Government Technology

Using the Internet to Physically Harm


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April 16, 2008 By

Near the end of March an historic first took place: people were deliberately physically harmed through the Internet. In what sounds like an episode of the Outer Limits, unknown people maliciously posted JavaScript images and animations designed to trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy to the message boards of the Epilepsy Foundation's Web site.

This is not a first to be proud of.

This was not your typical Web site hack. People were the target, not the information contained on the site. The bright colored, flashing animations caused people to freeze, get migraines or have full-on seizures. But hack is a misnomer. The people who carried out this attack can not be called hackers because there was little if any computer skill involved. Practically anyone can go to a message board and upload an image. Coordination, perhaps. Skill, not really.

For the most part people condemned the act as heinous -- nothing more than a cheap shot. Yet some people found it funny. Many people left the comment LULZ -- a slang term meaning "laugher at another's expense," or "just for the hell of it." Those who find humor in cruelty would probably go around tripping elderly people for a laugh -- but what if it was their grandmother?

One person suggested that people with epilepsy should just not use computers. What a great idea. Perhaps they could go back to strictly snail mail and phones. They don't need jobs --who uses computers at work? Shutting people away from society is not an option.


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