This paper represents a sequel to the 2008 ICITST Conference paper "Hackers and Hollywood: Considering Filmic Cyberthreats in Security Risk Analysis". That paper looked at how hackers are represented in the movies and how that representation may impact a range of fields, including; in the education of computer students, organisational computer security, and in the behaviour of the general public when using computers. This current paper undertakes that same analysis but with respect to the depiction of hackers on television. Thus this research will examine television shows that feature characters (either regular characters or guest characters) that are hackers so as to identify any common themes that emerge from these television shows in their representation of this issue.

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Int. J. Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, Vol. 2, Nos. 1/2, 2010 59

Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the

potential implications of the popular media

representation of computer hackers from 1968 to

2008

Damian Gordon

School of Computing, Dublin Institute of Technology,

Kevin Street, Dublin 8, Ireland

Fax: +353-1-402-4985

E-mail: Damian.Gordon@comp.dit.ie.

*Corresponding author

Abstract: Increasingly movies are being produced which feature plots that

incorporate elements of computer security and hacking, and cumulatively these

movies are creating a public perception as to the nature of computer security.

This research examines movies that feature hackers (and hacking) to identify if

any common themes emerge from these movies in their representation of these

issues. To achieve this, first a corpus of hacking movies is created, and then

using a qualitative data analysis technique, guidelines are developed which

distinguish those movies that actually have the potential to create a perception

with the general public. The resultant dataset is analysed and the salient details

are compared to the reality of hacking. This research has implications in a

range of fields, including in the education of computer students, organisation

computer security and in the behaviour of the general public when using

computers.

Keywords: computer security breaches; crackers and hackers; Jungian

archetypes; filmic representations.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Gordon, D. (2010) 'Forty

years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications of the popular

media representation of computer hackers from 1968 to 2008', Int. J. Internet

Technology and Secured Transactions, Vol. 2, Nos. 1/2, pp.59–87.

Biographical notes: Damian Gordon is a Lecturer in Computer Science at the

Dublin Institute of Technology and is completing his PhD on Differentiated

Instruction. He received his BA (Mod) in Computer Science in 1995, and his

MA in Computer Vision in 2001, both from Trinity College, Dublin. He has

authored and contributed to several books and research papers published on a

diverse range of topics including: website design, security risk analysis, virtual

learning environments, learning styles, ICT and special needs, curriculum

design and thinking techniques.

60 D. Gordon

1 Introduction

1.1 The term 'hacker'

The term 'hacker' can mean one of two things, within the computing community it means

a very skilful programmer who delights in understanding the inner workings of a system

(Levy, 2001), whereas outside of the computing community it refers to people engaged in

the circumvention of computer security (Legg, 2005). Since this paper is going to focus

on the media representation of hackers, in it the second definition of the term 'hacker' is

the one that will be considered. Skoudis and Liston (2006, pp.7–9) suggest that there is a

common cultural view of hackers as being teenagers sitting in their bedrooms hacking

into top security systems, and that this view can be a dangerous one to subscribe to, since

it may blind policy-makers to more relevant threats to their computer security. Where

such a view of hackers has come from is difficult to say, certainly some computer

security books suggest this image, e.g. Pfleeger and Pfleeger (2006, p.22) mention that

hackers are "often high school or university students", in spite of the fact that research on

hackers (Schell et al., 2002) has identified their average age as being 27 years old. This

research seeks to investigate whether or not movies are culpable in this portrayal of

hackers as being teenagers hacking from their bedrooms. To achieve this aim, first an

attempt to determine what exactly constitutes a hacker movie will be researched;

secondly, movies over a range of decades will be classified and analysed to determine if

they are presenting a consistent view of what a hacker is.

2 Literature review

As movies exist as part of the arts domain, and hacking and computer security are part of

the science domain, it is worth exploring the relationship between the arts and the

sciences. Their relationship has always been a difficult one, so much so that Lord Snow

in his famous 1959 Rede Lecture (Snow, 1959) claimed that there was an irrevocable

breakdown between the 'two cultures' of arts and science, and that breakdown was the

fundamental cause of most of the world's problems. Although other critics (Leavis, 1962;

Huxley, 1963; Brockman, 1995; Gould, 2003) suggest that the gap between the cultures

is not unbridgeable, they do emphasise that when science is being represented in the

arts, it is not always a faithful representation, just as a portrait isn't always an exact

replica of the study. This is especially true of movies, when science is represented in the

movies the objective is often to display spectacle and illusion, and not necessarily

verisimilitude.

At their inception movies were considered to be a valuable scientific instrument,

famously in 1877, Eadweard Muybridge used movies to investigate whether or not horses

have all four legs off the ground simultaneously when trotting (Solnit, 2003), and was

able to demonstrate that they do when he photographed them using a prototypical motion

picture camera that he developed. Kammerer (2004) adds that movies are still being used

for such purposes, and discusses that fact that when explosive experts are demolishing

buildings they will study footage of previous demolitions, slowing down the process on

film, and often reversing the recording to better understand how different structures will

collapse. Thus movies can be used to help understand scientific principles.

In contrast to this, the depiction of science in the movies is generally not realistic

since the purpose of movies is usually to entertain rather than to inform. In his book

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 61

Hollywood Science: Movies, Science and the End of the World Sidney, Perkowitz (2008)

identifies that movies generally portray science in simple dualistic terms; scientists are

either evil maniacs or heroic techno-wizards, computer will take over the world or

faithfully aid us as our servants, cloning will lead to the end of the world, or will allow

people to easily replace missing limbs. He further goes on to suggest that, with very few

exceptions, the only movies that portray science and scientists accurately are biographic

films, such as, Madame Curie (1943), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Infinity (1996), The

Insider (1999), A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Kinsey (2004). The exceptions Perkowitz

mentions are Jodie Foster's portrayal of fictional astronomer Eleanor Arroway in Contact

(1997), and Laura Dern as fictional paleobotanist Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park (1993).

What Perkowitz fails to recognise is that both movies are based on books written by

scientists. The movie Contact (1997) is based on the novel by renowned astronomer Carl

Sagan, and Jurassic Park (1993) is based on a novel by Michael Crichton who was a

medical doctor and anthropologist.

Considering hacker movies from an educational perspective, Efthimiou and

Llewellyn (2003, 2004, 2006) argue that in general movies not only misrepresent the

basic scientific facts, but they help contribute to science illiteracy. In their research, they

analyse scenes from popular movies, e.g., Speed (1994), The Core (2003) and Aeon Flux

(2005), and strongly dispute the outcomes of these scenes by invoking basic physics

equations. Nonetheless they identify the fact that clips from these movies can be used in

the classroom to explore topics in science and generate enthusiasm and excitement in

students. In their research, student performance in examinations improved significantly

when teaching involved movie clips, and the majority of students surveyed in their work

expressed the opinion that this approach to teaching has developed their interest in

science. In fact, Pendle (2006) suggested that early science fiction movies in USA

resulted in the first generation of scientists and engineers in the field of rocket science.

Similarly, Stephenson (2005) suggests that movies may be a potent force that can be

utilised by educators to engage students' imaginations and foster a more vibrant,

appealing and creative environment. In this research, two groups of students were used, a

control group and an experimental group. The control group were taught scientific

principles in the traditional way, whereas the experimental group had those same

principles augmented by the use of movie clips. The study found a significantly greater

margin of success by the experimental group.

Although little research has been done the influence of movies on the public

perception of hacking, researchers have investigated other topics in computer science,

e.g., Bartneck (2004) looks at how movies represent robots and robotics and in particular

how these movies help contribute to the general public's behaviours to real-life robots.

Similarly, Schmitz et al. (2008) look at models of computer interfaces presented in

movies, and consider the viability of such interfaces in real-life. Also, Fisher (2001) looks

at how artificial intelligence has been represented in the movies and how this may impact

on the public perception of artificial intellige nces. In general, the public perception of

computer science is strongly influenced by movie representations.

Based on existing research it is clear that there are range of issues associated with the

relationship between how computers are represented by the popular media, and how this

effects the popular perception of them. On the positive side, it is possible that hacker

movies could be used as a teaching tool, but on the negative side, it is possible that

hacker movies are misrepresenting what hackers do and the types of threats they pose to

62 D. Gordon

organisations. To help answer these questions, it is important to develop a formally

compiled dataset of hacker movies.

