Time’s ‘100 Most Influential’ Hacked

Millions of bogus votes compromise magazine’s annual online poll.

By Jason Fell
04/22/2009

Even Time.com isn’t immune to hackers. The magazine’s annual online poll of the top 100 most influential people in government, science, technology and the arts has been flooded with fake votes by followers of 4chan, an online message board.

Taking advantage of an apparent lack of authentication or validation of the online process, hackers used “autovoters” to inundate the Time poll with millions of votes for “moot,” a pseudonym of Christopher Poole, operator of 4chan. Voting went live March 19.

“We took many preventative measures to maintain the integrity of the Time 100 poll on Time.com, and moot has a passionate community of users who worked to influence the poll,” a Time spokesperson wrote in an e-mail to FOLIO:.

Time editors traditionally include the person with the most votes online in the magazine’s official list, which is to appear in the May 1 issue.

In addition to voting moot to the top of the list, the hackers apparently rearranged the top 21 names so that the first letter of their names—looking down the list—spelled out the phrase “Marblecake Also the Game.”

The online poll closes April 28, the spokesperson said.

RELATED LINKS

Inside the Time 100 Party [2008]

Post Comment / Discuss This Story - Info/Rules

Not really hacked

Submitted by Eric Shanfelt on Thu, 04/23/2009 - 16:54.

Be cautious about using such an inflamatory term as "hacked." Time's site wasn't hacked ... no one broke into their network or web site. All they did was flood the voting ... not really much different from what Steven Colbert did when he got all of his viewers to vote for Nasa's Node 3 module to be named after him.

Why would you use the term hacked

Submitted by Andrew Scherer on Fri, 04/24/2009 - 14:27.

It's called spamming you computer illerates

Agreed with not really hacked

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 14:42.

Yes, technically, it's not hacking. It's just that Time allowed more than one vote from the same source. It's the same thing if several people sat at their computers all day and just continually voted.

computer illiterates

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/27/2009 - 15:39.

looks like PC magazine called it a hack job, too: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2345987,00.asp

Not Hacked

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 04/29/2009 - 00:28.

"Hacking" is not synonymous with "taking advantage of..." the people who pulled the joke simply noticed the poor system used and voted moot up as they pleased. I also disagree with using the term "rearranged" the writer makes it seem like the jokers did it in a devious manner when really they just voted certain people up and down accordingly to create a phrase.

↑ Nerds ↑

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 04/30/2009 - 04:16.

(see subject line)

↑ Nerd Groupie ↑

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 12:21.

(see subject line)