In The Social Network, there are a few moments in the movie related to computer and network security. One of these moments is at the beginning of the movie when Zuckerberg crashes the Harvard network. As is portrayed in the movie, the Facemash website received 22,000 connections in just a few hours after Zuckerberg sent the website to other students. This overloaded the Harvard network and the servers went down. This scene is a great portrayal of how, in our technology-filled world, individuals can unintentionally cause disorder. In July 2024, we saw this firsthand when Crowdstrike, a back-end vendor servicing Microsoft Windows, implemented an update with bugs that caused flights to be canceled, banks to stay closed, and confusion in hospitals. Also, Facemash crashing the Harvard network alludes to how it is simple for individuals with the right knowledge and ample capabilities can cause disruptions to our computer networks.
As discussed in the Information Privacy and Privacy and the Government section, the creation of Facemash required Mark Zuckerberg to hack into dormitories' "facebooks" and scrape the profile pictures of female students. This indicates a weakness in Harvard's network security, allowing the misuse of private information. As greater amounts of sensitive information are stored online, the security of networks and databases becomes increasingly important.
In the section of the movie when the Facebook team is interviewing summer intern applicants, Mark mentions a couple of terms relating to computer and network security. He mentions how the potential interns need to expose a server's SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. SSL encryption allows information on the web to be transmitted with a high level of security. The information being sent is unreadable and difficult to decrypt. It prevents individuals from accessing private information being sent from one network to another. Mark also mentions how the interns are conducting the hacking behind a PIX firewall emulator – software emulating a PIX firewall, which is physical hardware that prevents unauthorized network access by filtering connections. They are staying hidden to avoid the detection of their antics.