Sick joke adds flashing lights to site, which can provoke seizures

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

May 9, 2008

1 Min Read

It's a classic case of a hack that goes too far.

A Website set up by the Epilepsy Foundation has been hit by hackers, according to an Associated Press report.

An official with the foundation said computer hackers breached the foundation's site, bombarding it with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images.

The images can be harmful to people with photosensitive epilepsy, who sometimes suffer seizures when they're exposed to flickering images.

The foundation said the successful attack triggered severe migraines and near-seizure reactions in some site visitors who viewed the images.

The foundation said the FBI is investigating the breach.

— Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading

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Dark Reading Staff

Dark Reading

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