Chapter 7

Computer and network security had a significant role within Black Mirror: Shut up and Dance. In the beginning of the movie Kenny downloads what he believes to be a malware cleaning tool called Shrive. However Shrive is actually disguised as a cleaning tool but is actually a tool used to access Kenny’s laptop. Shrive introduces the main plot of the movie by creating the connection between the hacker and Kenny, allowing the hacker to reach out to Kenny. The type of malware the hacker used is called a trojan horse virus, in reference to the story in Odysseus about how the city of Troy’s enemies entered into the city undetected in the form of a giant wooden horse, appearing as a gift [1]. The malware in the movie is classified as a trojan horse for similar reasons as it appeared as a non-harmful software but ended up having harmful intent. The trojan horse used by the hacker is classified as a spy trojan as the hacker only used their access to gain information on them and spy on their activity [1]. Although Kenny was doing illegal activities, under Kantianism the hacker was not behaving in an ethical manner. The hackers goal was to exploit Kenny, all the while having him complete a series of tasks for the hackers benefit, thus by the second categorical imperative the hacker was using Kenny as a means to an end.

As technology continues to grow so does the potential for malware to be created and used, in 2019 McAfee Labs reported a 119% increase in ransomware attacks and a 200% increase in banking trojans. There is a need for more education on computer and network security as users need to be more cautious while on the internet. Symantec estimates that fourteen adults become victims of a cyber crime attack every second [3]. That translates to over a million people a day, which is far too high of a number. Another reason there needs to be more security is due to the anonymous nature of the internet. It can be challenging to punish the people responsible for cyber attacks, but with more security this task can become easier.

Black Mirror: Shut up and Dance serves as a good example for what could happen to someone if they allow a piece of malware into their computer. Although clearly it is a dramatization of what could happen, there is nothing outside the realm of the technology that humanity currently has.


Sources

  1. What Is a Trojan Horse Virus?, Fortinet, (2022), https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/trojan-horse-virus

  2. Towards a systematic description of the feld using bibliometric analysis: malware evolution, Sharfah Ratibah Tuan Mat1 · Mohd Faizal Ab Razak1 · Mohd Nizam Mohmad Kahar1 · Juliza Mohamad Arif1 · Salwana Mohamad1 · Ahmad Firdaus1 , (04/10/2020), https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11192-020-03834-6.pdf

  3. A survey of emerging threats in cybersecurity, Julian Jang Jaccar, Surya Nepal, (2014), https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0022000014000178?token=C2C3612C59DCF2AD7F2802B119D1B4BB165D2E9B9FC293AB9E1F30ABD389E047B258D6F7AA9442676071DBB0DA2D93E5&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20220424185909