Analysis of Ethics in Film - Hackers
The movie Hackers is about a group of hackers. They find out about a very harmful computer virus that is going to be released, and try to stop the virus. In the meantime, the Secret Service believes that the hackers are the ones responsible for the virus.
The ethical issue in this movie is hacking. Although the group of hackers ended up preventing the virus from being released, they did not have permission to hack into the system and stop the virus. A few of the hackers did hack into systems with cruel purposes. One of the hackers made the sprinkler system at the school go off at a certain time, another manipulated the phone system to make free international calls, and they also put false information into the computer system about the head Secret Service agent who was trying to catch them.
The movie portrayed the hackers as being a "club". The movie made it seem as if hacking is the only thing these people did, and they had this one hangout place that they seemed to go to whenever they were not in school. It also made it seem as if hacking was "the thing to do."
I do not think this movie was realistic in portraying ethical issues. Some of the hacking things probably really could've been done (such as setting of the sprinkler system and Dade getting himself in a class with Kate) but the main hacking thing and all of them working together on computers in the train station to try to stop the virus seem pretty far-fetched.
People might think hackers are really like how the movie portrays them to be. But I highly doubt this is the way hackers really are. I don't think they have this one hangout downtown where they all go to everyday. It may also make people think that if you hack into a system to prevent something bad from happening, that you will be a "hero", when in reality if you are not supposed to be hacking into the system, it is illegal, so there should be consequences, unlike in the movie.
The law enforcement officials seemed totally incompetent, especially the head Secret Service agent. They seemed to know nothing about hacking and treated the hackers as if they were the equivalent of a mass murderer who was on the run. In reality, if someone gets arrested for hacking, I seriously doubt there would be a whole group of agents with guns standing outside your window or your shower to grab you whenever you turn around.
I think this is the most far-fetched movie we have watched thus far.
The ethical issue in this movie is hacking. Although the group of hackers ended up preventing the virus from being released, they did not have permission to hack into the system and stop the virus. A few of the hackers did hack into systems with cruel purposes. One of the hackers made the sprinkler system at the school go off at a certain time, another manipulated the phone system to make free international calls, and they also put false information into the computer system about the head Secret Service agent who was trying to catch them.
The movie portrayed the hackers as being a "club". The movie made it seem as if hacking is the only thing these people did, and they had this one hangout place that they seemed to go to whenever they were not in school. It also made it seem as if hacking was "the thing to do."
I do not think this movie was realistic in portraying ethical issues. Some of the hacking things probably really could've been done (such as setting of the sprinkler system and Dade getting himself in a class with Kate) but the main hacking thing and all of them working together on computers in the train station to try to stop the virus seem pretty far-fetched.
People might think hackers are really like how the movie portrays them to be. But I highly doubt this is the way hackers really are. I don't think they have this one hangout downtown where they all go to everyday. It may also make people think that if you hack into a system to prevent something bad from happening, that you will be a "hero", when in reality if you are not supposed to be hacking into the system, it is illegal, so there should be consequences, unlike in the movie.
The law enforcement officials seemed totally incompetent, especially the head Secret Service agent. They seemed to know nothing about hacking and treated the hackers as if they were the equivalent of a mass murderer who was on the run. In reality, if someone gets arrested for hacking, I seriously doubt there would be a whole group of agents with guns standing outside your window or your shower to grab you whenever you turn around.
I think this is the most far-fetched movie we have watched thus far.
posted by Emily @ 5:52 PM
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