Tag Archive for: movies

10 Classic And Absurd Examples Of Computer Hacking In Movies

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As long as you can leave the realm of reality firmly behind you, “Swordfish” is both wildly entertaining and utterly absurd. With such Hollywood glitz in the form of John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Don Cheadle, and the captivating presence that is Halle Berry, you wouldn’t think twice about tuning in if you found it when browsing through Netflix. That is, of course, unless you have already endured even five minutes of it. 

As a hacking movie, “Swordfish” gets almost everything wrong. It’s riddled with the amateur errors we now expect in Hollywood blockbusters, from misspelled technical terms (algorythm!) to code lines obviously repeating over and over during hacking scenes that the audience is supposed to be taking seriously. 

The absurdity peaks when Jackman’s character effortlessly deciphers unbreakable 512-bit encryption keys in a snap, an impossible feat in reality. Scriptwriting intelligence doesn’t end there, either. At one point, Travolta’s government operative character forces Jackman into hacking the Pentagon while receiving the unwanted attention of a female and a gun pointed at his head, which he does, of course, just in the nick of time.

John Travolta received a Razzie Award nomination for his eccentric performance. In fact, he managed to get himself nominated for two separate movies that year. However, if you’re one for over-the-top acting and action sequences, you may well enjoy this ridiculous movie. That is provided you can put aside its disregard for complex hacking techniques.

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Top 10 Hacking Failures In Movies

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It had been requested that we make a short video covering the top worst hacks in movies. Being the community that we are, it seemed like an interesting request. We asked for your input, and you were happy to deliver! However, the proposition of creating a “top 10” list turned out to be quite difficult. There were just SO MANY horrible scenes that I started thinking about how to even categorize them. We could probably to a “top 10” in any of the following categories without even having to dig too deeply:

  • hacker lingo
  • mocked up interfaces
  • fake input devices
  • virus screen-takeover moments
  • access denied messages
  • hardware taped together

Honestly, after breaking it down in such a manner, making the top 10 movie hacking failures, felt painfully general. It is like making a list of “top 10 animals that ever existed”. The state of technology portrayal in movies is frankly abysmal. It is obvious that the only people who know less about tech than “hollywood” are the people making laws about it.

So, lets take a look at this list and see what we ended up with.

10.  The Core

There’s a scene where they have to get through a door and it won’t budge. To open it, they’re going to have to crack into the control panel and hotwire the the thing. What do they find inside? A breadboard.  Ok, well, we all know that in that environment, you wouldn’t be finding any breadboards. Then again, I’ve seen some duct taped together networks in large corporations that might convince me that this one isn’t a failure at all.

9. Jurassic Park

I’ve heard so many people point out this scene as a failure, and it is usually for the wrong reason all together. The young woman sits down at a computer and announces to everyone “hey, I know this, it is unix!”, while the camera switches to a 3d rendering that looks like a physical layout of a neighborhood.

“aha! that’s not a real interface!” is usually what I hear from people, but they’re wrong. It was called FSN and did actually exist. No one really used it though because, while neat, it wasn’t a great way to actually work.  Tons of people loaded it up and…

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Top 9 hacker and cybersecurity movies and TV shows

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Watching hacker and cybersecurity movies and TV shows can be both entertaining and informative. These pieces of media can provide a glimpse into the world of cybersecurity, hacking and cybercrime, which can be fascinating and thought-provoking.

Also, these films and shows frequently emphasize the value of cybersecurity and the possible repercussions of a security breach. Insights into the strategies and methods employed by hackers and cybersecurity experts may also be gained from them.

One can learn more about the present state of cybersecurity and the difficulties that people and companies encounter when attempting to safeguard their data and systems by watching these films and shows. Also, viewers can learn more about the possible risks of technology use and the significance of taking precautions to safeguard their online identity.

Here are the top nine hacker and cybersecurity movies and TV shows to watch and learn about the consequences of technology.

Related: How to mitigate the security risks associated with crypto payments

WarGames (1983)

A young hacker inadvertently accesses a military computer system and almost triggers a nuclear war, leading to a thrilling race against time to stop the impending disaster. This movie helped shape public perception of the dangers of computer networks and the need for better cybersecurity measures to protect against potential threats.

Sneakers (1992)

A group of former hackers is hired to steal a powerful encryption device, but they soon discover that they’re being manipulated by a mysterious organization with ulterior motives. It also highlighted the potential consequences of data breaches and the need for ethical hacking and cybersecurity expertise to prevent such incidents.

Hackers (1995)

This cult classic follows a group of teenage hackers who get caught up in a high-stakes corporate espionage plot after they hack into a major corporation’s computer system. It increased public awareness of computer networks’ vulnerabilities and the need for greater cybersecurity measures. A generation of computer enthusiasts and cybersecurity experts were also motivated by the film.

The Matrix (1999)

This classic sci-fi film features a dystopian future where…

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The 10 Best Hacker Movies of All Time

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Ever since the conception of at-home computers, the modern world has developed a demographic of computer fans fascinated by the many, hard-coded possibilities of the world wide web. All it takes is a few rapid strokes of the keyboard and access to the mainframe is granted, after all. At least that’s how hacking is generally portrayed in modern cinema.

For our list today, the technology at hand ranges from as recent as 2015 all the way back to the early 80s, making the concept of hacking vastly variable in the ways it is presented. As coding is much like learning an entirely new language, it increases the creativity needed to visualize computer coding for the untrained mind. Apart from that, these movies carry their own unique narrative arcs that make them the best hacker movies of all time.

10. Swordfish (2001)

Swordfish is a campy, popcorn movie addition that begs the question, “Who was in charge of makeup and hair for John Travolta’s character?” Pushed to the limit by a rich, powerful, and ruthless crime lord, computer cracker Stanley (Hugh Jackman) joins in on one of the many heists to make billions of dollars from unused government funds. Along with the original concept of this underground cyber-community, Swordfish, the coding in this movie looks fairly authentic and visually appealing.

Read our review of Swordfish.

9. The Fifth Estate (2013)

Based on Julian Assange and his history of international government affairs, The Fifth Estate is a tedious retelling of a story behind this controversial creator of WikiLeaks. Teaming up with a colleague of his named Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl), Julian (Benedict Cumberbatch) creates a journalist organization to expose government crimes and shady dealings. While it’s not the best example of a hacker movie per se, the very real nature of the story is beyond intriguing and Cumberbatch gives a powerful performance.

Read our review of the Fifth Estate.

8. Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

The most action-packed of the movies on this list, Live Free or Die Hard is a wonderfully fun and exciting addition to the Die Hard franchise that qualifies for this list. Tasked with yet another run-of-the-mill mission, John McClane…

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