3 Research methods

Defining exactly what constitutes a hacker movie is a non-trivial task; hacking and

hackers are featured in a range of movies, in a range of ways. Deciding how to compile a

list of hacker movies can pose some interesting questions: Does a hacker need to appear

in the movie or is a hacking act sufficient? (e.g., a movie that features salami slicing, but

does not include the person responsible), Should only live action movies be considered or

should animated movies also be included?, and Should science fiction movies be

included? The answers to these questions should flow naturally from the central premise

of the research, that managers may be somewhat influenced by the portrayal of hackers in

movies in deciding security policies.

So the first step in this process was to identify some potential candidates that may be

considered as being hacker movies. A range of books and websites were used to create a

substantial list of movies (Butler, 2007; Perkowitz, 2008; Gill, 2008; Wikipedia, 2008).

Each movie on this list was examined to determine whether or not it was truly a hacker

movie, and using phenomenology (Moustakas, 1994) a series of guidelines were

developed to explain why some moves were accepted and others rejected.

Table 1 Hacker guidelines

1 A hacker movie must feature a hacker in it, it is insufficient to have an act of hacking in the

movie, the hacker must appear in the movie as being either the main protagonist or

antagonist, or at least be a well-developed character with their hacking being integral to the

plot.

2 Although they are related genres, not all cyberpunk movies can automatically be considered

as hacker movies.

3 Only science fiction movies that feature recognisable hacker scenarios should be included

on the list.

4 No animated movies will be included on the list.

5 No movies will be considered whose sole focus is cryptography.

6 No hacker documentaries will be considered, only movies.

3.1 Guideline 1: Requirement for a hacker to be visible

The logic of this rule is simple, if the premise of this research is that the public may form

a stereotypical view of what a hacker is and what they do from movies, a character

should substantially appear in movies under consideration that represents these qualities.

Heist movies usually feature a little bit of hacking but that doesn't mean they should

be automatically included on the list. For example, Ocean's Eleven (2001) features a

character named Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison), who is identified as a surveillance

specialist, his character is not very developed other than the fact that he is anxious, plus

his expertise is more in AV than computer hacking, and thus, he does not make it onto

the list, whereas by contrast in The Italian Job (2003), the character of Lyle alias 'The

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 63

Real Napster' (Seth Green) is much more fully developed as a character and is shown

undertaking computer hacking, and thus does make it onto the list.

3.2 Guideline 2: A cyberpunk movie is not the same as a hacker movie

Cyberpunk movies are generally described as focussing on 'high tech and low life' so

they usually feature outsiders, armed with their own individuality, fending off the

tendencies of traditional institutions to use technology to control society (Butler, 2007). It

is clear that this scenario closely converges with the notion of a lone hacker trying to

fight the system, therefore a lot of cyberpunk fiction features hackers, but that does not

necessarily imply that all cyberpunk movies are hacker movies.

For example, Blade Runner (1982) which is considered the seminal cyberpunk movie

does not really feature any hacking, similarly for Brazil (1985) and Robocop (1987),

whereas The Matrix (1999) is generally rated to be second only to Blade Runner in terms

of importance as a cyberpunk movie clearly is also a hacker movie, since it features

Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) as a computer programmer who leads a secret life as a

hacker under the alias 'Neo'.

3.3 Guideline 3: SciFi movies need hacker scenarios

As a rule science fiction movies show computers as being futuristic and fantastic, with

plots that feature aliens and spaceships, and thus would generally not contribute to a

stereotypical view of the hacker persona.

However, a few science fiction movies were included on the list, based on their

presentation of hacking scenarios, for example, the robot R2D2 in Star Wars (1977) is

clearly shown hacking into the Death Star computer systems in several scenes of that

movie, and thus should be included on the list.

3.4 Guideline 4: All animated movies are banned

The rationale behind this rule is that animated movies are less 'real' than their live-action

counterparts and thus would also generally not contribute to a stereotypical view of the

hacker persona.

Hackers are a core feature of many Japanese anime movies, e.g., Ghost in the Shell

(1995), which is considered to be one of the most important anime movies created which

crossed over to non-anime viewers around the world, and features a character called 'The

Puppet Master' who is both a computer hacker and a mind hacker, but as this movie is

animated it will not be included on the list.

3.5 Guideline 5: Cryptography is not hacking

It is important to clearly establish a definition of what hacking is and to distinguish it

from other scenarios involving encryption and decryption.

For example, the World War II movies, Enigma (2001) and U-571 (2000) feature the

allied attempts to decode the Wehrmacht Enigma machine, but do not feature modern

electronic computers and the focus on encryption, and thus are not included on the list.

64 D. Gordon

3.6 Guideline 6: Documentaries are not the same as movies

Since documentaries generally do not reach as wide an audience as movies do, they are

excluded from the list, but movies that are based on real-life stories are included.

So Revolution OS (2001) is not included on the list but Takedown (2000) and Pirates

of Silicon Valley (1999) are included on the list.

4 The hacker movie list

The complete list of movies judged to be hacker movies based on the rules outlined

above contains 50 movies featuring a total of 60 hackers in those films remembering that

some movies feature more than one hacker. These key movies will be discussed below on

a decade-by-decade basis.

4.1 Hacker movies of the 1960s

Although real-life large-scale hacker attacks were not widely reported until the 1970s

(Chirillo, 2001) surprisingly the first decade that features legitimate hacker movies is the

1960s. There are two movies from the 1960s th at conform to the above guidelines and are

regularly reported on hacker movie lists. The two movies are Hot Millions (1968) and

The Italian Job (1969).

Hot Millons (1968)

Featuring Peter Ustinov as Marcus Pendleton, a con-man just out of prison, who

impersonates a computer programmer named Caesar Smith and gets a job in a large

organisation where he begins to send claim checks to himself in various guises at

addresses all over Europe.

During the movie Marcus is seen to use a range of social engineering techniques, is

seen to disable security systems and to create fraudulent identities, thus this movie is the

first real hacker movie to be added to the list.

The Italian Job (1969)

This is a heist movie concerning a group of English thieves who attempt to steal $4

million worth of gold arriving in Turin, Italy. They recruit Professor Simon Peach,

portrayed by comedian Benny Hill, who is a computer expert who they wish to take

control of the Turin traffic control system to create a massive traffic jam that will provide

the diversion the thieves need to successfully execute their plan.

This movie features an outsider attack on a large computer system, and thus qualifies

for the hacker list.

4.2 Hacker movies of the 1970s

Interestingly during the decade when many of the initial real-life hacking events were

occurring, only one movie from the 1970s successfully made it into the list based on the

criteria outlined above, that movie is Star Wars (1977). A factor in the lack of relevant

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 65

hacker movies in the 1970s may be the fact that censors around the world relaxed their

rules on the depiction of violence and nudity in the 1970s (Lyons, 1997) which resulted

in fast-moving, ultra-violent, ultra-explicit movies. In such an environment, showing a

hacker sitting in a stagnant fashion typing at a keyboard attempting to break into a

computer system, may have been too inactive for the 1970s movie audiences.

Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

As mentioned previously, Star Wars features several scenes where robot R2D2 interfaces

with the Death Star computer systems and hacks in to locate Princess Leia in the

Detention Block, and controls the garbage compactor to prevent the heroes of the movies

from being crushed.

Although R2D2 is clearly not a human being, the impact of the Star Wars movies

were so phenomenal that it is possible this movie may have had an influence on the

cultural view of hackers.

4.3 Hacker movies of the 1980s

The 1980s included many seminal hacker movies, including WarGames (1983) which

features Matthew Broderick as a young hacker who accidentally hacks into a military

computer which could result in a nuclear Armageddon. Another 11 movies are included

on the list from the 1980s including another appearance by Matthew Broderick as the

eponymous hero of Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) where he remotely deletes records of

his absences from the school computer. Highlights of hacker attacks from this decade

include a salami slicing attack featured in Superman III (1983), and hacking into ATMs

in Prime Risk (1985).

Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Based on the classic 1960s television series, the second movie in the Star Trek movie

series features scenes where the spaceship U.S.S. Enterprise (captained by James T. Kirk)

is being attacked by another ship, the U.S.S. Defiant (captained by Khan Noonien Singh).

As both ships are run by computer, Captain Kirk successfully manages to wirelessly

hack into the computer systems of the Defiant, and instructs its computer to lower their

shields.

Although a science fiction movie, the manner in which this hacking is presented is

sufficiently congruent with the stereotypical image of hacking to be included in the list.

Tron (1982)

Starring Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a former employee of fictional computer company

ENCOM, within whose computer systems are files which provide evidence that Flynn

was wrongly fired from his job. Flynn, with the help of two fellow employees of ENCOM

manages to hack into the systems and access these files.

