Spammy app detection systems and methods

1. A method for investigating social media applications, comprising:

searching a database for a social media application discovered by a spammy app detection system during a past time period, the searching performed by the spammy app detection system on a server computer;

executing a spammy app detection algorithm on the server computer, the spammy app detection algorithm comprising a plurality of stages, including:

determining whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is a known fraudulent application;

determining whether a poster of the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is a known spammy user;

determining, by comparison, whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is similar to a known fraudulent application; and

determining whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is posting to a social media page through user accounts anomalously;

identifying the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period as a benign application in response to the social media application passing the plurality of stages, or as a spammy app in response to the social media application failing any of the plurality of stages, the identifying performed by the spammy app detection system; and

updating the database to include a result from the identifying.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a day in a past month where the social media application posts more than N times;

responsive to the social media application posting more than N times in the day, determining an author posting more than M times in the day;

determining a window of time in the day having highest number of posts by the author;

determining whether the author posted more than X times in a time period within the window of time in the day;

determining what application the author used to post more than X times in the time period within the window of time in the day; and

marking the application the author used to post more than X times in the time period within the window of time in the day as a spammy application.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

examining historical social media data, the historical social media data including a monthly total of posts;

identifying a month having at least a number of posts;

determining whether the monthly total of posts has doubled in next month;

determining whether posts have increased by at least ten times from one day to next day in the next month;

determining whether an author has posted more than seven times in the next day;

within the next day, determining an hour during which the author has highest number of posts; and

identifying an application as a spammy application, the application used by the author to post more than six times in one minute in the hour.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

sending a request to a social media network server for updates on a social media page hosted by the social media network server;

receiving a response from the social media network server;

analyzing the response from the social media network server;

determining whether a new application is posting to the social media page, the determining including comparing an application name extracted from the response from the social media network server with application names stored in the database;

responsive to a new application posting to the social media page, updating the database to include details about the new application, the details extracted from the response from the social media network server and including the application name.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the details comprise at least one of a property indicating a social media platform, a unique identifier given by the social media platform to the application, an application display name, a creation date indicating a date when an entry is created in the database for the new application, or an update date indicating a last time when the entry is updated.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether the social media application is similar to a known fraudulent application comprises:

determining whether a name of the social media application is a variation of a known fraudulent application name.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining whether the social media application is similar to a known fraudulent application comprises:

determining whether a name of the poster of the social media application is a variation of a known spammy user.

8. A spammy app detection system, comprising:

a processor;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and

stored instructions translatable by the processor to perform:

searching a database for a social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during a past time period;

executing a spammy app detection algorithm on the processor, the spammy app detection algorithm comprising a plurality of stages, including:

determining whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is a known fraudulent application;

determining whether a poster of the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is a known spammy user;

determining, by comparison, whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is similar to a known fraudulent application; and

determining whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is posting to a social media page through user accounts anomalously;

identifying the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period as a benign application in response to the social media application passing the plurality of stages, or as a spammy app in response to the social media application failing any of the plurality of stages; and

updating the database to include a result from the identifying.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the processor to perform:

determining a day in a past month where the social media application posts more than N times;

responsive to the social media application posting more than N times in the day, determining an author posting more than M times in the day;

determining a window of time in the day having highest number of posts by the author;

determining whether the author posted more than X times in a time period within the window of time in the day;

determining what application the author used to post more than X times in the time period within the window of time in the day; and

marking the application the author used to post more than X times in the time period within the window of time in the day as a spammy application.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the processor to perform:

examining historical social media data, the historical social media data including a monthly total of posts;

identifying a month having at least a number of posts;

determining whether the monthly total of posts has doubled in next month;

determining whether posts have increased by at least ten times from one day to next day in the next month;

determining whether an author has posted more than seven times in the next day;

within the next day, determining an hour during which the author has highest number of posts; and

identifying an application as a spammy application, the application used by the author to post more than six times in one minute in the hour.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by the processor to perform:

sending a request to a social media network server for updates on a social media page hosted by the social media network server;

receiving a response from the social media network server;

analyzing the response from the social media network server;

determining whether a new application is posting to the social media page, the determining including comparing an application name extracted from the response from the social media network server with application names stored in the database;

responsive to a new application posting to the social media page, updating the database to include details about the new application, the details extracted from the response from the social media network server and including the application name.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the details comprise at least one of a property indicating a social media platform, a unique identifier given by the social media platform to the application, an application display name, a creation date indicating a date when an entry is created in the database for the new application, or an update date indicating a last time when the entry is updated.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein determining whether the social media application is similar to a known fraudulent application comprises:

determining whether a name of the social media application is a variation of a known fraudulent application name.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein determining whether the social media application is similar to a known fraudulent application comprises:

determining whether a name of the poster of the social media application is a variation of a known spammy user.

15. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions translatable by a server computer to perform:

searching a database for a social media application discovered by a spammy app detection system during a past time period;

executing a spammy app detection algorithm on the server computer, the spammy app detection algorithm comprising a plurality of stages, including:

determining whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is a known fraudulent application;

determining whether a poster of the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is a known spammy user;

determining, by comparison, whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is similar to a known fraudulent application; and

determining whether the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period is posting to a social media page through user accounts anomalously;

identifying the social media application discovered by the spammy app detection system during the past time period as a benign application in response to the social media application passing the plurality of stages, or as a spammy app in response to the social media application failing any of the plurality of stages; and

updating the database to include a result from the identifying.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the server computer to perform:

determining a day in a past month where the social media application posts more than N times;

responsive to the social media application posting more than N times in the day, determining an author posting more than M times in the day;

determining a window of time in the day having highest number of posts by the author;

determining whether the author posted more than X times in a time period within the window of time in the day;

determining what application the author used to post more than X times in the time period within the window of time in the day; and

marking the application the author used to post more than X times in the time period within the window of time in the day as a spammy application.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the server computer to perform:

examining historical social media data, the historical social media data including a monthly total of posts;

identifying a month having at least a number of posts;

determining whether the monthly total of posts has doubled in next month;

determining whether posts have increased by at least ten times from one day to next day in the next month;

determining whether an author has posted more than seven times in the next day;

within the next day, determining an hour during which the author has highest number of posts; and

identifying an application as a spammy application, the application used by the author to post more than six times in one minute in the hour.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the instructions are further translatable by the server computer to perform:

sending a request to a social media network server for updates on a social media page hosted by the social media network server;

receiving a response from the social media network server;

analyzing the response from the social media network server;

determining whether a new application is posting to the social media page, the determining including comparing an application name extracted from the response from the social media network server with application names stored in the database;

responsive to a new application posting to the social media page, updating the database to include details about the new application, the details extracted from the response from the social media network server and including the application name.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein determining whether the social media application is similar to a known fraudulent application comprises:

determining whether a name of the social media application is a variation of a known fraudulent application name.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein determining whether the social media application is similar to a known fraudulent application comprises:

determining whether a name of the poster of the social media application is a variation of a known spammy user.