Within Black Mirror: The National Anthem, computer and network security plays a small role in how the distribution of information pertaining to the kidnapped princess unraveled. After the ransom video was traced back to an abandoned campus, the prime minister secretly sends a team to search the premises in an attempt to locate the princess.
In order to obtain more information about the government’s internal actions, an eager reporter used revealing images to persuade a government worker to provide more details. Though not done through a computer, the method used by the reporter has similarities to a low-tech hacking technique called social engineering. This method entails the manipulation of a person inside an organization to gain access to confidential information. Since the persuasion was done on the phone and included the demand of sensitive government information, it draws many similarities to social engineering [1].
The persuasion used to glean this information also has similarities to another type of cyber attack called spear phishing. Spear phishing is a type of attack targeted at a specific group or individual which attempts to exploit their gullibility to gain sensitive information. In this case, the attacker exploited the gullibility of the government worker by making him believe that turning over the classified information would earn her favor. Due to the government worker’s belief in the attacker’s statements, sensitive information was granted to the attacker [1].
By using social engineering and/or spear phishing, the reporter was able to find out about the potential location of the captured princess, which is classified government information. Under US law, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act criminalizes a large variety of hacker-related activities, including the transmission of classified government information. Because the reporter caused this breach in network security, they would be subject to up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine [1].
The ability for one attacker to steal important information from the government without even using any digital hacking techniques presents a major security concern within their information network. With only a single point of failure within their building, the attacker was able to gain information that led to the broadcast of a secret government operation and the harm of a civilian.
[1] Michael J. Quinn, Ethics for the Information Age, (Pearson, 2025), 317-333