This movie includes the first time in movie history that the term 'hacking' is used

when Flynn says: "I've been doing a little hacking " to his comrades. Incidentally, this

movie is also very well known for having been one of the first movies to feature the use

of computer generated imagery.

66 D. Gordon

Superman III (1983)

Based on the comic book series, the third Superman movie concentrates on a new

character, an unemployed man Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) who discovers that he has an

extraordinary talent for computer programming. He gets a job in a fictional corporation

named Webscoe Industries , where he proceeds to embezzle a large sum of money from

the company payroll.

This movie includes a real-life hacker technique, a salami slicing attack , and

therefore is included on the list.

WarGames (1983)

This movie focuses on David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) a high school student who

is highly unmotivated at school but is an enthusiastic computer hacker at home. His main

hacking method is war dialling , which is an automated search for computer systems

connected to the public phone system. When he hears about a new computer games

company, he attempts to hack into the games company's systems, but inadvertently links

to a NORAD military supercomputer system, and deduces a backdoor password to log in

and as a result almost causes World War III.

This movie is an extremely well-known movie and is recognised as having had an

extremely significant impact on the way in which hackers are viewed (Halbert, 1997),

therefore, it is definitely included on this list.

Prime Risk (1985)

Julie Collins (Toni Hudson), a computer expert who decides to take her revenge on a

bank that declined to give her a job by creating fake ATM cards and stealing money from

the bank. She stumbles on a plot by big-time international hackers to ruin the Federal

Reserve and destroy the US monetary system. These thieves waste no time in discovering

that Julie knows about their plot, and chase her all the way to Washington, DC, where

Julie tries to convince the FBI that the impending electronic attack on the Federal

Reserve Bank is real.

This movie is one of the first to show ATM machines being hacked and is therefore,

included on the list.

Real Genius (1985)

This movie is set on the campus of 'Pacific Tech', a fictitious technical university based

on Caltech. The main plot concerns a young genius, Chris Knight (Val Kilmer), who is

working on a chemical laser system. Chris meets a brilliant hacker, Lazlo Hollyfeld (Jon

Gries) who lives in the tunnels beneath the student dormitory. Lazlo uses his computer

skills to discover that the laser work being undertaken by Chris is going to be turned into

a weapon by an unscrupulous professor.

The character of Hollyfield is based on a number of real Caltech students, in 1971 a

real computer hacker lived in the tunnels underneath the student dormitory for six

months. Also in the movie, Hollyfield sends in a large number of entries to a contest, this

matches the actions of Caltech students Steve Klein, Dave Novikoff and Barry Megdal,

who, in 1974, used a similar strategy to win a McDonald's sweepstakes (Dodge et al.,

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 67

1983, p.71). This movie is included on the list in particular for the password hacking

used.

Weird Science (1985)

Two teenage computer hackers, Gary Wallace (Anthony Michael Hall) and Wyatt

Donnelly (Ilan Mitchell-Smith) use their home computer to design the perfect woman.

They feed various data into the computer, but lacking sufficient processing power, they

use a fictional software hacking programme called Crypto-smasher to hack into a US

Government mainframe and use its power to create a computer simulation of 'the perfect

woman'. A bizarre electrical storm follows, and a real woman is created.

This is an infantile movie, but is be included on the list since it contains scenes of

hacking, and is widely known.

Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)

Terry Doolittle (Whoopi Goldberg) is an outspoken and irreverent employee of an

international bank, is working overtime one evening when her terminal receives an

encrypted message pleading for help from Jumpin' Jack Flash , code name for Marty

Phillips (Jonathan Pryce), a British spy and master hacker trapped in Eastern Europe. At

first Terry does not believe him, but eventually she becomes an essential element of his

escape plan which involves her outmanoeuvring both the KGB and the CIA.

This movie was one of the first to feature online communications as a central plot

device in the story, as it also shows a range of password hacking it is included on the list.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) a high school student decides to skip school for a day

to go on the town by pretending to be sick, something which he has done many times in

the past. Unfortunately for Ferris, the Dean of Students, Edward Rooney (Jeffrey Jones)

has been tracking Ferris's many absences from school on his computer, and will force

Ferris to repeat the school year on the basis of these absences. Ferris hacks into Mr.

Rooney's computer and remotely deletes these absences from the computer while

Rooney watches helplessly.

This movie is widely known and although the scene showing Ferris hacking Mr.

Rooney's computer is short, it is a key plot element; therefore this movie is included on

the list.

Terminal Entry (1986)

Bob (Patrick Labyorteaux), a high school student who enjoys playing online games on

Bulletin board systems chooses a game called 'Terminal Entry' that is password

protected. At first Bob attempts a brute force password hacking approach, however that

does not work, fortunately Bob drops a chocolate bar on his keyboard which enters the

numbers '5.9.125.35 1/5.25.35' which coincidently turn out to be the password.

Unfortunately the game is really a communication forum where cells of a terrorist

network communicate with each other and receive instructions.

68 D. Gordon

The premise of this movie is a chilling one that a decentralised system of computer

networks makes it easy for terrorist cells to communicate, while making it very difficult

for authorities to track them down. This movie includes scenes of attempting to crack

remote passwords and is therefore included on the list.

Bellman and True (1987)

Hiller (Bernard Hill), a computer expert, gets drunk and loses his job as a result of it;

before he cleans out his desk, he sells what he thinks is one of his 'worthless' computer

tapes to a group of bank robbers. The gang locate and kidnap Hiller's son and force him

to decode the information on the tape which turns out to be a map of the National General

Bank security system. With his son still in the gang's clutches Hiller is forced to take part

in the robbery.

This movie exposes the dangers of insider threats, and the problem with having

confidential data being available of computer storage, thus it is included on the list.

Die Hard (1988)

A group of thieves led by German terrorist Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) invade a high-

rise building, the Nakatomi Plaza, attempting to steal $640 million in bearer bonds from

the building's vault. Theo (Clarence Gilyard), the group's technical mastermind, hacks

into the buildings computer systems to open the vault locks, but he warns Gruber that the

final electromagnetic lock is uncrackable. Gruber attempts to get the code to open the

final lock from a corporate executive, Joseph Takagi, but is unsuccessful and the robbery

fails.

This movie highlights the fact that if a password cannot be discovered using

computer-based attacks, it is sometimes possible to get the possessor of the password to

reveal it (either by force or by trickery), thus this movie is included on the list.

4.4 Hacker movies of the 1990s

Interestingly the 1990s feature the most hacker movies so far, twenty in total. Significant

entries include; The Matrix (1999) with Keanu Reeves as Thomas Anderson alias 'Neo'

who discovers the true nature of reality, Sneakers (1992) with Robert Redford as

Martin Brice a hacker who has been on the run from the government since 1969, and

Jurassic Park (1993) which features lead computer programmer Dennis Nedry

(Wayne Knight) undertaking an insider attack on the InGen security system. A co-star in

Jurrasic Park, Jeff Goldblum went on to star in Independence Day (1996), where he

hacks into an alien computer system using an Apple Macintosh Powerbook. The dangers

of computers being used to steal someone's identity are examined in several movies in

this decade including The Net (1995), Twilight Man (1996) and Enemy of the State

(1998). Finally, a movie that seems to have strong resonances in the hacker community

is Hackers (1995) featuring Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie as Dade Murphy

and Kate Libby, two teen hackers who must defeat a computer virus written by an evil

genius.

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 69

Sneakers (1992)

The movie opens in 1969, where two college students Martin Brice (Gary Hershberger)

and his friend Cosmo (Jo Marr) are using their college computer to hack into banking

systems and illegally transfer funds from organisations they see as corrupt into

organisations they see as worthy. They transfer money from the Republican Party to the

Black Panthers, from Richard Nixon's personal checking account to National Association

to Legalise Marijuana, and as they are about to transfer money from AT&T Cosmo is

caught and arrested by the police, and Martin goes on the run. Twenty years later Martin

(Robert Redford) is working as the leader of a Tiger Team and Cosmo (Ben Kingsley) is

working for organised crime.

This movie features a range of hacking and security penetration scenarios including

the use of social engineering to obtain a spoken passphrase, and Martin efforts to sneak

past a motion and infrared heat detector, with such scenes; this definitely qualifies for the

list.

The Lawnmower Man (1992)

Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey), a simple gardener has his intelligence gradually increased by Dr.

Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) through a combination of special drugs and virtual

reality. Eventually Jobe develops megalomaniacal tendencies and decides that he will

transform himself into 'pure energy' and reach into all the computer systems of the

world. To do this Jobe hacks into the computer mainframe of the organisation that had

been sponsoring his transformation.

