The internet today can be seen as an absolutely great tool for people to use to try to get ahead in life, but at the same time it can be your worst enemy. In the movie: Live Free or Die Hard the internet is exactly that for the United States: a cyber nightmare . In this movie computer hackers try to infiltrate the United States Governments' systems by creating something called a "Fire sale". A fire sale is a breach of systems that causes a complete shutdown of all things run by computers and systems and leaves the country succeptable to any kind stolen records imaginable. If this shutdown were to ever occur all financial records that are on information systems (ex: social security numbers) and critical information about every person in the Unites States will file as a backup at one secure location which is Woodlawn Maryland. These hackers believe that the governments computer controlled infrastructure is very weak and their securities are no match for the systems the hackers have. They (the feds) say in the movie that this fire sale is nearly impossible to accomplish on all levels which we later find out to be rather simplistic if whoever does it has the personnel and the computer power. The lead computer hacker who we find out is Thomas Gabriel creates three phases to initiate the Fire sale. Gabriel initiates the first phase which is to completely shut down the transportation grid on a national level by hacking into the governments systems. He and his henchman sit in their base on their computers unknown to the feds and turn all stop lights green so there is a huge pile up in all of the big cities. Also during this phase they also hack into the stock market and change every stock on the board to tank. As you can imagine there is instant panic in the market and on the streets which is just what Gabriel wants: complete and utter chaos. Soon after Phase one is complete Gabriel initiates phase two which is to hack into the electrical grids in the largest cities and cut power, water, and gasoline to all which will cause the shutdown to happen faster. Thomas Gabriel soon after cutting power across the country initiates phase three of his rather genius plans. Phase three is for Gabriel and his crew to hack into that secure location at Woodlawn and extract the data that had just been backed up at that facility. By doing so, Gabriel would at that moment be the most powerful man in the country with all of that information about each and every individual in the country. He and his henchman did all of this damage from a mobile hotspot which was a semi-trailer with dozens of computers inside. Luckily a man by the name of John McClane (FBI Agent) along with a computer hacker Matthew Farrell (who helped write some codes for these terrorists initially) was able to stop Gabriel before all of that information could be extracted. Of course they were not able to do it themselves; they had the help of the FBI and a man who all computer geniuses call "The Warlock".
The reason behind Gabriel's actions was because he told the United States originally while working for NSA that their systems were incredibly susceptible to a cyber-warfare attack. When he started raising red flags about their systems NSA fired him and destroyed his reputation as a loyal worker for the states. This is when Thomas Gabriel turned rogue and decided to attack.
The reason behind Gabriel's actions was because he told the United States originally while working for NSA that their systems were incredibly susceptible to a cyber-warfare attack. When he started raising red flags about their systems NSA fired him and destroyed his reputation as a loyal worker for the states. This is when Thomas Gabriel turned rogue and decided to attack.
As you can see just by reading this basic summary: information technologies are flowing everywhere in this film in fact it is what the movies story line is all about. From being able to take control of the television networks in a mobile command base to hacking into Woodlawn's systems. Obviously the systems that the terrorists use in this are something that the average American would never know how to use, let alone get their hands on them. Gabriel managed to find a way into each and every television network to put a short clip of the Capitol Building in Washington blowing up, which instantly put fear in each and every American. They also found ways into the FBI and Air force channels so they themselves could send out units after McClane. They would pose as FBI/Air force personnel and act like McClane was the terrorist so McClane would not be able to foil their plans.
The thing that really shocked me the most that after watching this movie is the fact that it would be extremely hard for investigators to find someone who is using cyber warfare, especially if their workplace is mobile and always changing. Of course it is a movie and what happens in it may be somewhat farfetched but it is already happening in today's world on a much smaller level. Instead of a hacker attacking the government they will attack millions of individuals who use the internet on a daily basis. They may try to steal their identities, credit card numbers, or even write viruses that very easily spread and destroy computers. Unfortunately law has not caught up to these thieves because technologies today move much faster than lawmakers. They can work as fast as possible to make new laws against illegal activities on the web but they will never be able to catch up to crimes over the internet. The hardest part for investigators is to try and track and find these thieves.
Without the use of the internet the story line to this great movie would not be possible. The internet and the kinds of systems used in everyday life today is great and extremely helpful in all kinds of situations, especially business related. At the same time though, just like everything else it very quickly can and will be miss used. Hopefully in the future, people fighting these criminals on the web that abuse their powers can be one step ahead of them to try and stop them, but for now it looks as if these attackers will always be ahead of the game.
The thing that really shocked me the most that after watching this movie is the fact that it would be extremely hard for investigators to find someone who is using cyber warfare, especially if their workplace is mobile and always changing. Of course it is a movie and what happens in it may be somewhat farfetched but it is already happening in today's world on a much smaller level. Instead of a hacker attacking the government they will attack millions of individuals who use the internet on a daily basis. They may try to steal their identities, credit card numbers, or even write viruses that very easily spread and destroy computers. Unfortunately law has not caught up to these thieves because technologies today move much faster than lawmakers. They can work as fast as possible to make new laws against illegal activities on the web but they will never be able to catch up to crimes over the internet. The hardest part for investigators is to try and track and find these thieves.
Without the use of the internet the story line to this great movie would not be possible. The internet and the kinds of systems used in everyday life today is great and extremely helpful in all kinds of situations, especially business related. At the same time though, just like everything else it very quickly can and will be miss used. Hopefully in the future, people fighting these criminals on the web that abuse their powers can be one step ahead of them to try and stop them, but for now it looks as if these attackers will always be ahead of the game.
