This was much discussed on the Yahoo Parenting group for parents of kids with seizure disorders....sigh...
Epilepsy Site Posts Trigger Migraines AP
SAN FRANCISCO (May 7) - Computer attacks typically do not inflict physical pain
on their victims.
But in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than
money, hackers recently bombarded the Epilepsy Foundation's Web site with
hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images.
The breach triggered severe migraines and near-seizure reactions in some site
visitors who viewed the images. People with photosensitive epilepsy can get
seizures when they're exposed to flickering images, a response also caused by
some video games and cartoons.
The attack happened when hackers exploited a security hole in the foundation's
publishing software that allowed them to quickly make numerous posts and
overwhelm the site's support forums.
Within the hackers' posts were small flashing pictures and links - masquerading
as helpful - to pages that exploded with kaleidoscopic images pulsating with
different colors.
"They were out to create seizures," said Ken Lowenberg, senior director of Web
and print publishing for the foundation, which is based in Landover, Md.
He said legitimate users are no longer able to post animated images to the
support forum or create direct links to other sites, and it is now moderated
around the clock. He said the FBI is investigating the breach.
Security experts said the attack highlights the dangers of Web sites giving
visitors great freedom to post content to different parts of the site.
In another recent attack, hackers exploited a simple coding vulnerability in
Sen. Barack Obama's Web site to redirect users visiting the community blogs
section to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's official campaign site.
The hackers who infiltrated the Epilepsy Foundation's site did not appear to
care about profit. The harmful pages did not appear to try to push down code
that would allow the hacker to gain control of the victims' computers, for
instance.
"I count this in the same category of teenagers who think it's funny to put a
cat in a bag and throw it over a clothesline - they don't realize how cruel it
is," said Paul Ferguson, a security researcher at antivirus software maker Trend
Micro Inc. "It was an opportunity waiting to happen for some mean-spirited kid."
In a similar attack this year, a piece of malicious code was released that
disabled software that reads text aloud from a computer screen for blind and
visually impaired people. That attack appeared to have been designed to cripple
the computers of people using illegal copies of the software, researchers said.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active
hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2008-05-07 21:40:40
That is sick. Targeting
That is sick. Targeting people with disabling conditions like epilepsy and migraines is criminal, not just cruel. I look forward to the day when we have an Internet police force who can track down these criminals. This is not simple mischief.
Susan & Neil Hampton have three spectacular children, Alexander, Isabel and David, plus one amazing teenager, Eric. Susan does community outreach for arizonamoms.com.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” - Margaret Atwood
what the heck are people
what the heck are people thinking!
This is so sad. What kind
This is so sad. What kind of sad, sad human being would spend their time trying to hurt others.
Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.
This is horrible. What
This is horrible. What would possess someone to do something like this?
jesshod is an arizonamoms.com discussion leader living in Surprise.
that definitely meets the
that definitely meets the definition of Evil..........people like this will get what is coming to them, if it is not in this life then when they meet God they will learn there is no such thing as "anonymity"......