This movie features computer games, virtual reality, computer games and some

hacking, and as such is included on the list.

Jurassic Park (1993)

Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) is employed by fictional genetics company InGen as the

chief programmer of their Jurassic Park systems. Feeling that he has been underpaid for

his two million lines of code that controls the entire park, he accepts an offer of $1.5

million from a rival fictional genetics company BioSyn to steal twelve dinosaur embryos

from the park's labs. In order to achieve this (and make a quick getaway), he shuts down

the park's entire security systems, including the electrical fences, covering it up by a

series of deliberately engineered computer shutdowns.

This movie is an excellent example of the dangers of an insider threat; Nerdy feels

underpaid and underappreciated and thus is easily bribed by a rival corporation. His

behaviour and skills make him a perfect candidate for the hacker list.

Goldeneye (1995)

Boris Grishenko (Alan Cumming) is a computer programmer employed by the Russian

government to undertake various top secret computer projects. He has used his computer

skills to carry out a series of cyber-thefts from major British institutions, as well as

hacking into the US Department of Justice. When his hacking is almost traced he sends a

'Spike' programme that seizes the phone line of whoever is tracing him and jams their

70 D. Gordon

modem so they cannot hang up. Boris frequently spins pens with his hands while

working, and is often seen typing with one hand. After a serious explosion occurs in the

facility where he is working, Boris uses the opportunity to sell his talents on the open

market and joins the fictional Janus crime syndicate and attempts to take control of the

Goldeneye satellite.

Alan Cumming's portrayal of Boris Grishenko is a stereotypical representation of a

hacker; thin, bespectacled, juvenile and nerdish, it also definitely qualifies him for the

hacker movie list.

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

The year is 2021, and the whole world is connected by the internet, and almost a half of

the population is suffering from the fictional condition called Nerve Attenuation

Syndrome (NAS). Johnny Mnemonic (Keanu Reeves) has an implanted memory chip in

his brain that allows him to transport sensitive data. When Johnny is hired by fictional

organisation Pharmakom Industries to carry a package that exceeds the implant's safety

limits he must download in 24 hours or he will die. He joins up with an anti-technology

group (called LoTek ) whose leader J-Bone (Ice-T) help hack into Johnny's chip and into

the Pharmakom Industries headquarters.

The character of J-Bone is the hacker whose behaviour and actions are sufficiently

similar to a modern-day hacker to allow this movie to be included on the list.

The Net (1995)

Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) is a computer software analyst for fictional company

Cathedral Software, she receives a disk from a friend of hers who asks her to fix a bug in

a software programme called The GateKeeper System . From the moment she receives the

disk her life takes a turn for the worse. Her records are changed and she is now a wanted

felon on the run. Using her hacking skills she figures out who is responsible for her

troubles and foils the villains.

Although from a technical perspective many of the scenes do not make sense, e.g.,

hacking remotely into a computer that has no network connection, this movie's main

theme is hacking and has many hacking scenes in it, it was also a box office success and

thus should be included on the list.

Hackers (1995)

Dade Murphy alias 'Crash Override' (Jonny Lee Miller) and Kate Libby alias 'Acid

Burn' (Angelina Jolie) with their friends hack into computer systems for fun. When one

of their group, Joey, who is considered a script kiddie , successful hacks into a fictional

petroleum company, Ellingson Mineral Corporation, and manages to download part of a

garbage file, he is arrested. The file contains evidence that the company's head of

company security Eugene Belford alias 'The Plague' (Fisher Stevens) is using a salami

slicing attack to embezzle money from his organisation. Dade and Kate must defend 'The

Plague' before he capsizes a large portion of Ellingson's automated tanker fleet, causing

a global ecological catastrophe.

This movie's main theme is hacking, and uses a range of hacker terminology and

scenarios, and as such is included on the list.

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 71

Mission: Impossible (1996)

Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) is an unfairly 'disavowed' Impossible Mission Forces

(IMF) agent is a well-known hacker/phreaker and is the only man alive who hacked

NATO Ghostcom. He is recruited by IMF agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) to break into

the CIA headquarters and steal the CIA's Non-Official Cover (NOC) list. Reluctant at

first, Luther is baited into the hack when Ethan played to Stickell's ego, selling the job

proposal as 'The Mount Everest of hacks '. Hunt performs the physical act of obtaining

the information himself but has Luther, in his ear via headset, instructing him on

performing the hack.

This movie features several hacking scenes, including when Luther interrupts the

online theft of the NOC list via a makeshift jamming device disguised as a mobile phone,

and as such should be included on the list.

Twilight Man (1996)

College professor Jordan Cooper (Tim Matheson) authors a book which causes vindictive

hacker Hollis Deitz (Dean Stockwell) to begin to ruin his life. Hollis alters Jordan's

medical records to indicate that he has serious brain problems, which causes Jordan to be

shipped off to a psychiatric hospital. Before the hospital can perform brain surgery on

him, Jordan escapes, but is quickly framed for murder. He searches through old

newspapers to locate similar cases and from that sets up a meeting with his stalker.

Very much in the style of The Net , with the themes of stolen identities and evil

hackers, the movie should be included on the list.

Independence Day [also known as 'ID4'] (1996)

Giant alien spaceships enter the earth's orbit, and David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), an

underachieving MIT-graduate working for a cable company discovers hidden satellite

transmissions which he believes to be a timer counting down to a coordinated attack by

the aliens. David heads to the White House to meet up with his ex-wife and informs the

President of his discovery. When an invasion plan is confirmed, Levinson devises a plan

to introduce a computer virus into the alien mothership, using a captured alien fighter.

With the successful implantation of the virus, Levinson fires a nuclear missile at the

mothership that successfully destroys it.

The fact that a computer virus written on an Apple Powerbook can be transmitted and

successfully executed on an alien computer system without any compatibility issues

makes this movie technically suspect, but is nonetheless an excellent example of hacking

and thus this movie is included on the list.

Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)

Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock) takes a cruise to the Bahamas on a Norwegian luxury

liner. The cruise ship's passengers include members of a diamond dealers' association,

who have filled the ship's vault with very valuable diamonds. Another passenger John

Geiger (Willem Dafoe), the designer of the ship's computer system, who was fired from

his job plans to steal the diamonds and sets the ship on a collision course with an oil

tanker.

72 D. Gordon

This movie features hacking, and the dangers of insider threats as it was Geiger who

originally designed the ship computer systems, and as such is included on the list.

Masterminds [also known as 'Smart Alec'] (1997)

Young hacker Oswald Paxton (Vincent Kartheiser) is forced to take his sister to school

by his parents as punishment for his hacking behaviour. Oswald finds that former school

employee Rafe Bentley (Patrick Stewart) has taken several students as hostages for

ransom. Oswald uses his computer hacking skills and love of pranks to rescue the

hostages and capture Rafe.

Several hacking scenes in the movie show Oswald outwitting Bentley ensure that it is

included on the list.

Enemy of the State (1998)

Labour lawyer Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) meets an old friend who surreptitiously

slips a videotape into his shopping bags. The next day NSA agents break into Dean's

house looking for the tape and smear him with false accusations. He is fired from his law

firm and thrown out of the house by his wife. When he attempts to check into a hotel for

the night, he learns his credit cards have been cancelled and somebody has stolen his

attaché case. Dean makes contact with a retired NSA agent Edward 'Brill' Lyle (Gene

Hackman), who shows him the bugs that have been planted in his belongings, and tells

him that the NSA are after him. Dean and Brill work together to try to expose details of

the illegal NSA operation captured on the videotape to the NSA's top brass.

Brill is portrayed as an extremely paranoid hacker whose computer is surrounded by

'The Jar', a copper-mesh Faraday cage that blocks unwanted transmissions; as such this

movie qualifies to be included on the list.

eXistenZ (1999)

Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is a brilliant computer game designer and is

currently developing her latest virtual reality game, eXistenZ , a fully immersive virtual

reality type game. To play the game the players must plug a 'pod', a bio-organic gaming

device, into the bottom of their spines. Geller is attacked by an assassin so she flees her

office with public relations trainee Ted Pikul (Jude Law), who is suddenly assigned as

her bodyguard. Unfortunately her pod, containing the only copy of the eXistenZ game, is

damaged so she and Ted must immerse themselves in the game to check if it is damaged.

As with many movies directed by David Cronenberg, in this movie much of the

technology featured has a biological component to it, nonetheless there are sufficiently

normal hacking scenes to qualify this movie for the list.

