The Hacker Wars

Last updated

The Hacker Wars
The Hacker Wars (2014) Film Poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Vivien Lesnik Weisman
Written byVivien Lesnik Weisman, Meredith Raithel Perry
Produced byVivien Lesnik Weisman associate producer Joe Fionda
CinematographyJoshua Kun
Edited byMeredith Raithel Perry
Music by Dicepticon
Christopher Lord
Ytcracker
Release date
  • October 17, 2014 (2014-10-17)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Hacker Wars is a 2014 documentary film about hacktivism in the United States, directed by Vivien Lesnik Weisman. It was released on October 17, 2014 in the US. [1]

Barrett Brown, who appeared in the documentary, was examined as a spokesperson for Anonymous, [2] a label he disputes. [3] [4] [5]

The Hacker Wars tells the story of three young information activists, or hacktivists, and their battles with the US Government. These hacktivists are either terrorists or freedom fighters depending on one's perspective on who should control information.

It is about: “Weev,” infamous hacker and troll; Barrett Brown, journalist and propagandist for the hacktivist collective, Anonymous; and Jeremy Hammond, aka Anarchaos, who before his arrest was number one on the FBI's cyber-criminal list. The fourth character is Sabu, the hacker turned FBI informant who ran the FBI's cyber unit for 9 months and is responsible for their arrests. He is the shadowy protagonist in a high-stakes game of espionage and betrayal in the age of the Internet.

In the film Barrett Brown, American journalist, is facing 105 years in prison for publicizing information revealed through Jeremy Hammond's epic hacks. Hammond himself had just begun a 10-year prison term.

Andrew Aurenheimer, known by his hacker handle “weev” embarrasses large corporations. He was sentenced to 41 months for hacking AT&T, but his conviction was overturned. He vows to continue doing what landed him in prison in the first place.

The film is structured like Nashville on Meth. The viewer is shuttled between story lines at lightning speed mirroring the disjointed lives of the protagonists and life on the Internet.

Glenn Greenwald (Snowden Leaks), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; Thomas Drake, former Senior Executive of the NSA; “the original Edward Snowden”; and others explain why these anti-heroes exposing the security surveillance state through hacking should be supported rather than jailed. They are not merely unveiling surveillance programs and the deep-state intelligence; they are exposing how power works. According to Glenn Greenwald, “What the Anonymous collective and Hammond’s hacks revealed and Barrett Brown publicized is so criminal that it must be exposed no matter what the means. The US Government will go to any lengths, including the suspension of the rule of law, to stop them.”

Barrett Brown, weev, and Jeremy Hammond have been covered in Rollingstone, Vice, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wired, Gawker, BuzzFeed, and The Nation, and are well known in France and the UK.

The Hacker Wars is the second feature documentary by Vivien Lesnik Weisman. She studied Political Science at Barnard College. She attended NY Law School and was received in both the NY and Washington DC Bar Association. She went on to receive a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. Her last film, Man of Two Havanas, opened at Tribeca Film Festival, was met with critical acclaim, and has gone on to win the most prestigious awards throughout the world.

She has appeared on numerous television and radio news programs throughout the country and abroad, including WNBC, WCBS, Democracy Now, Telemundo, Univision, and MegaTV, to name a few. She was a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.

Her films have been the recipients of Grand Prix Documentary at the Festival Internacional du Cinema Latin de Paris, the IFP Fledgling Fund Award for Best WIP, IFP Best Emerging Latino Filmmaker, Audience Award at The Vancouver International Latino Film Festival, First Coral Award at the Festival de Nuevo Cine Latino Americano (Havana International Film Festival), the Grand Prix Signis at the Festival Internacional du Cinema Latin de Paris, Golden Eagle, UCLA Spot Light Award, as well as the Social Justice Award Finalist at The Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hacktivism</span> Computer-based activities as a means of protest

Internet activism, hacktivism, or hactivism, is the use of computer-based techniques such as hacking as a form of civil disobedience to promote a political agenda or social change. With roots in hacker culture and hacker ethics, its ends are often related to free speech, human rights, or freedom of information movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HackThisSite</span> Organization

HackThisSite.org, commonly referred to as HTS, is an online hacking and security website founded by Jeremy Hammond. The site is maintained by members of the community after he left the organization. It aims to provide users with a way to learn and practice basic and advanced "hacking" skills through a series of challenges in a safe and legal environment. The organization has a user base of over a million, though the number of active members is believed to be much lower. The most users online at the same time was 19,950 on February 5, 2018 at 2:46 a.m. CT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Hammond</span> American political activist and hacker

Jeremy Alexander Hammond, also known by his online moniker sup_g, is an American anarchist activist and former computer hacker from Chicago. He founded the computer security training website HackThisSite in 2003. He was first imprisoned over the Protest Warrior hack in 2005 and was later convicted of computer fraud in 2013 for hacking the private intelligence firm Stratfor and releasing data to WikiLeaks, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe is a documentary film about the late American civil rights attorney William Kunstler directed by daughters Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler that premiered at the 25th Sundance Film Festival in January 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam A. Lindsay</span> American judge (born 1951)

Sam Allen Lindsay is an American attorney who serves as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, with chambers in Dallas, Texas.

