Hackers target epileptics online
p2pnet news | Security:- “This was clearly an act of vandalism with the intent to harm people, and we shut the attack down immediately. We’ve established deterrents in the system to prevent similar incidences.”
The words are Eric R. Hargis’, and they refer to a hack attack, but one intended to cause actual harm rather than mere inconvenience.
Hargis is president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation and, “in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than money,” hackers recently bombarded the foundation site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images, says the Associated Press, going on:
“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 story refers to an incident which took place in March, according to the site which says the foundation’s “quick reaction” to a recent attack by hackers on one of its online forums, “raises awareness of the need for Web security for some health organizations”.
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On Easter weekend, the Epilepsy Foundation – and those who use its online forums for help, support, suggestions and camaraderie – came under attack by people who posted rapidly flashing images to cause serious injury and harm. The type of epilepsy that causes people to experience seizures upon seeing flashing or flickering images is photosensitive epilepsy.
Barrages of messages are oftentimes problematic for electronic venues, but nothing more than a nuisance, or a potential embarrassment if pornographic images are included in the attacks. But for people with epilepsy, rapidly flashing text or images can cause actual harm to the person viewing the material, because such flashing or flickering objects can bring on seizures, or seizure-like activity. In fact, many people who viewed the at-first harmless-looking messages recently posted on the Foundation`s forums involuntarily froze when they saw what was posted, even if they didn`t experience a full-on seizure.
More than 3 million Americans have epilepsy, while about 3% have photosensitive epilepsy, says the foundation, adding:
“Photosensitive epilepsy has been in the news increasingly over the last few years because it has triggered seizures in people in newsworthy ways, including recently when a logo animation for the 2012 Olympics in Britain caused thousands of people to experience seizures and, previously, when a few years ago an episode of an animated TV series caused thousands of children to experience seizures in Japan.”
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Epilepsy Foundation – Epilepsy Foundation Takes Action Against Hackers, March 31, 2008
Associated Press – Hackers’ posts on epilepsy forum cause migraines, seizures, May 7, 2008
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