The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

Virtual reality designer Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko) is accused of the murder of his

mentor and friend, Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Before he was killed Fuller

hides a message for Douglas in a Virtual Reality simulation of the 1930s. Fuller's

previously unknown daughter (Gretchen Mol) comes to claim the corporation in order to

shut it down, so Douglas must enter the 'game' by taking over the consciousness of one

of the game simulations to prove his innocence.

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 73

This movie features scenes of both hacking and of virtual reality; therefore it is

included on the list.

Office Space (1999)

Two programmers, Samir Nainanajad (Ajay Naidu), and Michael Bolton (David Herman)

have been working in fictional company Initech for several years until they are fired

in a cost cutting measure. In order to get revenge on the company, they decide to infect

the accounting system with a computer virus, which will undertake a salami slicing

attack that rounds down fractions of a cent from accrual of interest and transfer the

fractions into their own account over a period of years, leaving them with a steady

income.

At one point in the movie the character of Michael acknowledges that his knowledge

of hacking in part comes from movies when he says that the virus was inspired by the

salami slicing attack in Superman III , thus this movie is definitely included on the list.

Netforce [also known as 'Tom Clancy's Netforce'] (1999)

Set in the year 2005, Alex Michaels (Scott Bakula) is head of a new fictional division of

the FBI called 'Netforce' which investigates internet crime. When his mentor is killed,

the evidence points to Web pioneer Will Stiles (Judge Reinhold). Stiles is about to release

a new web browser that may allow his to hack into any computer in the world and to gain

control of the internet.

This movie features a range of hacker scenarios, including the use of internet worms

and e-mail viruses, additionally the character of Will Stiles is clearly based on Bill Gates,

and as such is included on the list.

23 (1999)

Based on a true story and set in the 1980s the movie follows hacker Karl Koch (August

Diehl) as he slowly starts to believe that there is a massive conspiracy to control the

world by a secret society. At a meeting of fellow hackers, Karl meets David (Fabian

Busch) who joins him to hack into the internet to help uncover this conspiracy. They

eventually begin to work for the KGB, and are faced with increasing pressure by their

controllers to successfully hack foreign computer systems. Karl becomes addicted to

drugs and increasingly delusional.

Although some of the facts were altered, this movie is based on real events in the life

of Karl Koch who was famous under his hacker handle 'hagbard ' and was involved in

selling hacked information from US military computers to the KGB. This movie

definitely is included on the list.

The Matrix (1999)

Computer programmer Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) leads a secret double life as a

hacker named 'Neo'. He is plagued by a question that appears on his computer

frequently: 'What is the Matrix?' He comes into contact with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss)

and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) who offer him the opportunity to learn the secret of

the Matrix. What he discovers is that he exists in a simulation of the 20th century and the

74 D. Gordon

year is really 2199 where computers control humanity and force them to live their entire

lives in this simulation. Morpheus believes that Neo is 'the One', a man prophesied to

end the war through his complete control over the Matrix.

The opening scenes of this movie are very typical of a hacker movie, but it rapidly

transforms into a fantastical scenario, but because of the opening scenes this movie is

included in the list.

Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999)

This movie tells the story of the rise of the personal computer and the rivalry between

Apple Computers and Microsoft, and their founders, Steve Jobs (Noah Wyle) and Bill

Gates (Anthony Michael Hall). The movie begins in the 1970s on the Berkeley campus

where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (Joey Slotnick) are caught in a riot stuck between

the police and students until they successfully manage to make their escape. Jobs and

Wozniak see themselves as revolutionaries of a different kind; they are creating 'Blue

Boxes' a phreaking device to allow phone calls to be made for free and prevent big

corporations like the phone company from taking everyone's money. Jobs and Wozniak

meet up with famous phreaker John Draper alias Cap'n Crunch , and together they make a

call to the Pope.

This movie concerns stolen software, and also as phreaking is closely associated with

hacking; this movie is included on the list.

4.5 Hacker movies of the 2000s

Fifteen movies on the list appear so far from the 2000s, including one portraying the life

story of Kevin Mitnick (Skeet Ulrich) entitled Takedown (2000). A number of movies

featured the theme of the protagonist being forced into stealing money, including Hugh

Jackman in Swordfish (2001), Ryan Reynolds in Foolproof (2003) and Harrison Ford in

Firewall (2006). Insider threats are featured in Antitrust (2001), Cypher (2002) and Storm

Watch (2002). Finally several movies in this part of the list are sequels to movies already

on the list; The Net 2.0 (2006), Die Hard 4.0 (2007) and WarGames 2: The Dead Code

(2008).

Takedown [also known as 'Trackdown' and informally as 'Hackers 2'] (2000)

Based on the real life events of hacker Kevin Mitnick (Skeet Ulrich), this movie depicts

Mitnick as a self-deluding idealist who is fighting against 'Big Brother' to maintain

'freedom of information' while at the same time hacking into highly classified

computers. Two federal agents, McCoy Rollins (Tom Berenger) and Mitch Gibson

(Christopher McDonald) are tracking down Mitnick with the help of security expert

Tsutomu Shimomura (Russell Wong). When Mitnick gains access to an encrypted

programme that turns out to be a computer virus that Shimomura created as part of

advanced security research, the hunt becomes escalated.

This movie centres on a real life hacker who mostly used social engineering to

achieve his hacking feats, he is very well known for authoring two extremely popular

books on hacking; 'The Art of Deception ' and 'The Art of Intrusion ', as such this movie

is included in the list.

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 75

Bait (2000)

In this action comedy movie, Bristol (Doug Hutchison) is a computer hacker who

manages to shut down the computer security of the Federal Gold Reserve in New York;

while his assistant, Jaster (Robert Pastorelli) steals $40 million worth of gold bullion.

Having second thoughts about the robbery Jaster flees with the gold and hides it, before

being arrested and put in jail. While in jail Jaster tells a con artist, Alvin Sanders (Jamie

Foxx) to pass a coded message onto his wife regarding the location of the gold. When

Jaster is accidentally killed in Jail, Alvin becomes a target for Bristol.

This movie features a hacker as a main character and several hacking scenarios

centred on a bank raid, and as such is included on the list.

Swordfish (2001)

Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) is a hacker who infected the FBI computer systems with

a virus, damaging them significantly. He is caught and convicted for his crimes and

spends two years in jail. A condition of his parole is that he is forbidden from touching a

computer. Using a combination of threats and bribery Gabriel Shear (John Travolta)

convinces Stanley to write a computer worm to steal money from a secret government

bank account. Stanley discovers that Gabriel works for a black ops organisation called

'The Black Cell' that was started by J. Edgar Hoover in the 1950s, which is responsible

for retaliatory attacks against terrorists, and realises that nothing is as it seems.

This movie features a hacker forced into committing cyber crimes and several

hacking scenarios including the use of a virus and a worm, and as such is included on the

list.

Antitrust [also known as 'Conspiracy.com' and 'Startup'] (2001)

Software developer Milo Hoffman (Ryan Phillippe) is hired by CEO Gary Winston (Tim

Robbins) of fictional computer company NURV (Never Underestimate Radical Vision)

for a lucrative programming position. At first working at NURV is wonderful, a friendly

organisation that values creativity, and provides direct access to the CEO at all times, but

over time Hoffman becomes distrustful. He begins to suspect that NURV is stealing

software from other developers and killing them.

Milo uses his hacking skills to alter NURV 's latest software release so that it will

reveal the truth behind the organisation, also the character of Gary Winston is clearly

based on Bill Gates and NURV represents Microsoft, thus this movie is included on the

list.

Cypher (2002)

Morgan Sullivan (Jeremy Northam) loses his job as an accountant and is hired to

undertake corporate espionage for fictional company Digicorp . Under the false identity of

Jack Thursby, he secretly records presentations being given by rival organisations. When

he meets with fellow agent Rita (Lucy Liu), her revelations cause him to question the

nature of his new job. Rita tells Morgan is a disposal spy, once he has achieved his goals,

he will be eliminated. Together Morgan and Rita attempt to uncover all of Digicorp 's

secrets and escape elimination.

76 D. Gordon

This movie features several hacking scenarios where Morgan and Rita attempt to

uncover Digicorp 's motivations, and as such is included on the list.

Storm Watch [also known as 'Code Hunter' and 'Virtual Storm'] (2002)

Computer hacker Nick 'Jester' Chase (Nick Cornish) is banned from ever touching a

computer after being convicted of several computer crimes, but illicitly plays a fictional

virtual reality game called Aftershock . An unknown group blackmails him into stealing a

computer programme from a government supercomputer built to control the weather. It

turns out that the group's intentions for the weather programme are far from benign.

