Daily News Brief: Hackers Prey on Epilepsy Patients

Note: It's that time of year again (April Fool's Day) when readers are well advised to digest news stories with a grain of salt. Today's Daily News Brief entries contain no known spoofs, and as always, are believed to be valid at the time of posting.

Hackers Target Epilepsy Patients

Forgot about malware, viruses, stolen passwords, and other suddenly traditional forms of attack. Hackers' latest attempt at mischief sought to cause physical harm to epilepsy patients on an epilepsy support message board. The attack used JavaScript code and flashing computer animations in forum posts, resulting in a handful of members reporting migraines and, in some, seizures. After the initial wave of malicious posts, the culprits then began redirecting members to a webpage filled with images harmful to epileptics. Read more here.

Creative Modder Speaks Out

Daniel Kawakami (Daniel_K), the Brazilian modder whose modified soundcard drivers ultimately stirred up an online ruckus when Creative accused him of "stealing [their] goods," spoke to Wired via email looking to set the record straight. In it, Daniel writes "I'm NOT a cracker, a hacker, just an enthusiast modder with basic assembly knowledge and very persistent." Sir K, who's quickly emerging as a hero amid consumer backlash, goes on to explain what he did to the drivers, and what mistakes he made along the way, including asking for donations. Give it a glance here.

Dell Saves Big Bucks

By cutting costs and laying off workers, Dells says it will save up to $3 billion over the next three years. Part of that plan includes shutting down its desktop manufacturing facility located in Austin, Texas. The job cuts are expected to reach at least 8,800 jobs, or about 10 percent of its workforce. News of the $3 billion savings sent Dell shares up 31 cents on the day, and another 28 cents in aftermarket trading.

GeForce 9900GTX and 9900GX2

Citing un-named sources, Expreview claims videocards based on NVIDIA's upcoming GT200 core will launch in July. Initial offerings will include the dual-GPU 9900GX2, and the single -GPU 9900GTX. Other details about the upcoming core and cards still remain unknown.

T-Mobile to Engadget: Stop Using Magenta

Like every April Fool's Day, the internet will find itself littered with false news stories, ranging from the believable to outlandish. But that's not the case when Engadget received a color change request. Deutsche Telekom, owners of T-Mobile, hand delivered a letter from their German legal department asking Engadget to stop using the color magenta on the Engadget Mobile blog, claiming "the color is plainly used in a trademark-related way on this website." Get the full scoop here, including scans of the original letter.

Google Searches at Risk

According to WhiteHat Security, seven out of 10 websites indexed by Google could be a potential target for hackers. The latest scheme occurs when surfers perform a search and then click on a link secretly tainted with dirty code. Clicking the link brings up the expected webpage, while simultaneously redirecting to a server that installs a hidden program capable of embedding a keylogger. The vulnerability relies on indexed pages that fail to properly handle JavaScript, opening the door to malicious code. Read more here, including a partial list of high profile sites recently affected.

HD Looks Blurry for Comcast

Seems that Comcast can't catch a break, perhaps having only themselves largely to blame. Having already been caught filtering internet traffic, the ISP/cable provider has also been reducing the quality of some high definition programming. Ken Fowler, a Comcast customer and Verizon FIOS video subscriber, compared screenshots between the two and posted them on AV Science Forum. The shots he posted showed a noticeable degradation in quality in the Comcast shots. Jenni Moyer, a Comcast spokeswoman, explained "Compression is a reality: We use it and other providers use it." Read more here