The Collusion Syndicate, formerly the Collusion Group and sometimes spelled Collu5ion, C0llu5i0n or C011u5i0n, was a Computer Security and Internet Politics Special Interest Group (SIG) founded in 1995 and effectively disbanded around 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anonymous (hacker group)</span> Decentralized hacktivist group

Anonymous is a decentralized international activist and hacktivist collective and movement primarily known for its various cyberattacks against several governments, government institutions and government agencies, corporations and the Church of Scientology.

weev Internet troll and hacker (born 1985)

Andrew Alan Escher Auernheimer, best known by his pseudonym weev, is an American computer hacker and professional Internet troll. Affiliated with the alt-right, he has been described as a neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. He has used many aliases when he has contacted the media, but most sources state that his real first name is Andrew.

The Gay Nigger Association of America (GNAA) was an internet trolling group. They targeted several prominent websites and internet personalities including Slashdot, Wikipedia, CNN, Barack Obama, Alex Jones, and prominent members of the blogosphere. They also released software products, and leaked screenshots and information about upcoming operating systems. In addition, they maintained a software repository and a wiki-based site dedicated to internet commentary.

The Jester is a self-identified grey hat hacktivist. He claims to be responsible for attacks on WikiLeaks and Islamist websites. He claims to be acting out of American patriotism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LulzSec</span> Hacker group

LulzSec was a black hat computer hacking group that claimed responsibility for several high profile attacks, including the compromise of user accounts from PlayStation Network in 2011. The group also claimed responsibility for taking the CIA website offline. Some security professionals have commented that LulzSec has drawn attention to insecure systems and the dangers of password reuse. It has gained attention due to its high profile targets and the sarcastic messages it has posted in the aftermath of its attacks. One of the founders of LulzSec was computer security specialist Hector Monsegur, who used the online moniker Sabu. He later helped law enforcement track down other members of the organization as part of a plea deal. At least four associates of LulzSec were arrested in March 2012 as part of this investigation. Prior, British authorities had announced the arrests of two teenagers they alleged were LulzSec members, going by the pseudonyms T-flow and Topiary.

Hector Xavier Monsegur, known also by the online pseudonym Sabu, is an American computer hacker and co-founder of the hacking group LulzSec. Monsegur became an informant for the FBI, working with the agency for over ten months to aid them in identifying the other hackers from LulzSec and related groups while facing a sentence of 124 years in prison. LulzSec intervened in the affairs of organizations such as News Corporation, Stratfor, UK and American law enforcement bodies and Irish political party Fine Gael.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrett Brown</span> American journalist, essayist and activist (born 1981)

Barrett Lancaster Brown is an American activist, and a former journalist, essayist, and associate of Anonymous. He has described himself as an "anarchist revolutionary with a lust for insurgency" who "wanted to become famous for overthrowing things."

<i>We Are Legion</i> 2012 American film

We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists is a 2012 documentary film about the workings and beliefs of the self-described "hacktivist" collective, Anonymous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Leiderman</span> American lawyer (1971–2021)

Jason Scott "Jay" Leiderman was an American criminal defense lawyer based in Ventura, California. The Atlantic Magazine called Leiderman the "Hacktivist's Advocate" for his work defending hacker-activists accused of computer crimes, or so-called "Hacktivism" especially people associated with Anonymous. BuzzFeed called Leiderman "The Maserati-Driving Deadhead Lawyer Who Stands Between Hackers And Prison" and stated he was "A medical marijuana and criminal defense lawyer from Southern California [who] has made himself into the country's leading defender of hackers."

Ryan Ackroyd, a.k.a.Kayla and also lolspoon, is a former black hat hacker who was one of the six core members of the computer hacking group "LulzSec" during its 50-day spree of attacks from 6 May 2011 until 26 June 2011. Throughout the time, Ackroyd posed as a female hacker named "Kayla" and was responsible for the penetration of multiple military and government domains and many high profile intrusions into the networks of Gawker in December 2010, HBGaryFederal in 2011, PBS, Sony, Infragard Atlanta, Fox Entertainment and others. He eventually served 30 months in prison for his hacking activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt DeHart</span> Former U.S. intelligence analyst and sex offender

Matt Paul DeHart is an American citizen and former U.S. Air National Guard intelligence analyst and a registered sex offender. He has made several unconfirmed claims, including that he received classified documents alleging the CIA was involved in the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States and that the government used child pornography charges to frame him for possession of state secrets.

Lara Abdallat is a Jordanian activist, hacker, and former beauty queen.

References

  1. ↑ Pangburn, DJ (October 24, 2014). "The 'Hacker Wars' Documentary Does Hacktivism No Favors". Vice. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  2. ↑ Tim Rogers (March 23, 2011). "Barrett Brown is Anonymous". D Magazine . Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  3. ↑ Patrick McGuire (March 1, 2013). "We Spoke To Barrett Brown From Prison". VICE . Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Barrett Brown (II)". Internet Movie Database. September 29, 2014. Retrieved September 29, 2014.
  5. ↑ Catsoulis, Jeannette (October 16, 2014). "The Hacktivist as Angry Young Man". The New York Times.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.