This movie features a hacker as a main character and several hacking scenes where

Jester must uncover who is blackmailing him, and as such is included on the list.

Foolproof (2003)

For several years, friends Kevin (Ryan Reynolds), Samantha (Kristin Booth), and Rob

(Joris Jarsky) have played a game whereby they simulate breaking into organisations for

entertainment. When ruthless gangster Leo Gillette (David Suchet) plans a diamond heist

he becomes suspicious that the three friends may be rival criminals. Leo manages to

obtain the three friends plans and uses them to successfully undertake the robbery. Based

on the success Leo blackmails the trio into planning another heist for him which leads

them to be on the run from both the police and the criminals.

This movie features several hacking scenarios with the three friends planning and

executing break-ins and hacks, and as such is included on the list.

The Italian Job (2003)

A remake of the 1969 movie, but with changes to characters and elements of the plot.

Conman John Bridger (Donald Sutherland) meets up with planner Charlie (Mark

Wahlberg) to discuss John's last job, a gold heist. They decide on a plan and a team is

assembled, included Lyle 'The Real Napster' (Seth Green) who is their hacking expert.

Lyle claims the he is the real creator of Napster, and that his roommate Shawn Fanning

stole it from him. Lyle cracks into the Los Angeles traffic system and brings traffic to a

halt. By turning on and off the traffic lights, he creates a snarl across the city.

This movie features a hacker as a main character, as well as the real creator of

Napster, Shawn Fanning, and several hacking scenarios, and as such is included on the

list.

The Core (2003)

Geophysicist Dr. Josh Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) determines that earth's magnetic field has

been comprised because the earth's inner core has stopped rotating. He contacts the

government who funds the building of a vehicle the can travel deep into the earth's crust.

A team of experts are hastily assembled to pilot the craft, and detonate a nuclear advice

that they hope will restart the core. Theodore 'Rat' Finch (D.J. Qualls) is a brilliant young

hacker with criminal convictions who is hacking the Internet in order to prevent

widespread panic. He is also secretly sending messages to Keyes about something that he

suspects could change the nature of the mission.

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 77

This movie features a hacker as a main character who is controlling the flow of

information on the internet, and as such is included on the list.

Serenity (2005)

Set in the future, this movie centres on the adventures of the crew of the spaceship

'Serenity' who are trying to make a living on the edge of space. When one of the crew,

River Tam (Summer Glau) goes berserk and mutters the phrase 'Miranda' this leads

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) to discover an undocumented planet named

'Miranda' which is full of corpses. It is revealed that the galactic government undertook

an experiment to suppress aggression in the population of that planet. Malcolm contacts

an old friend Mr. Universe (David Krumholtz) a brilliant hacker who has tapped into all

the major networks, and asks him to transmit the secret of Miranda.

This movie features a hacker as a main character who monitors all the information on

all of the various networks, and as such is included on the list.

Firewall (2006)

Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is a computer security expert who works for a bank. When

his wife and children are kidnapped, he receives a ransom demand of $100 million, which

the kidnappers expect him to obtain using his computer skills, incriminating himself in

the process and eradicating any electronic evidence that the kidnappers ever existed.

Under constant surveillance, he has only hours to accomplish the heist while desperately

hunting for a loophole in the thief's own impenetrable wall of lies to save his family and

beat the criminals at their own game.

This movie features a hacker as a main character who is forced into robbing his own

organisation, and as such is included on the list.

The Net 2.0 (2006)

Computer systems analyst Hope Cassidy (Nikki Deloach) goes to Istanbul to begin a new

job. Upon her arrival she finds that her credit cards are cancelled and her bank account

has been emptied. Additionally she discovers that her identity has been stolen and she has

been given one with a criminal record, and accused of stealing $14 million and murdering

a police officer. Nikki uses all her hacking skills to try to reclaim her life.

This movie is less a sequel to 'The Net' than it is a remake of it; nonetheless, it

features a hacker as a main character and several hacking scenarios, and as such is on the

list.

Breach (2007)

Based on a true story, FBI Agent Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper) is a computer specialist

who, after 25 years of service, is put under surveillance as a suspected sex offender. Eric

O'Neill (Ryan Phillippe) is assigned the surveillance task, and poses as Hanseen's clerk.

Eric at first resents the nature of his job, but soon becomes fond of Hanseen and his

family. He doubts the claims against Hanseen until he uncovers evidence that he may be

investigating the biggest security breach in American history.

78 D. Gordon

Although some of the facts were altered, this movie is based on real events in the life

of Robert Hanssen who spied for the KGB. This movie definitely is included on the list.

Die Hard 4.0 [also known as 'Live Free or Die Hard'] (2007)

Police detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is asked by the US Department of

Homeland Security to bring in a hacker named Matt Farrell (Justin Long), because he is a

suspect in a breach of the FBI computer systems. After John gets to Matt's apartment,

a group of men show up and try to kill both John and Matt, who barely escape with

their lives. The duo discovers that a group of terrorists are trying to shut down the

US computer infrastructure. They successfully shut down the stock market systems,

which could result in disaster for the US economy unless John and Matt can defeat the

terrorists.

This movie features a hacker as a main character and several hacking scenarios,

including the threat of destroying the US financial systems, and as such is on the list.

WarGames 2: The Dead Code (2008)

Will Farmer (Matt Lanter) is a computer hacker who has accessed a government super-

computer named RIPLEY. He thinks he is playing an online game, but what he doesn't

realise is that the online game is actually part of a sophisticated piece of US Government

spyware designed to identify and locate potential terrorists. Believing that Farmer is a

terrorist Homeland Security sets out to apprehend him and chases him across the country.

Like 'The Net 2.0' this movie is less a sequel to 'WarGames' than it is a remake of it,

nonetheless, it features a hacker as a main character and several hacking scenarios, and as

such is on the list.

5 Types of attacks featured in movies

In this section a brief review of some of the types of hacker attacks portrayed in the

hacker list are discussed to demonstrate the wide range of attacks that the general

public will have an awareness of. It is also important to consider the range of attacks if

clips from movies were being used to demonstrate hacking in a computer security class.

As discussed previously, the work of Efthimiou and Llewellyn (2003, 2004, 2006)

and Stephenson (2005) identified that using movie clips can aid in developing student

interest in science, in a similar way computer security courses that incorporate

appropriate clips for hacker movies to explore topics and demonstrate principles could

enthuse students.

5.1 Salami slicing attack

This real-world hacker attack involves stealing money repeatedly in extremely small

quantities, by taking advantage of rounding to the nearest cent in financial transactions in

the hope that the sum is small enough on any single transaction that it will go undetected

(Glaessner et al., 2002). This hacker attack is featured in Superman III (1983), Hackers

(1995), and Office Space (1999). In Superman III , Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) uses a

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 79

salami slicing attack to embezzle money from his company Webscoe Industries . In

Hackers, company security expert Eugene Belford alias 'The Plague' (Fisher Stevens) is

using the same attack to embezzle money from his organisation, the Ellingson Mineral

Corporation. Finally, in Office Space Samir Nainanajad (Ajay Naidu), and Michael

Bolton (David Herman) create a virus that runs the attack on their company Initech , and

two characters elude to the fact that they were inspired by a similar attack featured in

Superman III.

5.2 Social engineering

Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into divulging confidential

information, and is featured regularly in movies. In Hot Millions (1968), con-man Marcus

Pendleton (Peter Ustinov) uses social engineering to uncover information that will allow

him embezzle, he pretends to be an expert on the computer system and gives other

computer users 'quizzes' to check whether or not they understand how the system works.

In Sneakers (1992), the hackers need to obtain a verbal recording of a user saying the

phrase 'My voice is my passport. Verify me' to gain access to a building secured by a

voiceprint ID system. They get a female friend to take this user out on a date and make a

recording of his conversation until all the necessary words have been said. In Hackers

(1995), Dade Murphy alias 'Crash Override' (Jonny Lee Miller) calls a local television

station, and dupes the security guard into giving him the modem's phone number using

social engineering. From that, he successfully hacks into the station's computer network,

changing the current television programme. The movie Takedown (2000) is based on the

real-life events of hacker Kevin Mitnick (Skeet Ulrich), who frequently used social

engineering to obtain passwords and other confidential information.

