Un film sur le piratage informatique : Hacker ("black hat" en VO), 2015, Michael Mann.

Négociations internationales en coulisse, #Hacker #BlackHat #MichaelMann #ChrisHemsworth #PiratageInformatique ...

https://www.senscritique.com/film/hacker/9118502

Misc story time:
tldr: I've been collecting security conference stickers for 20+ years and just now got around to using them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not the kind of person to put stickers on my laptop. This means that for 23 years (apparently), when I got stickers from a conference, I kept them, put them in a bag, moved them from house-to-house, but never actually did anything with them. Until now.

I finally found a usage; which is decorating the otherwise-sketchy-looking metal ammo case which @VeronicaKovah & I are now using to carry phones with us to trainings. We watched some videos on youtube that make it seem like those LiPo fire-protection bags would do a whole lot of not-much in the event that a fire broke out on one of the batteries. But a simple metal box seemed to do a lot better in terms of containing the flames.

So we of course expect that airport security will always stop us when traveling with them (though at least this time our TSA pre-check status seemed to give us a pass on the way out). But the expectation is that contrary to what you might thing, adding hacking conference stickers will actually be disarming, rather than alarming, with security personnel - at least when compared to the alternative of seeing a raw ammo canister ;)

The oldest sticker seems to be from DEF CON 10 (X), circa 2002 (my first DEF CON was 8 FWIW). In general I don't seek out stickers, but I do think the BadBIOS and "I want to believe" ones are things I probably got from Joe Fitz as they were of-the-moment and relevant to my interests. (If you're not familiar with the latter, it's from a very FUDish cover article [1]). I could have completely filled them, but I left a little bit of space for the future. Check out the larger pics for a potential stroll down memory lane. (RIP Shmoocon, Hackademic.info, NoSuchCon. Memento mori conference organizers ;))

#DEFCON, #BlackHat, #ShmooCon, #BlueHat, #RingZer0, #HackLU, #HardwearIO, #DistrictCon, #HackFest, #NoSuchCon, #DeepSec, #HITB, #HackersOnTheHill

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/the-big-hack-how-china-used-a-tiny-chip-to-infiltrate-america-s-top-companies

In the United States, in the 80's just like today, "evil" is everything that could negatively affect the profits of the riches. They were scared by people who removed copy protection from video games, got free phone calls or cripple the trust of the working class in Capitalism by showing how easy it was to hack the Bank Of America's Home Banking System.

In 1986 the first legislation related to hacking was enacted, the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Just like the Hopkins' The Discovery of Witches, such text was wielded thousands of times to convict high-profile hackers and low-level criminals alike, in the most recent witch-hunt of American history.

Meanwhile, the mainstream Americans were building their own prejudice about hackers through their most powerful propaganda-device, with films like War Games.

So while some hackers were arrested all over the States, others tried to distance from them, introducing the term "cracker" to mock "the criminals" in the hope preserve their freedom and appear as the good, well integrated citizens they ough to be.

All of this worked as a sort of evolutive pressure, pruning those who challenged the American life-style and supporting those that were happy to subdue to the cultural hegemony of the times.

Then, when "cracking systems" became a well payed job, a bunch of coloured "hats" were invented, to distinguish crackers "hackers" according to the masters they serve.

You Think There's Time—Until There Isn't

The 2026 Cybersecurity Conference Season Is Coming—And Coverage Spots Are Limited And Moving Fast.

For over 10 years, ITSPmagazine has been on the ground at the industry's most important events. These conferences are where we reconnect with our community, where the conversations that matter happen, and where the future of cybersecurity takes shape.

Our coverage goes deep: daily recaps, editorial opinion pieces, extensive photo documentation, and conversations with the experts we've known for years alongside the new voices shaping what comes next.

Three Major Events in 2026:

📍 RSAC Conference | San Francisco | March 23–26

📍 Infosecurity Europe | London | June 3–5

📍 Black Hat USA | Las Vegas | August 1–6

We'd love for you to join us on this adventure and place your brand in the spotlight as we share what happens on location and reveal the future of our industry.

What We Offer:

🎯 Full Coverage Sponsorship – Your brand sponsors all editorial content before, during, and after the event. Includes pre-event briefing, on-site conversation with Sean Martin, CISSP and me, banner advertising, sponsorship recognition across articles and podcasts, and full content rights. $3,000 per event. Six spots per event.

🎙️ On-Location Briefing – 20-minute recorded briefing, companion article, placement on event coverage page, full content rights. $1,500 per event. Six spots per event.

