Top 20 Hacker Movies and Shows of ALL Time [Cybersecurity]

Do you have a knack for hacking and cybersecurity and want to learn more? This article has got everything you need to have some basic knowledge about hacking. Here, you will learn about top hacking movies and shows to watch to up your knowledge about cybersecurity.

Moviemakers have been fascinated with cybercrime, cyberattacks, and the people behind them for over half a century. The global demand for and interest in these programs and films has skyrocketed since the onset of the twentieth century when people began to rely on and accept new forms of technology.

If you’re interested in learning more about the cinematic realm of cybersecurity or just want an exhilarating escapism, this set of movies is for you. To cut, a film or TV program has to be either heavily focused on cyber security, have more than a few scenes dealing with it, or embody the spirit of why it’s crucial to safeguard private information.

It’s possible that you’ll be surprised to find striking parallels between the fictional people and situations in these stories and those that occurred in reality.

Below is a list of the best hacking movies and shows:

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1. Westworld

A stunning sci-fi-western combination, HBO’s reworking of the 1970s cult classic is an investigation of cyber security concerns, and it’s perhaps the most dramatic and intense title on my list.

Particular narrative elements center on insider attacks, spyware, and loopholes intrinsic in an Internet of Things setting, in addition to the overarching issue of artificial intelligence (AI) regulation that has been present for many seasons.

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2. Snowden

This is a moving depiction of a brave whistleblower who warned us about the end of privacy. Oliver Stone’s film Snowden provides some context for this informant’s efforts.

Snowden (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is initially portrayed movingly in this film as a sincere patriot who is motivated to protect the United States in the wake of 9/11. He enlisted in the US Army Rangers in 2004, but a lack of physical stamina led to a serious injury during training.

Shortly, Snowden chooses to give the CIA his whole attention and exceptional computer science skills. After getting an impressively high score on a test, he is seen by Corbin O’Brian (Rhys Ifans), who chooses to put this bright young man’s talents to use in the fight against terrorism.

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3. Mr. Robot

Rami Malek’s breakout role as Freddie Mercury earned him an Oscar, but he was previously recognized for his portrayal of Elliott Alderson, a cyber security expert, and hacker, on Mr. Robot.

The title of the program alludes to the revolutionary who employs Alderson for a cybercriminal group whose goal is to wipe out consumer debt by the encryption of vast amounts of corporate data.

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4. Ex Machina

An IGN critic named Chris Tilly called this film “important streaming for anybody with even a passing acquaintance in where technology is taking us” back at the beginning of 2015.

The narrative, which uses a programmer for a search engine as its hero and the reader as a stand-in, raises serious questions about the potential risks of AI and the security concerns that may emerge if we are unable to identify computers from people.

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5. The Fifth Estate

This movie, directed by Chicago’s Bill Condon, is a fictitious portrayal of the creation and repercussions of WikiLeaks, a website devoted to the disclosure of confidential material while safeguarding anonymous sources.

Despite its questionable historical veracity, this video demonstrates how weak sensitive information can be used for malicious ends.

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6. The Social Network

David Fincher’s examination of Facebook’s early days and meteoric ascent to fame is both unnerving and darkly humorous, and the film is widely regarded as one of the best of the twenty-first century.

To build his “hot or not” review site, Facemash, Zuckerberg hacked into Harvard databases to get images of female students; here is where the connection to cyber security comes in.

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7. Live Free or Die Hard

Bruce Willis’s character, New York City police officer John McClane, is back for another entry in this smash-hit action series.

His objective: foil a conspiracy by a cyber-terrorist to cripple essential US infrastructure by attacking government and commercial sector computers.

As McClane’s tech-savvy sidekick, another hacker played by Justin Long adds some much-needed humor.

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8. V for Vendetta

The story, which was adapted from a British graphic book bearing a similar name, has been modernized to remark on government monitoring and media propaganda.

But the story’s most enduring contribution to cyber security society is the mask of Guy Fawkes, which has become a symbol of the hacker collective Anonymous.

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9. The Girl in the Spider’s Web

The world’s nuclear weapon codes are stored in a computer software codenamed FireWall, and expert hacker, Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) is hired to steal them.

Russian criminals take her laptop and abduct a mathematical prodigy who can activate FireWall, which draws the interest of an NSA operative and further complicates matters.

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10. Sneakers

To crack almost any encryption code, the National Security Agency (NSA) hired a team of security professionals led by Robert Redford (Martin Bishop) to steal the decoder.

But they are falsely accused of killing the creator of the technology and must do all it takes to defend their reputations.

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11. Minority Report

If you’re concerned about the intrusive potential of AI and machine learning, imagine a world in which law enforcement might prevent crime by locking up potential perpetrators before they have a chance to perpetrate it.

This action movie poses as many philosophical issues about the role of technology in our lives and our ability to keep track of our habits as it does provide solutions to those problems thanks to its unique concept.

