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Twitter Bug Lets Users Force Others To Follow Them

Posted by Soulskill on from the take-that-conan dept.

Several readers have sent word of a Twitter bug which has been allowing users to make any other user follow them by simply tweeting "accept [username]." People have been abusing it to make the accounts of various celebrities and publications follow them. Twitter acknowledged the bug and disabled the follow/unfollow system until they can get it fixed.

3 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. Bug fixed by PeekabooCaribou · · Score: 2, Informative

    Twitter says they have resolved this bug. http://status.twitter.com/post/587210796/follow-bug-discovered-remedied

    --
    "I'll say it again for the logic-impaired." -- Larry Wall.
  2. Re:Blue Box by hitmark · · Score: 3, Informative

    yep, telcos operated on the "security by obscurity" system. Only their own personnel should in theory know the unlisted numbers to the switches and so on. But thanks to anything from grabbing manuals from the back of repair trucks, to wardailing whole area codes, this didnt work in the long run.

    --
    comment first, facts later. http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScience/RelativityofWrong.htm
  3. this only worked in Twitter's Web interface.. by tirnacopu · · Score: 2, Informative

    ..not on third-party apps?
    Twitter, meet WWW::Mechanize.
    WWW::Mechanize, meet a twat.