5.3 Hacking software

Movies often feature software that has the power to break into any system, in Weird

Science (1985) two hackers need more power, so they use a fiction software hacking

programme called Crypto-smasher to hack into the grid. In The Net (1995), illegitimate

'protection' system called The GateKeeper System gives the user entry point access to

government and military computer systems. In Sneakers (1992), an algorithm is

developed that will decrypt any code, and this algorithm is built into a 'black box'

decoder that is the central quest in the film.

5.4 Insider attacks

As discussed previously, an insider attack is an attack that is launched by an authorised

computer user from inside the system. In Jurassic Park (1993), Dennis Nedry (Wayne

Knight) is employed by InGen as the chief programmer of their Jurassic Park systems but

accepts an offer of $1.5 million from a rival genetics company BioSyn to steal twelve

dinosaur embryos. In order to achieve this (and make a quick getaway), he shuts down

the park's security systems. In Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), John Geiger (Willem

Dafoe), the designer of a cruise ship's computer system, plans to take over the ship, and

steal diamonds off it until thwarted by Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock).

80 D. Gordon

5.5 Password discovery

Cracking other users' passwords is a fairly common theme in hacker movies. A range of

techniques are featured in movies. In WarGames (1983), the concept of backdoor

passwords are explored, whereby systems often have a hidden password that allows users

to login and have administrative access to the computer system. In this movie, hacker

David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) researches the software developer who created the

system to discover the most likely backdoor password that he would have used. In

Terminal Entry (1986), hacker Bob (Patrick Labyorteaux) uses Brute Force Hacking to

attempt to hack an online computer game. Brute Force hacking involves trying every

possible combination of numbers and letter to solve the password. In Hot Millions

(1968), con-man Marcus Pendleton (Peter Ustinov) uses a number of hacking techniques

including shoulder surfing to determine a password of the system he is trying to hack.

Shoulder surfing refers to using a direct observation technique to determine password

information, such as looking over someone's shoulder.

5.5.1 'Swordfish' password

Many movies feature 'Swordfish' as the password, including Hackers (1995), The Net

(1995) and Swordfish (2001), this password refers to the Marx Brothers movie Horse

Feathers (1932) which includes a scene where Professor Wagstaff (Groucho Marx)

attempts to gain access to a speakeasy that is being guarded by Baravelli (Chico Marx);

Table 2 Extract for Horse Feathers (1932)

BARAVELLI: You can't come in unless you give the password.

PROFESSOR WAGSTAFF: Well, what is the password?

BARAVELLI: Aw, no. You gotta tell me. Hey, I tell what I do. I give you three guesses. It's the

name of a fish.

PROFESSOR WAGSTAFF: Is it 'Mary'?

BARAVELLI: [laughing] 'At's-a no fish!

PROFESSOR WAGSTAFF: She isn't? Well, she drinks like one! ...Let me see... Is it

'Sturgeon'?

BARAVELLI: Aw, you-a craze. A 'sturgeon', he's a doctor cuts you open when-a you sick.

Now I give you one more chance.

PROFESSOR WAGSTAFF: I got it! "Haddock".

BARAVELLI: 'At's a-funny, I got a "haddock" too.

PROFESSOR WAGSTAFF: What do you take for a "haddock"?

BARAVELLI: Sometimes I take an aspirin, sometimes I take a calomel.

PROFESSOR WAGSTAFF: I'd walk a mile for a calomel.

BARAVELLI: You mean chocolate calomel? I like-a that too, but you no guess it. [Slams door.

Wagstaff knocks again. Baravelli opens peephole again.] Hey, what's-a matter, you no

understand English? You can't come in here unless you say, "Swordfish." Now I'll give you one

more guess.

PROFESSOR WAGSTAFF: ...swordfish, swordfish... I think I got it. Is it "swordfish"?

BARAVELLI: Hah. That's-a it. You guess it.

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 81

6 Results

The fifty movies featured on the list were classified on the basis of their genre, to

determine which genre of movie features the most hacker characters. The five categories

that were identified were: Hacker (movies exclusively about hackers and hacking), Heist

(movies where a robbery is the central plot), Heroic (a movie where a regular person is

forced by circumstances to do extraordinary things), SciFi (Science Fiction movies that

feature some type of futuristic technology) and TrueLife (movies which depict the

adventures and exploits of true life hackers). The results of which are displayed below,

and they show that the Heroic category is the most often represented one on the list.

Figure 1 Hacker movies by genre (see online version for colours)

An investigation of the ages of the hackers as portrayed in the movies was carried out to

determine if any particular age group was more significantly represented than others,

particularly since, as mentioned previously, there is a popular cultural image of hackers

as being teenagers sitting in their bedrooms hacking into top security systems. The

hackers' ages were determined as follows; if their age is stated in the movie then that age

is taken, otherwise if their date of birth is given (e.g., on a police record) and the year that

the movie is set in is given, then a simple difference is calculated, otherwise if the year

that the movie is set in is not given then the year is assumed to be the year of production

of the movie (NB: not the year of release of the movie, but the year of production,

sometimes these can differ significantly), otherwise the age of the actor portraying the

hacker at time of production of the movie is used. In the movies identified here, 21 (35%)

hackers were portrayed as 0–25 years old, 37 (62%) hackers were portrayed as 25–50

years old, and 2 (3%) hackers were portrayed as 50–75 years old.

Figure 2 Hacker age ranges (see online version for colours)

82 D. Gordon

Next the profession of the hackers were investigated, to determine if any particular

profession is generally portrayed as being responsible for hacking. In this list, 19 (32%)

hackers were portrayed as working in the computer industry, 17 (28%) hackers were

portrayed as being full-time hackers, 12 (20%) hackers were portrayed as being students,

and 12 (20%) hackers were portrayed in other professions.

Figure 3 Hacker occupations (see online version for colours)

Next the morals of the hackers were investigated, are hackers generally portrayed as

being good guys, bad guys, or somewhere in between? In the movies of the list, 44 (73%)

hackers were portrayed as being good guys, 6 (10%) hackers were portrayed as being in

between, and 10 (17%) hackers were portrayed as being bad guys.

Figure 4 Hacker morals (see online version for colours)

Figure 5 Insider/outsider attacks (see online version for colours)

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 83

Finally the types of attacks portrayed in the movies were investigates, are they mostly

insider attacks of outsider attacks? In thee movies of the list, 12 (20%) attacks were

portrayed as being insider attacks, and 48 (80%) attacks were portrayed as being outsider

attacks.

7 Discussion and conclusions

It is clear from the analysis above that the popular cultural image of a hacker as being a

teenager hacking from their bedroom is not being generated from the majority of hackers

being featured in movies, in fact, the majority of hackers in movies are good guys

between 25 to 50 years old who work in either the computer industry or is a full-time

hacker which matches well with the reality of hackers (the majority of who see

themselves as good guys) whose average age is said to be 27 years old and who work in

either the computer industry or is a full-time hacker (Schell et al., 2002). The one aspect

of hacking that is portrayed in movies very inaccurately is the ratio of insider to outsider

attacks, in the movies the ratio is 20/80 whereas the reality is very different, there is a

lack of hard statistics for computer crime, thus it is difficult to accurately assess the exact

division of attacks between insider and outsider attacks; some suggest it may as high as

50/50 (Vontu, 2005).

Although the majority of movies portray a relatively accurate depiction of hackers,

some of the movies discussed in the list are most memorable for facets other than their

hacking. So, for example, The Matrix (1999) which accurately features a 25–50 year old

hacker working in the computer industry is less memorable for its correct profile of a

hacker than it is for people in black coats dodging bullets in slow motion. Similarly in

Superman III (1983), the hacker is again a 25–50 year old hacker working in the

computer industry, but this movie is best remembered as the 'comedy Superman' movie.

In contrast, perhaps the most influential movie which depicts hackers as 'teenagers in

their bedrooms' is WarGames (1983) which has created a specific and powerful

mythology regarding the nature of hackers (Halbert, 1997) showing hackers to be young

men who can hack into any computer system from the privacy of their own bedroom.

This was one of the first movies to portray a 'digital divide' between those with computer

skills who can do anything with computers and those who are not computer skilled and

are outsiders in the computerised and networked world which often does not match

reality (Kessler and Shepard, 1997), but echoes the simple dualist representation of all

sciences discussed in Perkowitz (2008). It is worth noting that this movie conforms to

what mythologist Campbell (1949) identified as 'the Hero's Journey' (or 'monomyth') in

his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces , this means that it has an archetypical nature

which resonates with a very wide audience. These Jungian archetypes feed unconsciously

into views of hackers via 'script theory' (Schank and Abelson, 1977). Script theory

suggests that people create a series of simple archetypical stories (or 'scripts') to help in

their day-to-day interactions, and these scripts are based on their previous experiences. If

a manager's script for security threats is 'the risk to my organisation's computer security

comes from teenage hackers in their bedrooms' because of their experience of the

WarGames movie, then their focus may be on ensuring outsider attacks are repealed, for

example, making sure that their firewall is resilient and up-to-date.

