Aaron Brady CS 3043 Chapter 7 Connection
Chapter 7 on Computer and Network Security directly relates to the movie Anon. The movie revolves around network security and the power that comes from individuals that can breach through this security. The main antagonists Anon and Cyrus are painted as hacker figures.
What makes Cyrus a typical hacker is that to make this switch in perspective he must breach into security; additionally, Anon commits breaches in security. The textbook defines a hacker of this day and age as “people who gain unauthorized access to computers and computer networks” [1]. Both Cyrus and Anon breach security in two instances of their activity. Although Cyrus was contracted by the Government Agency he gained unauthorized access to other people's sight, he hacked into the consciousness of his victims and altered what they could see. In this way Cyrus was also similar to early hackers as defined in the textbook “someone who was trying to make a system do something it had never done before” [1]. We can tell this has never been seen before by the reaction of Sal and the investigation crew, they were confused and astonished at what they saw the first time they watched the files. Anon’s breach can be seen in the erasing of her own files. She has an algorithm that splits her files into seconds and spreads out the files across people. So she has unauthorized editing abilities on her own files and also the ability to save her files in someone else's record. This makes it a huge and almost impossible puzzle to solve to get Anon’s data. She can go around the government recording of her consciousness to keep her privacy. Cyrus also uses file editing manipulate his own character throughout the movie to make him seem as a trustworthy investigator.
Cyrus uses unauthorized editing of his own memories to have the opportunity to be a part of the team investigating Anon. He uses the hacking of the user's perspective to hide his identity as a murderer from the Government and from the end user. His murder of Anon's contractors also clears him of suspicion as the Government is focused on Anon as the main suspect
Anon uses hacks of people’s consciousness to take advantage of Sal. While running in the subway systems, Anon is able to manipulate Sal so what he sees is not reality. She makes it seem as if there are extra steps on a staircase and that there is a parked subway train at a loading dock when one pulls in seconds later and nearly kills Sal. Additionally, Anon manipulates Sal's vision while he is on house arrest. The manipulation is so powerful, Sal kills one of his neighbors because what he saw was a hallway on fire. While these are not economically motivated cyber-attacks, as many are nowadays, Cyrus and Anon are able to commit crimes in a nearly untraceable way and manipulate people’s consciousness to get what they desire.
Spyware is also prevalent in the movie. It is used by the government to monitor in live time what a person is doing. The government uses this software to watch and monitor what Anon is doing. Spyware is the use of internet connections without the user’s knowledge [1]. This idea is interesting because in the movie, even when no one is physically with Anon she always acts with caution. Even though she did not know they were watching her, she always acted as if someone was watching through her eyes. This brings up the idea that, has everyone given up their consent to the government to allow them to always be watching.
Quinn, M. J. (2012). Ethics for the information age (8th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.