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Anonymous Pranksters! - Politics, Business, Civil, History - Posted: 11th Oct, 2013 - 10:25am
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Anonymous: Those Pranksters!
Apparently, those fun guys from Anonymous don't like you if you are epileptic:
QUOTE Internet griefers descended on an epilepsy support message board last weekend and used JavaScript code and flashing computer animation to trigger migraine headaches and seizures in some users.
The nonprofit Epilepsy Foundation, which runs the forum, briefly closed the site Sunday to purge the offending messages and to boost security.
"We are seeing people affected," Says Ken Lowenberg, senior director of web and print publishing at the Epilepsy Foundation. "It's fortunately only a handful. It's possible that people are just not reporting yet -- people affected by it may not be coming back to the forum so fast."
The incident, possibly the first computer attack to inflict physical harm on the victims, began Saturday, March 22, when attackers used a script to post hundreds of messages embedded with flashing animated gifs.
The attackers turned to a more effective tactic on Sunday, injecting JavaScript into some posts that redirected users' browsers to a page with a more complex image designed to trigger seizures in both photosensitive and pattern-sensitive epileptics.
RyAnne Fultz, a 33-year-old woman who suffers from pattern-sensitive epilepsy, says she clicked on a forum post with a legitimate-sounding title on Sunday. Her browser window resized to fill her screen, which was then taken over by a pattern of squares rapidly flashing in different colors.
Fultz says she "Locked up."
"I don't fall over and convulse, but it hurts," Says Fultz, an IT worker in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. "I was on the phone when it happened, and I couldn't move and couldn't speak."
After about 10 seconds, Fultz's 11-year-old son came over and drew her gaze away from the computer, then killed the browser process, she says.
"Everyone who logged on, it affected to some extent, whether by causing headaches or seizures," Says Browen Mead, a 24-year-old epilepsy patient in Maine who says she suffered a daylong migraine after examining several of the offending posts. She'd lingered too long on the pages trying to determine who was responsible.
Circumstantial evidence suggests the attack was the work of members of Anonymous, an informal collective of griefers best known for their recent war on the Church of Scientology. The first flurry of posts on the epilepsy forum referenced the site EBaumsWorld, which is much hated by Anonymous. And forum members claim they found a message board thread -- since deleted -- planning the attack at 7chan.org, a group stronghold.
Fultz says the attack spawned an uncommonly bad seizure. "It was a spike of pain in my head," She says. "And the lockup, that only happens with really bad ones. I don't think I've had a seizure like that in about a year."
But she's satisfied with the Epilepsy Foundation's relatively fast response to the attack, about 12 hours after it began on Easter weekend. "We all really appreciate them for giving us this forum and giving us this place to find each other," She says.
Epilepsy affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide, about 3 percent of whom are photosensitive, meaning flashing lights and colors can trigger seizures.
The nonprofit Epilepsy Foundation, which runs the forum, briefly closed the site Sunday to purge the offending messages and to boost security.
"We are seeing people affected," Says Ken Lowenberg, senior director of web and print publishing at the Epilepsy Foundation. "It's fortunately only a handful. It's possible that people are just not reporting yet -- people affected by it may not be coming back to the forum so fast."
The incident, possibly the first computer attack to inflict physical harm on the victims, began Saturday, March 22, when attackers used a script to post hundreds of messages embedded with flashing animated gifs.
The attackers turned to a more effective tactic on Sunday, injecting JavaScript into some posts that redirected users' browsers to a page with a more complex image designed to trigger seizures in both photosensitive and pattern-sensitive epileptics.
RyAnne Fultz, a 33-year-old woman who suffers from pattern-sensitive epilepsy, says she clicked on a forum post with a legitimate-sounding title on Sunday. Her browser window resized to fill her screen, which was then taken over by a pattern of squares rapidly flashing in different colors.
Fultz says she "Locked up."
