Hackers attack Epilepsy support forum
A cruel and heartless prank to an Epilepsy support forum pulled by hackers has been posted by Wired.com. The hackers apparently used a script to post hundreds of messages onto the forum containing flashing gifs although they didn’t stop there. They also managed to inject JavaScript into a handful of posts to redirect the readers of the forum to more complex images.
I know and have known quite a few people with Epilepsy, my Dad was one of them, it’s never nice witnessing a seizure and I can only imagine what it must be like experiencing a seizure. Engadget, the large gadget blog also reported this tale, I was shocked to see the amount of users on Engadget that seemed to find humor in the story. Here are just three of the many comments posted:
By Bizzy: “I found humor in this prank”
By James: “Rofl rofl rofl, Nice.
They’re an hero’s!”
By Tim: “Funny stuff.”
It took 12 hours after the attack took place for it to be resolved. Many members of the forum experienced effects of Epilepsy such as seizures and headaches, you can read the transcripts from RyAnne Fultz statement as to what she experienced, on Wired.
A few people have asked if this could be seen as assault or even, attempted murder, I’m not sure about attempted murder however I can certainly see this being accounted as assult. I hope that the extremely disturbed hackers are caught and punished fairly soon. At the least, I would restricted from internet access, permanently.
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May 23rd, 2008 at 4:39 pm
That is shocking that people would do such a thing.
I find humour in the fact that there are people retarded enough to find this sort of thing funny. Nothing that hurts another human being is funny and anyone who thinks otherwise has serious problems.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I thought it was funny
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
ebaums did it!
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Thats not even funny, infact, not even close to funny.
May 26th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I think its funny. What good does an epilepsy support forum do anyways? There is nothing to be learned there that cannot be learned from a doctor or a medical site.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:12 am
That’s not funny. As an epileptic, I think it’s just wrong to do that. Say whatever you will about us, I’ve heard enough comments about how people think we apparently look funny while seizing that I’ve come to ignore those people. Causing actual harm to them is just stupid. I doubt we could trace it back to anyone, but here’s to hoping we can.
May 30th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
to “Funny shit” guy, you’re an ignorant idiot who apparently didn’t even stop to consider what it actually might be like to have epilepsy. Not everyone has access to a specialist or someone who knows about epilepsy, the condition itself is extremely complex and has many variations, and the trauma and emotional harm these people suffer is more than likely what gets addressed in the forums. Things doctors wont tell you will also be discussed there.
What does it matter to you if it doesn’t do any good anyway? Since when was that a requisite of being on the internet?
The fact is they do help people who suffer from the disorder, and just like any subject of conversation it’s good to have a place where there are people who understand whats going on and can relate. I can’t imagine the number of usesless forums out there, and then all the deprived ones that deserve hacking. Then ignorant people like yourself decide “Well this will be funny” and do something stupid like this to a bunch of people who are genuinly afflicted by something that affects them every day in a negative way and then think it’s funny that you managed to exploit that. Well done mate.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
The IDEA of it is funny. However, doing it is pretty wrong.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
now we know that there are people right here on this page that are very capable of being “funny” I hope you rot in Hell
May 30th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
“Rofl rofl rofl, Nice.
They’re an hero’s!”
Oh, god. Another amature anon.
To all the “*funny” people:
Pro tip: Shut the hell up, and GTFO to /b/.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Hell doesn’t exist.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
to Funny Shit - it doesn’t matter at all whether or not the forum is helpful to them.. its just the fact that its a place where epileptics go and someone would do something to intentionally harm them. Its not funny.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:32 am
All flashing gifs and ads should be banned because they’re annoying - even to those of us who aren’t epileptic.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:41 am
I luled
June 1st, 2008 at 1:34 pm
That’s just sick. I’m an epileptic and have had three seizures and I’m only sixteen. People like that should be prisoned. They have no idea how dangerous a seizure really is.