Network Analysis of Recurring YouTube Spam Campaigns

Authors

  • Derek O'Callaghan University College Dublin
  • Martin Harrigan University College Dublin
  • Joe Carthy University College Dublin
  • Pádraig Cunningham University College Dublin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1609/icwsm.v6i1.14288

Keywords:

Spam, YouTube, network motif analysis, social network analysis

Abstract

As the popularity of content sharing websites has increased, they have become targets for spam, phishing and the distribution of malware. On YouTube, the facility for users to post comments can be used by spam campaigns to direct unsuspecting users to malicious third-party websites. In this paper, we demonstrate how such campaigns can be tracked over time using network motif profiling, i.e. by tracking counts of indicative network motifs. By considering all motifs of up to five nodes, we identify discriminating motifs that reveal two distinctly different spam campaign strategies, and present an evaluation that tracks two corresponding active campaigns.

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Published

2021-08-03

How to Cite

O’Callaghan, D., Harrigan, M., Carthy, J., & Cunningham, P. (2021). Network Analysis of Recurring YouTube Spam Campaigns. Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media, 6(1), 531-534. https://doi.org/10.1609/icwsm.v6i1.14288