Special Offer:

Two Full Coverage Sponsorships: $5,000 (save $1,000) – Use code 1KOFFTWO

Both programs traditionally sell out before event dates.

📋 Learn More & Book: https://www.studioc60.com/performance

💳 Book Two Events (Special Offer): https://payments.itspmagazine.com/b/00w3cu1AebQD3wYedk4ZG0F

☎️ Sean and I are happy to get on a call and answer your questions: https://cal.com/team/itspmagazine/program-preview

View Our Coverage Pages:

RSAC: https://www.itspmagazine.com/rsac-2026-conference-san-francisco-usa-cybersecurity-event-infosec-conference-coverage

Infosecurity Europe: https://www.itspmagazine.com/infosecurity-europe-2026-infosec-london-cybersecurity-event-coverage

Black Hat USA: https://www.itspmagazine.com/black-hat-usa-2026-cybersecurity-event-coverage-in-las-vegas

See all our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverage

Join us!

Marco Ciappelli & Sean Martin, CISSP

#Cybersecurity #InfoSec #RSAC #InfoSecurityEurope #BlackHat #EventCoverage #MediaPartnership #cybersecuritymarketing #cybersecurityevents

I just did a quick post about my #blackhat and #sector arsenal experiences this year. #opensource #bh2025 #sector2025 medium.com/@we-are-fact...

Black Hat 2025 Arsenal Experie...

"Darknet Diaries Deutsch": Grifter – von der Straße zur Security

Neil Wyler alias Grifter erzählt seine unglaubliche Reise: vom jugendlichen Cyberkriminellen zum Sicherheitsexperten, der Großkonzerne und Regierungen berät.

https://www.heise.de/news/Darknet-Diaries-Deutsch-Grifter-von-der-Strasse-zur-Security-10985295.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

#BlackHat #Darknet #DarknetDiaries #Hacking #Journal #Sicherheitslücken #news

Excellent #Cyber Interviews Series
https://wherewarlocksstayuplate.com/

ParMaster - from incarceration to #Cybersecurity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkeXk9rBBrs
https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Parmasters-Paradox-The-Life-Flight-and-Re-Invention-of-Jason-Snitker/B0FDX7HG3N
(Par and Assange book)

Rankhorn - FBI undercover and Law Enforcement perspective
https://wwsul.podbean.com/e/episode-5-terry-rankhorn-part-1/
Blind Man's Bluff (book)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Man%27s_Bluff:_The_Untold_Story_of_American_Submarine_Espionage
pt. II 48:00 - race conditions for Nick #IRC

Pewp - hacker groups grew up and rethinking things through
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVm30NiHhdQ
[1:00:00] The Golden Age / Decline of #IRC hacker groups
#ComputerHistory #GabriellaColeman
https://archive.org/details/pca_Phone_Losers_of_America
#EHAP https://thecyberexpress.com/anonymous-hacktivist-group-working-to-safeguard-children-against-pedophiles/
hack.se https://www.swehack.se/

Skyper - Blue Boxing, rules of #Phreaking
https://wwsul.podbean.com/e/episode-4-eduart-steiner-aka-skyper/
#BBS - dial "The Number" - modems
cool domain name indicated access to server
#TESO Austrian hacker group
http://wokb.cz/Hacking/Skupiny/teso.htmL
"Not criminals, researchers" [1:31:00]

Kingpin - thoughts about nerodivergence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgSvFdwunLU
Cold Wallet (movie)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27307826/

Mohammed Bagha - lost era of hacker culture,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2RQ_O2Cq0
makes you wonder about the possibility of "human interest" stories (staring team human instead of machinic professionalization) in the contemporary cyber scene
also reminiscent of the difference between
savant inventors versus the rise of big science
and yet, there is a definition of "hacker" as anyone who
brings ingenutiy to problem solving

Ralph Logan - humanitarian, #hacker groups #history
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0CmLzhggrw
#cDc T -Files
https://archive.org/download/cultdeadcow-master
#Phrack
https://archive.org/details/phrack67/Phrack/phrack1
#gorillaton #l0pht
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4166Kb4UdQ
#MIT #Boston #magazine #zine #underground

Matt Harrigan - early wild west net, but now Feds will always win
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IHKRzGQeog

"Programmable Threats"
#Blackhat keynote #Mikko_Hypponen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14EhT-DRJ8
#Malware #Virus #Drones #Cybersecurity

https://blog.odicforcesounds.com/byHackers.html
#hackers #OpenBSD #security #Chaos #Creativity #BlackHat #Usenix

