Our recent tweet chat on pop culture got a lot of people talking.
Opinions were thrown in each direction, ranging from the good, bad and the ugly.
It got me thinking about two of my favourite things, Hollywood and Information Security. And so I present to you my list of seven cyber security movies fitted into a tried and tested Hollywood formula.
Beverley Hills Incident Responder
There’s been a major incident at a company. The CISO tells all internal staff they’re off the case as an external specialist firm is to look into it.
Our protagonist feels that something is wrong and starts poking around. The CISO gets wind of this and puts him on ‘vacation’. Instead of going home and playing on his Xbox or spending time with his estranged family, he turns full on vigilante. Snooping around the facilities and crack the case by yourself. Making a few friends in the process.
Who should be cast? : Kevin Hart would bring the perfect blend of vulnerable comedic brains needed.
The Buddy SOC
The odd pairing. A grizzled senior analyst is coupled with a handsome, idealistic youngster.
They start off not getting along. But a few high-speed firewall changes, a chase through an abandoned DMZ and cheap coffee in the office canteen. These two put their differences aside to be the best SOC operators in the company.
Who should be cast? : Clint Eastwood and Zac Efron
Cold case
Remember the worm that took all the systems offline in 2001? It was concluded that it got in via an unpatched server and the case was closed. But some things just aren’t meant to be buried. A lost backup tape shows up with logs that were never examined and throws a whole new light on what actually happened.
Who should be cast? : Michelle Pfeiffer or Jodie Foster
Die Hard in a DataCenter
Yes, I know technically Die Hard 4.0 was about the cyber world. But it deviated from the formula - so I propose we bring it back. The semi-vulnerable hero (ageing CISO) is pitted against an overwhelming group of bad guys in an enclosed space (a data centre).
Who should be cast? : Christopher Walken
The Conspiracy Thriller
The company that our protagonist works for “Takes Security Seriously” - but things don’t add up. Why do so many customer records go missing? Why does audit never find any gaps? Why does the CISO have lunch with the Mayor every week? Our hero unravels a mystery or conspiracy of some sort that “goes all the way to the top”.
Who should be cast? : Nicolas Cage (trust me on this one)
Zombie outbreak
An unstoppable malware plague has spread across every electronic device. A lone band of survivors with working laptops are forced to work together to try and save humanity. But will it be enough?
Who should be cast? : I can only think of Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis and Dylan Moran
The CISSP who plays by her own rules
In a CISSP gone rogue story, our anti-authority figure is put in a situation where she must use techniques that reject morals and the code of ethics. This can involve social engineering, dropping 0-days, DDoS’ing the bad guys or diving into dumpsters.
Who should be cast? : Sarah Michelle Gellar
What genres would you add to the list? Or should these all be burnt and never see the light of day?
If any Hollywood studio’s are reading this, I can make myself available for the right fee, a starring role and the chance to reboot a plane by driving really fast beneath it to connect my laptop to the ethernet cable hanging beneath.
