GUEST EDITORIAL: 5 Classic Films About Security Hacking

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5 Classic Films About Security Hacking

by Devin Caldwell

Since the dawn of the computer age, Hollywood has produced films focused on hacking and massive security breaches. Cybercrime is a threat to governments, corporations, small businesses and private citizens, but moviegoers seem fascinated by the dark side of digital innovation. Hackers are often portrayed more sympathetically in films than in real life, but scriptwriters and producers are more concerned with a story’s entertainment value than its realism. Several films have been made on computer hacking, but these movies represent the most creative and influential approaches to exposing the danger of cybercrime.

Tron

In the early 1980s, personal computers and Atari 2600s were becoming more common in middle-class homes. Although cybersecurity programs and passwordless authentication methods were not necessary for personal computing at that time, the threat of computer hacking in the corporate world was featured in 1982’s Tron. The plot involves a talented computer engineer, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who suspects his former boss of stealing his software. When Flynn tries to hack into his former company’s (ENCOM) mainframe, the master control program (MCP) blocks his efforts and directs a high-power laser to digitize Flynn and inject him into the digital world. Tron was the first film to combine computer-generated effects with live-action, and it still looks impressive today.

Wargames

In 1983, audiences got their first glimpse of a hacker using a personal computer and modem to break into computer networks in Wargames. David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) is a high school student and expert hacker who uses his skills to change his grades in the school’s computer system. When he breaks into a computer gaming network, he begins a game called Global Thermonuclear War that’s controlled by an actual military computer that guards the country against Soviet attacks. After escaping the military complex, David tries to find the game’s creator to prevent the mainframe from launching an attack against Russia. Wargames scared the US government so much that it created a federal internet policy, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984, to protect against cyberattacks. After the film’s release, sales of modems and additional phone lines increased significantly around the country.

Sneakers

Although it was released in 1992, Sneakers is a film that holds relevance in today’s digital world. The film involves a group of talented security experts who National Security agents blackmail to steal a decoding device. The group discovered that the device could break any decrypted computer code in the world, and soon they're chased by the rogue agents and the US government. Sneakers is a comedy/action adventure, but its focus on the importance of data collection and how vulnerable computer networks are to hacking was way ahead of its time.

The Matrix

The 1999 film The Matrix was a hit with audiences and critics, and it changed the way filmmakers used digital effects in action films. Although the Kung Fu fights and gunfights are impressive, the core of the plot involves a hacker who connects with an underground group of cyber experts who claim to know a terrifying secret. He discovers that his everyday life is not spent in reality but in an AI-controlled universe called the matrix. When The Matrix was released, virtual reality devices were primitive and unavailable to the general public. Now, you can put on a VR device and escape into a world not too dissimilar from the augmented reality in the popular film.

Minority Report

Released in 2002, the film Minority Report explores a future where crime has been practically eliminated by a Precrime police unit. Precrime agents use three “precogs” to predict crimes before they occur, and they use the group’s data to arrest criminals and place them in a virtual reality prison. John Anderton (Tom Cruise) is one of Precrime’s top officers, but he becomes a target when he’s accused of killing another man in the future. He suspects the data was manipulated by someone to frame him, and he attempts to find the truth while being chased by his former colleagues. Luckily, today’s hackers are unable to break into a future memory to frame someone of murder.

Conclusion

Films about hacking and technology gone wrong are often entertaining and thought-provoking. If you haven’t watched one or more of the previous movies, set aside a few hours for a hacking movie marathon this weekend.