Excellent #Cyber Interviews Series
https://wherewarlocksstayuplate.com/
"Programmable Threats"
#Blackhat keynote #Mikko_Hypponen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14EhT-DRJ8
#Malware #Virus #Drones #Cybersecurity

BBS/AE/CF - in the end, only the CatFurs survived . . . hahaha! #cDc
ParMaster - from incarceration to #Cybersecurity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkeXk9rBBrs
https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Parmasters-Paradox-The-Life-Flight-and-Re-Invention-of-Jason-Snitker/B0FDX7HG3N
(Par and Assange book)
Pewp - hacker groups grew up and rethinking things through
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVm30NiHhdQ
[1:00:00] The Golden Age / Decline of #IRC hacker groups
#ComputerHistory #GabriellaColeman
https://archive.org/details/pca_Phone_Losers_of_America
#EHAP https://thecyberexpress.com/anonymous-hacktivist-group-working-to-safeguard-children-against-pedophiles/
hack.se https://www.swehack.se/
Skyper - Blue Boxing, rules of #Phreaking
https://wwsul.podbean.com/e/episode-4-eduart-steiner-aka-skyper/
#BBS - dial "The Number" - modems
cool domain name indicated access to server
#TESO Austrian hacker group
http://wokb.cz/Hacking/Skupiny/teso.htmL
"Not criminals, researchers" [1:31:00]
Rankhorn - FBI undercover and Law Enforcement perspective
https://wwsul.podbean.com/e/episode-5-terry-rankhorn-part-1/
Blind Man's Bluff (book)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Man%27s_Bluff:_The_Untold_Story_of_American_Submarine_Espionage
pt. II 48:00 - race conditions for Nick #IRC
Kingpin - thoughts about nerodivergence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgSvFdwunLU
Cold Wallet (movie)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27307826/
Mohammed Bagha - lost era of hacker culture,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2RQ_O2Cq0
makes you wonder about the possibility of "human interest" stories (staring team human instead of machinic professionalization) in the contemporary cyber scene
also reminiscent of the difference between
savant inventors versus the rise of big science
and yet, there is a definition of "hacker" as anyone who
brings ingenutiy to problem solving
Ralph Logan - humanitarian, #hacker groups #history
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0CmLzhggrw
#cDc T -Files
https://archive.org/download/cultdeadcow-master
#Phrack
https://archive.org/details/phrack67/Phrack/phrack1
#gorillaton #l0pht
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4166Kb4UdQ
#MIT #Boston #magazine #zine #underground
Matt Harrigan - early wild west net, but now Feds will always win
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IHKRzGQeog

MOST AI Code Was INSECURE in Tests

Watch the video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/X46BBdaTKSY

This video is sponsored by ThreatLocker.

#threatlocker #sponsored #blackhat

Excellent #Cyber Interviews Series
https://wherewarlocksstayuplate.com/

"Programmable Threats"
#Blackhat keynote #Mikko_Hypponen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14EhT-DRJ8
#Malware #Virus #Drones #Cybersecurity

About to present Faction at SecTor Arsenal at 4 eastern. Hope to see you there. #appsec #blackhat #sectorca #redteam.

Interview with Vandana Verma at Black Hat! @infosecvandana #blackhat

https://twp.ai/4iqDfC

Can the tech community PLEASE stop having conferences in Las Vegas. It's such a loud and obnoxious place. It's hot and miserable everywhere. Everything on the strip is smokey.

#lasvegas #blackhat #defcon #oktane

I'm excited to be presenting at SecTor Arsenal! I'll be demoing OWASP Faction, an open source pen-testing collaboration framework. Hope to see you there! #SECTORCA #appsec #owasp #cybersecurity #blackhat #pentesting

Critical Microsoft Entra ID Flaw Could Have Compromised Every Azure Customer
https://www.cyberkendra.com/2025/09/critical-microsoft-entra-id-flaw-could.html
#microsoft #entraid #security #BlackHat

Have a security talk you think could hit harder?
Drop the link and I’ll dissect the delivery, not the content.
(Assuming it’s already conference-grade 👀)

#Cybersecurity #BlackHat #infosec #PublicSpeaking #Trustial #PayloadDelivered

Top 10 Hacker Movies You’ve Missed

Introduction

Yeah, I’m doing one of these.

I’m going to list and rank ten movies that feature hackers as major characters or hacking itself as a major plot point and discuss what makes them good or bad.

I am purposefully not including WarGames, Sneakers, Hackers or Swordfish, all movies that have existing rabid fans and detractors in the hacking scene.

