Conspiracy Alert Plugin

This repository provides the conspiracy alert plugin cited in the USENIX Security 2025 paper:

The Conspiracy Money Machine: Uncovering Telegram's Conspiracy Channels and their Profit Model

If you use this plugin, or the findings from the paper, please cite:

@inproceedings{imperati2025conspiracy,
  title={The Conspiracy Money Machine: Uncovering Telegram's Conspiracy Channels and their Profit Model},
  author={Imperati, Vincenzo and La Morgia, Massimo and Mei, Alessandro and Mongardini, Alberto Maria and Sassi, Francesco},
  booktitle={34th USENIX Security Symposium (USENIX Security 25)},
  year={2025}
}

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• Installation
  • Server Setup
  • Client Setup
• Building the Client
• Installing the Browser Plugin
• Usage

Overview

This repository contains the code for both the server and client sides of conspiracy alert plugin. The server handles backend operations, while the client is responsible for the frontend interface that users interact with in their browsers.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Python 3.x
• Node.js and npm
• Git

Installation

Server Setup

1. Clone the repository:

     git clone https://github.com/SystemsLab-Sapienza/conspiracy-alert-plugin.git
     cd conspiracy-alert-plugin/server

2. Create a virtual environment:

     python3 -m venv venv

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   • On macOS/Linux:

       source venv/bin/activate

   • On Windows:

       venv\Scripts\activate

4. Install the required Python packages:

     pip3 install -r requirements.txt

5. Start the server:

     python3 server.py

Client Setup

1. Navigate to the client directory:

     cd ../client

2. Install the required Node.js packages:

     npm install

Building the Client

To build the client for production, run the following command in the client directory:

  npm run build

This will create a production-ready build of the client in the dist folder.

Installing the Browser Plugin

To install the custom browser plugin, follow these steps:

1. Open Chrome and go to chrome://extensions/.
2. Enable "Developer mode" by toggling the switch in the top right corner.
3. Click on "Load unpacked".
4. Select the dist folder from the client directory where the build was created.
5. The plugin should now be installed and visible in your extensions.

Usage

Once the plugin is installed, you can access its features directly from your browser's toolbar.