"I don't fall over and convulse, but it hurts," Says Fultz, an IT worker in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. "I was on the phone when it happened, and I couldn't move and couldn't speak."
After about 10 seconds, Fultz's 11-year-old son came over and drew her gaze away from the computer, then killed the browser process, she says.
"Everyone who logged on, it affected to some extent, whether by causing headaches or seizures," Says Browen Mead, a 24-year-old epilepsy patient in Maine who says she suffered a daylong migraine after examining several of the offending posts. She'd lingered too long on the pages trying to determine who was responsible.
Circumstantial evidence suggests the attack was the work of members of Anonymous, an informal collective of griefers best known for their recent war on the Church of Scientology. The first flurry of posts on the epilepsy forum referenced the site EBaumsWorld, which is much hated by Anonymous. And forum members claim they found a message board thread -- since deleted -- planning the attack at 7chan.org, a group stronghold.
Fultz says the attack spawned an uncommonly bad seizure. "It was a spike of pain in my head," She says. "And the lockup, that only happens with really bad ones. I don't think I've had a seizure like that in about a year."
But she's satisfied with the Epilepsy Foundation's relatively fast response to the attack, about 12 hours after it began on Easter weekend. "We all really appreciate them for giving us this forum and giving us this place to find each other," She says.
Epilepsy affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide, about 3 percent of whom are photosensitive, meaning flashing lights and colors can trigger seizures.
Definition for griefers... Source 3
That is so nice. Bored and have nothing better to do, so you infect a website that epileptics go to for support and information with images that may induce a variety of symptoms (Worst of which would be a grand mal siezure). Trust me these are no joy to go through...
Source 7
I so hope they find these idiots and give them a timeout in a local penal facility! Hacking in general has no victims that are truly physically hurt, but this is a all time new low as best I can tell.
Edited: JB on 11th Oct, 2013 - 10:36am
Anonymous: Those Pranksters! (Hover)
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Pranksters Anonymous
What a horrible thing to do! The electronic version of Terrorists. And they're just a bunch of bored punks. I'm with you, Vincenzo: I hope they track them down and punish them. Let's see how bored they get in prison.
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Post Date: 1st Apr, 2008 - 2:13pm / Post ID: #
Anonymous: Those Pranksters! History & Civil Business Politics
I hope they are tracked down too. TO try and cause physical harm to another is not good. I wonder what they would think if they caused a persons death. I think a few years in prison without internet access will give them some time to think about what they have done.
Post Date: 6th Feb, 2012 - 11:44pm / Post ID: #
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Pranksters Anonymous
Anonymous publishes FBI call on hacking
Internet activist group Anonymous published a recording on Friday of a confidential call between FBI agents and London detectives in which the law-enforcement agents discuss action they are taking against hacking. Ref. Source 7
Post Date: 28th Feb, 2012 - 10:22pm / Post ID: #
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Anonymous: Those Pranksters!
Anonymous declares war on the United States
The media and the government love to scrutinize every 9/12 Project and Tea Party group across the country. They've been accused of racism, violence, and even labeled them 'terrorists." Both the media and the government have spent time, energy and resources going after prominent conservatives, such as Glenn - meanwhile they flat out ignore real threats to America, like the hacker group Anonymous, who publically declared war on The United States of America. Ref. Source 6
Anonymous Pranksters!
Anonymous is more than pranksters... Their criminals. The FBI got one of their team members and had him work for them for months that led to the arrest of other team members... At least that is what the USAToday story said.
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Post Date: 11th Oct, 2013 - 10:25am / Post ID: #
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Anonymous Pranksters! Politics Business Civil & History
US charges 13 Anonymous members for DDoS attacks
The U.S. Has brought criminal charges against 13 persons, said to be members of the hacker group Anonymous, for their alleged participation in cyberattacks as part of a campaign called Operation Payback. Ref. Source 7
TOPIC: Anonymous: Those Pranksters!