10. Prime Risk (1985)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiU7hkMe4_M

Prime Risk is a weird movie, despite how much they talk about hackers and computers it is obvious that the writers had no idea about either so we get an odd movie about electronics causing ATMs to spit out money. Add in a conspiracy by a shadowy cabal to undermine the entire financial system and you have something approximating a coherent movie.

I like that the hacker in this is a woman though, and her sidekick is a goofy guy.

9. Hide and Seek (1984)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjQnucHby8Y

This movie is based on a sci-fi novel from 1977 but it is essentially a lower budget Canadian WarGames, there’s a certain charm to it though.

A high-school student hacker befriends a rogue AI and mischief ensues before the plot takes a hard left turn into averting nuclear disaster.

8. Takedown (2000)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbgDMYy9mzM

This movie about Kevin Mitnick caused so much controversy, as he was still in prison when they started filming it, that it never saw a proper release. You can find copies online though.

Skeet Ulrich is serviceable as Mitnick, Donal Logue is great as Lewis de Payne and if you can separate the film from the actual story and person it was based on and just see it as a work of fiction it becomes a lot more watchable.

7. Blackhat (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CA95Bzpy7s

I honestly don’t know how I feel about this movie, I watched it and then heard there was a director’s cut that was longer and more cohesive. I purchased a special edition Blu-ray so I could watch the director’s cut and I still don’t know how I feel about it.

A lot of people in the hacking scene hate it, but it looks great, it is very visually stylish and Mann seems really engaged with the subject matter. Chris Hemsworth is miscast though, or he was told to act in a way that renders his character an emotionless hulk for most of the movie.

6. The Net (1995)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsHYQjHrhKY

I really like this movie, it meanders a bit in the middle but the overall concept is tight and if you can ignore the hand waving over whether any of it is technically possible you will have a good time.

Sandra Bullock is great and the plot captures genuine anxiety from the mid-90s as to how this thing called the internet was steadily encroaching on people’s lives and threatening to change society.

You can find a video I made about it over at the YouTube channel.

5. 23 (1998)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUDWU4RBtds

The first of two German hacker movies on this list, it is set in the 80s and really feels like it. I’ll warn you now though this is based on the real life case of young German hackers who handed data over to the Soviet government, it does not have a happy ending.

You may have trouble tracking down a copy with english subtitles for this one, I don’t think there is any dubbed version.

I’ve made a video on this movie over on my YouTube channel.

4. Masterminds (1997)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5gtXzHnN7M

This is an action comedy with Patrick Stewart holding a school full of rich kids hostage while a teen hacker who was previously expelled from the school tries to thwart his plans.

The plot moves along quickly, there is a satisfactory amount of action and Patrick Stewart makes a wonderful villain, I recommend checking it out.

3. Enemy of the State (1998)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3mrRv-1khI

I recently rewatched this movie, having originally seen it in the cinema when it came out with my local 2600 meetup, and I still like it. The concerns over privacy seem really outdated now, as we all hand over so much data to corporations and the government.

It is a solid movie about a man (Will Smith) who isn’t the most technically minded person finding himself up against a vast and nefarious surveillance apparatus. Plus you get Jamie Kennedy and Jack Black as smart ass government hackers, I feel like both of them played similar roles in multiple movies.

2. Who Am I (2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vnjheCqRIs

The second German movie on this list, I love this movie. A dark thriller about a young man who joins a sort of Anonymous like hacker group, has various thrills and spills with them before disaster strikes.

A little bit Mr Robot, you need to check this movie out if you like your hacker movies with tangled plots and absolutely soaked in paranoia.

1. The Steal (1995)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBxvGaIK2eE

I only discovered this movie recently and until it appeared on some streaming services it was quite hard to track down.

It is a whimsical British crime caper involving a free spirited American con artist and an uptight British computer programmer being pursued by a British aristocrat, while they try to drain bank accounts belonging to an evil corporation.

Hacking and social engineering play a heavy role in the movie and I love the cast.

You can watch the entire movie on YouTube, linked above.

Conclusion

I was going to include some honorable mentions here, but honestly there are so many movies I could have added to this list that a follow up blog is inevitable.

If you enjoyed this blog head on over to Bluesky for similar thoughts on hackers in pop culture.

#23 #Blackhat #EnemyOfTheState #film #films #Germany #hackers #hacking #HideAndSeek #history #KevinMitnick #list #Masterminds #Mitnick #Movies #PrimeRisk #Sneakers #Swordfish #Takedown #TheNet #TheSteal #WarGames #WarGames #Webmaster #WhoAmI_

Interview with Vandana Verma at Black Hat! @infosecvandana #blackhat

https://twp.ai/4iq2V5