Schadenfreude goes to whole new levels
I know that many people have done many bad things on the internet, just as many people have done many bad things off of the internet, but this still surprises me.
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 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.
Although I had never heard of a Griefer before, I find this activity remarkable in it’s crude indifference to other human beings. Even stealing money from people’s bank accounts makes more sense – at least there human greed can be used as a motive. In this instance, there is no possible benefit to the attacker from causing physical harm to anonymous epilepsy sufferers, and there can be no motive other than the most malicious and reprehensible form of Schadenfreude.
Tags: epilepsy, news, Schadenfreude