⚔️💻 #199 - Hack and Backslash
Subverting cyber security has made for high stakes storytelling since Matthew Broderick dialed up WOPR from his bedroom, but are movies and television doing the work to portray what hacking really is?
Kor Adana, a writer on Mr. Robot, discusses the tension between creating visually dramatic scenes and showcasing the reality of computer hacking. Samy Kamkar takes us on a tour of some popular depictions of hacking and evaluates their authenticity:
Looking to get a better picture of the tools and tactics of actual hackers? Ethical Hacker Ben teaches his cousin about what it means to help clients improve their security. Grant Collins tries the HackTheBox challenges to see if it’s a helpful way to learn about the tools of the trade for hackers. David Bombal interviews OccupyTheWeb about how governments and companies identify individuals on the internet, and ways hackers get caught. This conversation also includes fun tidbits like how Microsoft Word hides a global unique ID in every document you create on your machine so it can be traced back to you.
Not all hacking is clackity-clack keyboard wizardry. And it’s not always political or purposeful. Take a look back at the night in 1987 when two Chicago TV stations had their signals hijacked. Instead of the news or a Doctor Who episode, viewers saw a man wearing a Max Headroom mask in front of a rotating background rambling incoherently and getting spanked:
Who did it? Nobody knows. But we can piece together how they did it.1
👋 Are you new here?
Inneresting is a weekly newsletter about writing and things that are interesting to writers. Subscribe now to get more Inneresting things sent to your inbox.
🤳 sshnuke 10.2.2.2 -wkndrd-“D1SC0V3R”
This week’s newsletter is a collaboration with Weekend Read, giving you a stack of scripts featuring keyboard warriors, black hats, and phone phreaks. You’ll see:
Hackers
Sneakers
Mr. Robot - “Pilot”
The Matrix
and more!
Every week, new scripts are posted in Weekend Read 2 for you to add to your personal library.
You can download Weekend Read 2 from the App Store to get reading on your iPhone, iPad, and Vision Pro.
Previously on Inneresting…
In case you missed it, last issue’s most clicked link was Matthew Olzmann’s absolutely gutting poem: Letter to the Person Who Carved His Initials into the Oldest Living Longleaf Pine in North America
What else is inneresting?
Cole Haddon’s screenwriting substack is full of (infinity?) gems, like this take on Thor’s arc in Avengers: Endgame moving from depression to feeling Worthy again:
Nat Bennett explains a strategy for joining a new team or starting a new job called the “WTF Notebook.”
Gregory Bennett2 narrates the Heat Death of the Internet:
You want to watch a TV show from your youth so you check a streaming service, but it is not there, so you check a second streaming service but it is not there, so you check a third streaming service and it is not there. You search for it on Blu-ray but it doesn’t exist, so you search for it on DVD but it is out of print. You find a seller on eBay who has it, but the listing reads ambiguous as to whether it is the real thing or a burnt copy. You message the seller and they reply with an automated response thanking you for your interest.
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.
Are you enjoying this newsletter?
📧 Forward it to a friend and suggest they check it out.
🔗 Share a link to this post on social media.
🗣 Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Reach out to Chris via email at inneresting@johnaugust.com, Mastodon @ccsont@mastodon.art, or Bluesky @ccsont.bsky.social
Post-Credits Scene
And we will likely never understand WHY they did it.
No relation?