Hacker's Target Handicapped
Wednesday May 7, 2008
Most malware and computer security attacks these days are motivated by money. The majority of botnets and phishing scams are designed to separate users from their cash in some way shape or form. Compared with some recent attacks, stealing money is almost 'noble'. A few months back, around Christmas of 2007, malware was circulating in the wild which specifically targeted software used by those with impaired sight that would read the text aloud so they could interact with their PC's. According to researchers at Sophos, it appeared that the motivation behind this malware was to disable illegal copies of the software and not intended specifically to torment blind people. This week however, attackers exploited vulnerabilities on the web site of the Epilepsy Foundation to redirect users to sites with rapidly moving images and quickly shifting kaleidoscopes of colors- sites that can induce severe migraines and epileptic seizures in those afflicted with epilepsy. Taking someone's money seems like a noble and rational, albeit immoral and unethical, pursuit by comparison.
Comments
This is very serious stuff… My closest friend is the survivor of a rare form of pediatric, brainstem cancer. As the result of removing 50% of her tumor, she suffers from epilepsy.
My question to those of you who are more technically inclined, is it possible to develop a client-side defense, to this type of attack? I understand that the Epilepsy Foundation has protected their servers, but what if this malicious code proliferates? My guess is that protecting a patient’s computer would also disable other forms of benign animations. I don’t want to rob her of the ability to watch safe animations, but sure there is a way to screen out this type of code, selectively. There are many, many people who suffer from seizure-related disorders and it would be a great thing, if they could all have a protective shield. Perhaps, McAfee could incorporate a feature in their programs, which could be switched on for people who know that they suffer from epilepsy.
Any ideas?
this sucks….