From: InfoSec News (isnC4I.ORG)
Date: Sat Apr 07 2001 - 20:44:44 CDT

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http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,42774,00.html

by Michelle Delio
2:00 a.m. Apr. 6, 2001 PDT

This summer, Warner Brothers wants you to "log on, hack in, go
anywhere and steal everything."

But only in movie theaters, please.

Warner Brothers' entry in the summer blockbuster sweepstakes is
Swordfish, an action film with a plot that centers on the lives of
hackers, evil politicians and double-crossing secret agents.

Judging by the trailer and a pre-release version of the script that's
floating around the Internet, Swordfish, slated for release June 15,
will be a somewhat clichd but still entertaining film.

John Travolta plays Gabriel Shear, hired by the feds to convince the
world's best computer hacker (Stanley Jobson, played by Hugh Jackman)
to crack a computer system so that Shear can steal $9 billion from a
secret and abandoned Drug Enforcement Administration slush fund that
was meant to fund a sting known as Operation Swordfish.

But Jobson doesn't want to play.

He's just out of prison on a trumped-up hacking charge, and his parole
terms strictly forbid him to even touch a computer's keyboard.

He's also a bit perturbed because Shear wants the money to support the
activities of a bunch of renegade CIA types who have decided to take
down all the greedy and dishonest politicians and establish a newer,
more honest America.

Jobson, who lives in a trailer park and works at McDonald's, is
depicted as a sort of superhuman geek.

"I don't answer equations, I just see answers," he says to Shear at
one point in the film, when asked to explain how he hacked into a
database.

Jobson has skills, but if he uses them ever again he's going straight
back to prison for a long time. So he avoids computers, flips burgers
and spends his spare time obsessing over ways to get his kid away from
his drug-addicted ex-wife.

Enter Halle Berry, who plays Shear's sexy sidekick, Ginger. She tells
Jobson that doing just this one small, last crack will get him his kid
back (whom Shear has helpfully kidnapped) along with a bundle of cash
and a whole new life.

Jobson does his best to resist Ginger's tempting offers (which include
Berry's first topless scene) and protests to Shear, "If you think this
Prada-sporting, Armani-clad, silicone-augmented, Anime-femme fatale
thing is gonna make me lose my head and start singing 'Hackers of the
world unite,' then apparently you're not experiencing the same acid
shortage as the rest of us."

But eventually, and rather inevitably, Jobson finds himself in front
of a Dell laptop with a gun pointed to his head, while Shear explains
to him that he's heard that "the best crackers in the world can do
this in 60 minutes. Unfortunately, I need it done in 60 seconds."

(Cut to scene of Jobson's fingers tapping fast and furiously on the
keyboard, as the data scrolls rapidly across the laptop's display.)

At the very last second, of course, just as Shear says, "Time's up -
too bad you gotta die!" - a now-sweaty Jobson manages to hack his way
into the computer system, and that's where the fun begins.

The National Security Agency (NSA) launches a battle to keep Shear and
his posse from taking over the government.

Ironically, the NSA is also the organization that framed Jobson and
had him tossed him into prison, but he may have to join them if he's
going to stop Shear and his motley, right-wing crew from taking over
the world.

But, on the other hand, Shear might really be a good guy.

These twists and turns don't quite manage to stop the plot from
feeling like a retread - in its thinner spots it's a bit too
reminiscent of Reservoir Dogs, Die Hard, and Speed.

But it's still worth seeing Swordfish for the explosions, the
shootouts, the flying buses, and the opportunity to do a bit of quiet
exulting over a good-looking nerd who, simply by using his brain,
becomes a superhero.

Geeks can also amuse themselves by scrutinizing the movie for
technical errors.

Swordfish's take on hacking seems to be at least somewhat informed -
the movie even differentiates between hackers (those who explore a
system, but do no harm), and crackers (who explore systems with the
intent of doing damage or stealing information).

But the hack itself is just too easy - 60 seconds to crack into a
database that contains $9 billion seems a bit far-fetched, even for a
summer movie -- and even assuming Jobson makes use of one of those
ever-popular, well-known exploits.

You can also test your own hacking skills at the official Swordfish
website.

Warner Brothers' public relations rep wouldn't offer up the password
that needs to be entered to access the site.

"Oh, you have stumbled onto our big campaign. The site is not
functional yet, and the password has not been leaked ... this site is
going to have a lot of hacker and secret password type stuff that
extends offline as well," said Lesley Kallet, a Warner Brothers public
relations representative, in her response to an e-mail requesting the
password.

But, like most password protection schemes, this one is not too hard
to figure out. (Hint: use the short name of one of the government
agencies mentioned in this story.)

Swordfish-the-movie is a spin-off of a real government initiative,
Operation Swordfish, which is detailed in a now out-of-print book,
Swordfish: A True Story of Ambition, Savagery, and Betrayal, by David
McClintick.

According to the book, Operation Swordfish was an early 1980s
undercover investigation that actually did have a fairly large slush
account set up to launder drug money.

The investigation eventually resulted in the arrests of prominent
politicians, bankers and judges, along with a handful of Colombian
drug dealers.

But no hackers were arrested - because none were involved in the real
Operation Swordfish.

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