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Griefers Assault Epileptics Via Message Board
An anonymous reader tips us to a story up at Wired reporting on what may be the first computer attack to inflict physical harm on victims. Last Saturday, griefers posted hundreds of bogus messages on the support forums of the nonprofit Epilepsy Foundation that used JavaScript and strobing GIFs to trigger migraines and seizures in users. For about 3% of the 50 million epileptics worldwide, flashing lights and colors can trigger seizures. "'I don't fall over and convulse, but it hurts,' says [an IT worker in Ohio]. 'I was on the phone when it happened, and I couldn't move and couldn't speak.' ... 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."
Why did they go through all that trouble? They could have simply redirected 'em to Myspace.
Newbie griefers pretending to by Anonymous are caught posting from IP addresses associated with Scientology.
Is that true?
Obviously you were just in the wrong newsgroups.
Next thing you know, someone claiming to be part of Anonymous will be posting pictures of pizza on weightwatchers forums, and pictures of beer on the AA forums.
Man, I thought I was 1337, but it seems those days are gone. Great, now what am I going to do when my dad finds out I don't understand the internet anymore?
Given how trivial it was to conduct this attack,
Did someone forget to disable the [img][/img] tags on their PHPBB forum?
To be fair, imagine what Slashdot would look like if you could post images.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
You can't take the sky from me...
These aren't the real Anons. And no true Scotsman wears underwear beneath his kilt.
Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
Normally, I would say that's an interesting theory, but come on. Anonymous doesn't need any help in that department.
I don't feel guilt. I understand why I should, but...
Don't fret about it. Guilt is no more than a built-in pro-active self-preservation thing. It's an internal warning bell that lets you know that when your civilized neighbors catch up with you, they're going to beat the shit out of you, or maybe even kill you. Don't worry about ignoring it, it's not there for anyone else's benefit.
It is scary, real, and a major force on the rise.
The proper way to say this is:
"They LAUGHED at me when I was [born deformed/dismissed from my university post/lost the vote 434,555 to 1], but soon, when my [super Internet weapon/fiendish subversive plot/giant mutated killer penis clone] is finished, THEY'LL BE SORRY!!"
Are you effing kidding me? Discredit Anonymous?
Have you ever BEEN to 4chan or 7chan?
To disable animation in lynx you go to ... uh... carry on.
How many Scientologists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
If the lightbulb spends enough money, it will eventually be told that it is already screwed in, everyone else is just too blind to see it.
Operator, give me the number for 911!