feb. 10, 2012 4:01 PM Can we get inside the mind of a species that's been dead for 30,000 years? A new book, How to Think Like a Neanderthal, suggests we can. The authors reconstruct a creature like us in many ways, but with important differences.
Latest Features
- Pop queen Whitney Houston dies at 48
- Houston autopsy results withheld by police
- Greece passes new austerity deal amid rioting
- Foo Fighters win 5 Grammys
- Carleton University confirms death of student
- Quebec town 'heartbroken' after killing of woman, sisters
- Ultimate Tazer Ball combines shock and soccer
- Manitoba man dies after falling off moving SUV
- Adults-only trade show cancelled in B.C. Bible belt
