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Oct 26, 2018 · Hacker and security researcher Samy Kamkar takes a look at a variety of hacking scenes from popular media and examines their authenticity.
- Condé Nast
- 21 min
Apr 29, 2021 · Once again, hacker and security researcher Samy Kamkar takes a look at a variety of hacking scenes from popular media and examines their authenticity. Is the 3D file system from Jurassic Park...
- Condé Nast
- 23 min
Hollywood loves hackers. Over the past 40 years, cyberattacks have become a moviemaking staple for heightening conflicts or enabling otherwise preposterous heists. Here are a few highlights:...
- Hackers Are Not Always Basement-Dwelling Nerds
- Hacking Takes Research and Patience
- You Can’T Save A System by Smashing Buttons
- Hacking Is Not Always Flashy
- Do Not Download and Install Untrusted Applications
- Small Distractions Could Be A Diversion
- Always Use Two-Step Verification
Predominantly, male hackers are depicted in Hollywood movies to be either reclusive conspiracy theorists or super-smart, ex-intelligence officers. Picture Dennis Nedry from Jurassic Park or Martin Bishop in Sneakers. Their female counterparts—few and far between—tend toward the harsh, ass-kicking, boyish types, like Kate Libby in Hackers or Trinity...
Movies and TV shows are meant to be exciting and dramatic. As with most careers that aren’t well understood by those outside the industry—think theoretical physicist or brain surgeon—these professional portrayals are made out to be much more action-packed in pop culture than they are in the real world. Real hackers and cybersecurity experts have to...
When NCIS’ Abby is hacked, a million pop-ups fill her screen—Hollywood’s favorite “You’ve been hacked!” move. Thankfully, her friend heroically steps in, furiously typing on the keyboard until the problem is solved. Of course, that’s not quite how the scene would play out in real life. When a computer is hacked, you cannot save it by pressing butto...
Hollywood loves to make eye candy out of a hacking scene, often displaying colorful, polished graphic interfaces (GUIs) or 3D-immersive virtual reality experiences—neither of which have much to do with actual hacking. This infamous hacking scene in Swordfish, for example, shows Stanley completing some sort of digital Rubik’s Cube to “assemble crypt...
In Ex Machina, we learned that the CEO of Blue Book, Nathan Bateman, fast-tracked the emotional growth of Ava by taking data from smartphone cameras across the world. This scenario is currently playing out in real life, as there are applications that can be downloaded from third-party platforms and even from Google Play and Apple App Store that can...
Sometimes cybersecurity lessons can be learned from movie scenes that don’t involve computers at all. For example, in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Poe creates a diversion, distracting the general and the First Order armada before bombing the Dreadnought. In fact, military strategy is often well intertwined with that of cyberwarfare. Small distractions...
Always use two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect your online accounts—that cannot be overemphasized. In Mr. Robot, 2FAs were used to guard access to the company’s data and keep hackers out. Many IoT devices, password managers, and other applications have recognized the power of 2FA, or multi-factor authentication, in shielding user and proprie...
Jul 20, 2020 · Hackers often have to send code to other computers to crack them, and this process is rarely depicted realistically in film and television. A classic of bad movie hacking occurs in Independence Day, when Jeff Goldblum’s character uploads a virus from his PowerBook to the alien mothership.
Aug 2, 2017 · The Emmy-winning drama Mr Robot has won praise from real-life hackers for its technical accuracy. Writer/producer Kor Adana explains how the show does it, and why others get it wrong.
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In this post, we delve into the top 10 hacker movies of all time, exploring how each film reflects aspects of penetration testing and cybersecurity.