84 D. Gordon

From an educational perspective, it is clear from previous research (Efthimiou and

Llewellyn, 2003, 2004, 2006; Stephenson, 2005) that using movie clips from relevant

movies can improve student achievement and improve there retention of information. The

hacker list provides lecturers and teachers with a wide range of materials to select from,

and with the aid of Section 5 which outlines which movies feature which attacks it will be

possible to locate and select an appropriate movie clip for illustrating different kinds of

hacker attacks, which may be very useful for a range of modules; a 'Computer Security'

module might benefit greatly from such clips, also training courses for the police force,

particularly those focussing on cyber crimes, also more general 'Computers in Society'

modules would be greatly enhanced by the use of clips. This would add a great dynamism

and enthusiasm to the classes and might even help students learn more accurate

information. In fact, considering that the majority of movies are relatively truthful in their

portrayal of hackers, they may, in fact, be offering more accurate information than

computer security books who, as mentioned previously, suggest that hackers are 'often

high school or university students' (Pfleeger and Pfleeger, 2006).

This research sought to investigate if the movie portrayal of hacking contributes to

the stereotypical view of outsider attacks by teenagers, and concludes that the majority of

movies do not show that stereotypical view, but some specific movies may have a

significant resonance. For whatever reasons such stereotypes exist, it is vital that all

interested parties be aware of such stereotypes and that draw their conclusions on the

basis of evidence rather than speculation and stereotypes, and that these movies can be

used as tools to teach and learn about hacking and hackers.

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Appendix Full hacker movie list

Title Year Genre Name Occupation

Hot Millions 1968 Heist Marcus Pendleton Con-man

The Italian Job 1969 Heist Prof Simon Peach Hacker

Star Wars 1977 SciFi R2D2 Robot

Star Trek II:

The Wrath of Khan 1982 SciFi James T. Kirk Starship Captain

Tron 1982 SciFi Kevin Flynn IT Industry

Superman III 1983 SciFi Gus Gorman IT Industry

WarGames 1983 Hacker David Lightman Student

Prime Risk 1985 Hacker Julie Collins IT Industry

Real Genius 1985 Heroic Lazlo Hollyfeld Student

Weird Science 1985 SciFi Gary Wallace Student

Wyatt Donnelly Student

Jumpin' Jack Flash 1986 Heroic Marty Phillips Spy

Ferris Bueller's Day

Off 1986 Heroic Ferris Bueller Student

Terminal Entry 1986 Hacker Bob Student

Bellman and True 1987 Heist Hiller IT Industry

Die Hard 1988 Heroic Theo Hacker

Sneakers 1992 Heist Martin Brice IT Industry

Cosmo Criminal

The Lawnmower Man 1992 SciFi Jobe Smith Gardner

Jurassic Park 1993 SciFi Dennis Nedry IT Industry

Goldeneye 1995 SciFi Boris Grishenko IT Industry

Johnny Mnemonic 1995 SciFi J-Bone Hacker

The Net 1995 Heroic Angela Bennett IT Industry

Hackers 1995 Hacker Dade Murphy Student

Kate Libby Student

Mission: Impossible 1996 Heist Luther Stickell Spy

Twilight Man 1996 Heroic Hollis Deitz IT Industry

Independence Day 1996 SciFi David Levinson TV repair man

Speed 2 1997 Heoric John Geiger IT Industry

Masterminds 1997 Heroic Oswald Paxton Student

Enemy of the State 1998 Heroic Edward Lyle ex-NSA

eXistenZ 1999 Hacker Allegra Geller IT Industry

The Thirteenth Floor 1999 Heroic Douglas Hall IT Industry

Office Space 1999 Heroic Michael Bolton IT Industry

Samir Nagheenanajar IT Industry

Netforce 1999 SciFi Will Stiles IT Industry

Forty years of movie hacking: considering the potential implications 87

Appendix Full hacker movie list (continued)

Title Year Genre Name Occupation

23 1999 TrueLife Karl Koch Hacker

David Hacker

The Matrix 1999 SciFi Thomas Anderson IT Industry

Trinity Hacker

Morpheus Hacker

Pirates of Silicon

Valley 1999 TrueLife Steve Jobs Student

Steve Wozniak Student

John Draper Student

Takedown 2000 TrueLife Kevin Mitnick Hacker

Bait 2000 Heroic Bristol Hacker

Swordfish 2001 Heroic Stanley Jobson Hacker

Antitrust 2001 Heroic Milo Hoffman IT Industry

Cypher 2002 Heroic Morgan Sullivan Corporate Espionage

Storm Watch 2002 Hacker Nick Chase Hacker

Foolproof 2003 Hacker Kevin Hacker

Sam Hacker

The Italian Job 2003 Heist Lyle Hacker

The Core 2003 SciFi Theodore Finch Hacker

Serenity 2005 SciFi Mr. Universe Hacker

Firewall 2006 Heroic Jack Stanfield IT Industry

The Net 2.0 2006 Heroic Hope Cassidy IT Industry

Breach 2007 TrueLife Robert Hanssen FBI agent

Die Hard 4.0 2007 Heroic Matthew Farrell Hacker

WarGames: The Dead

Code 2008 Hacker Will Farmer Hacker

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.

  • Robert Fisher Robert Fisher

Robots and other artificially intelligent (AI) mechanisms are now a common plot device or even main character in movies [1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8]. What is less well known is that they have appeared since the early days of cinema (1907). These movies are interesting, because they help shape the mainstream public's view of artificial intelligence and robotics. The experienced science fiction reader and AI professional have more developed views about AI, but these are minority of the population. Here I'm interested in how AI is understood and interpreted by the majority. Continuing scientific developments are already bringing AI research results to the pub-lic: web search engines, network routing, automatic scheduling programs, automobile route planning, speech understanding, factory automation, home robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers, etc. But these seem like normal products and are not usually viewed as Artificial Intelligence, at least as AI appears in the cinema. The cinematic sort of AI is the key opinion former of AI: a challenge to humans because of their potential powers. This essay considers why these powerful cinematic AI agents, in spite of their presumed abilities, have largely abnormal "personalities". A recent www-based survey of 256 movies containing elements of AI [4] has 83 "true" AI entries. From the 256 movies, I have excluded TV episodes (too numerous), short cartoons (too numerous), cyborgs (36), androids (20) and still unclassified movies (117). A debate could be held around the excluded cyborgs and androids, however, my concern here is with true Artificial Intelligence: the product of a non-human sensing and reasoning mechanism. Cyborgs have human brains (although perhaps physically or computationally augmented), so do not say anything about AI. Androids are more ambiguous as they are constructed entities. They are generally "grown" to be either identical to humans or "improved" versions. However, their mental machinery is assumed to be identical to humans, and so the use of an android says nothing about the implications of having an artificial reasoning mechanism. I have excluded these cases as also being uninteresting since they say nothing about the nature of non-human thought. Of the 83 "true AI" movies, 46 depict a "mindless" sort of AI without self-reflection or self-awareness, largely as efficient robotic killing machines. Although this is an exciting plot device and a worrisome possible future, these AI agents do not have much depth and ultimately will interest viewers at about the same level as a well-engineered automobile. (Movies with mindless AI agents are listed in Appendix A.) 1 But what of the other 37 movies (listed in Appendix B)? Examples of these are Metropolis (1926), The Wizard of Oz (1938), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Demon Seed (1977), Making Mr. Right (1987), Virtuosity (1997) and AI Artificial Intelligence (2001). These movies have AI-based agents as central characters, interacting with humans in many of the same ways as humans. They may not always be a cinematic or commercial success, but, because they explore the nature of AI agents, how the agents minds may work and the consequences of the integration of the AI agents into human society, they provide a glimpse at how the rest of society views AI agents. This view is not a healthy one.

  • C. J. Efthimiou C. J. Efthimiou
  • R. A. Llewellyn

This paper reports the results of the initial phase of an ambitious project known as Physics in Films, designed to help improve public understanding of the basic principles of physical science that the authors have embarked upon. The project began with several large groups of nonscience majors enrolled in the general education physical science course at the University of Central Florida (UCF), a course with a counterpart in nearly every college and university (and many high schools) in the nation.