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12. Who Am I

A captivating German tech-thriller. In the movie, Who Am I, a hacker gets dragged into a murder conspiracy and must try to clear his identity.

Several critics have compared this film’s gritty, raw quality to that of Fight Club and Mr. Robot. The movie can be seen in its original German language with optional English subtitles.

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13. Blackhat

After cyberattacks on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and a Hong Kong nuclear power plant, the Chinese government and the FBI worked together to identify and apprehend the hackers responsible.

To assist with the investigation, they freed a former hacker (played by Chris Hemsworth).

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14. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This movie is an adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s eponymous bestseller. A journalist and a reclusive hacker join forces in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to unravel a 40-year-old cold case.

Nevertheless, readers should know that The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo contains graphic violence and sexual content.

Warning: violent assault scenes, disturbing story twists, and extreme violence are all to be found in this film.

Due to the extensive changes that were requested by the Indian censor board for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, its theatrical premiere in India was canceled.

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15. Swordfish

Hugh Jackman plays a renowned hacker who is forced to break into the Defense Department’s encrypted system.

After the assault succeeds, he is approached by people claiming to be government officials and requested to code a multi-headed worm, albeit nothing is as it appears.

Visit in search of frantic electronic excitement. Enjoy it for the zany editing and even zanier John Travolta’s beard.

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16. Office Space

• Type: Movie
• Genre: Comedy
• Released: 1999
• IMDb Rating: 7.6/10

Office Space, a parody of the corporate world set in a Silicon Valley software firm in the late ’90s, cuts mostly because of the heist it features prominently in the film.

As a form of retribution against their corporate masters, three dissatisfied workers plot to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars by compromising the accounting system with a virus and then fleeing the building.

This is irrefutable evidence that data security cannot be ensured by technical means alone.

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17. Enemy of the State

• Type: Movie
• Genre: Thriller, Action
• Released: 1998
• IMDb Rating: 7.3/10

Enemy of the State speculates on how disastrous this unparalleled and unfettered access to user data may be, even before actual leaked documents (from Edward Snowden) showed the startling scope of computerized spying.

Foreseeably, the film’s portrayal of the National Security Agency (NSA) outraged then-NSA Director General Michael Hayden.

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18. Halt and Catch Fire

• Type: Series
• Genre: Drama
• Released: 2014-2017
• IMDb Rating: 8.4/10

The characters of Bose (Toby Huss), Donna (Kerry Bishe), and Cameron (Mackenzie Davis) in Halt and Catch Fire are all working in the computer business during the era of the digital revolution in the 1980s.

There are also hackers on the AMC program that take a systemic approach to solving issues.

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19. The Great Hack

• Type: Movie
• Genre: History, Biography, Documentary
• Released: 2019
• IMDb Rating: 7.0/10

If you’re more of a documentary person, you may like The Great Hack, which is a film about the data leak between Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

Your view about social media is going to change after watching this movie.

Viewers interested in Wikileaks and hacker Julian Assange have their pick of many documentaries; one, Citizenfour (2014), delves into the Edward Snowden/NSA issue.

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20. The Billion-Dollar Code

• Type: Series
• Genre: Drama, Crime, Biography
• Released: 2021
• IMDb Rating: 8.0/10

In the 1990s, the advent of the internet brought together a community of hackers and digital artists in Berlin; in 2014, two of those early adopters sued a US technology company over the Google Earth algorithm.

In this story, Google and Terravision are at odds over a patent, but the story’s techno and rave elements provide a humorous twist.

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FAQs

Q. Who’s the world’s most known hacker?

According to the United States Department of Justice, Kevin Mitnick has been the most infamous hacker since 1995. Hacking was something Kevin Mitnick got into at a young age. After breaking into the North American Defense Command (NORAD) computer system in the 1980s, he gained widespread notoriety.

Q. Can someone be jailed for hacking?

Obtaining information with a value of more than five thousand USD is considered a felony, as is hacking a computer for financial gain or to perpetrate another crime. Possible penalties include up to 10 years in federal prison and a ten thousand USD fine for felonies.

Q. How do authorities trace hackers?

Even while most hackers know that authorities may trace them back to their IP address, the more sophisticated ones would try to hide their tracks, nevertheless.

Q. Can your IP address be traced by hackers?

For safety and legal reasons, any website and app you visit may see and store your IP address. This makes it possible for hackers to utilize your IP address and digital identity to determine whether or not you are a desirable target. Hackers that are out to do you harm would scan your Wi-Fi to learn: what kinds of gadgets are linked to it.

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Conclusion

There is a wide range of hacking methods and aims. From action flicks and thrillers to anime, we’ve compiled a list of the top 20 series and movies about hacking. Ideally, the list proved helpful, and you gained some new insights regarding hacking.