What Can You Learn About Cybersecurity From the Mr. Robot TV Series?
The award-winning television series Mr. Robot captivated audiences with its intense portrayal of a vigilante hacker battling corporate greed and corruption. However, beyond the gripping story lies a wealth of information about cybersecurity that audiences can learn from. With cyber threats becoming more and more common in today’s digital age, you need to know how to protect yourself and your private information. So what does Mr. Robot teach us? How you can apply these lessons to your own life?
How Mr. Robot Represents Cyberwarfare
There is a serious war going on in cyberspace; that is, in an invisible world.Cobalt reportsthat there are more than 2,200 attacks each day, equaling over 800,000 attacks a year. That’s roughly one cyberattack every 39 seconds. Malware threatens computers, systems, and, therefore, humans.
There are security experts who are trying to produce measures against these attacks. They hunt for harmful viruses, worms,and malware in the wild. The character of Elliot in the series Mr. Robot is such a security expert—at least during the day. At night, he turns into a cyberactivist, or the “hacktivist”.
Cyberattackers are divided into three main groups, the first of which is hacktivists. Hacktivists attempt to express their political thoughts and discourse via online action. The second group is cyber thieves. They attack to make money or rather to steal. Usually, they are after your credit card information. The third group is the structures affiliated with the states. They attack for intelligence or sabotage.
Since these attacks take place in a virtual environment, you may think that your computer’s software will bear the brunt of damage. However, it is possible for cyberattacks to target physical devices and even cause explosions.
If you were to research armies in the 19th century, you will only see land and naval forces. In the 20th century, as air technologies and the aircraft industry began to develop, air forces were added to the mix. However, in the 21st century, armies need cyber forces too.
Is Mr. Robot Realistic? A Real Life Example of Hacking
On October 21, 2016, some of the world’s biggest websites crashed. Systems such as PayPal and Netflix have become unusable. People couldn’t even play online games. Since they couldn’t access Twitter, people couldn’t tweet about this problem either. In an instant, the world’s 85 largest sites disappeared because they were undera massive DDoS attack.
The first episode of the Mr. Robot series, which was broadcast almost a year and a half before this event, was about a similar attack. But the target in the series was a company; in the real world,it was global DNS servers.
DNS servers redirect websites to their addresses when you type in their URLs. Attacks against DNS servers occur when this system is locked. If you compare this to a house, you’re able to think of an address you typed into the address bar as knocking on the door of that house. The door is more than capable of withstanding a knock from a single person. But what happens if tens of millions of people meet in front of the house within a few minutes and start knocking on the door? You would damage both the door and house. This is essentially how a DDoS attack works. It floods a site, causing damage to the overall infrastructure. This is basically what happened on October 21, 2016.
You might’ve even been involved in this attack, without knowing it.
An army of botnets paralyzed the servers with their requests at 1.2 terabits per second. This requires millions of devices. Botnets act like zombies; almost all devices that can connect to the internet can be zombies. After all, we live in the age of the Internet of Things. Your computer, modem, printer, smartphone, and many other devices you use can connect online. In such an attack, devices you use canbecome part of a botnetwithout your knowledge.
Whether one is willing or not, you are inherently involved in the digital culture. As a result, being digitally literate is crucial, and developing a strong understanding of cybersecurity is an essential component of this awareness. Fortunately, you can learn from a variety of sources: training courses, websites like MUO, video tutorials, and even TV shows…
What Can You Learn From Mr. Robot?
Mr. Robot is one of the most realistic productions when it comes to cybersecurity.
The main character of the series, Elliot, can crack some passwords very simply. The biggest lesson you can take from this is to change simple passwords like “123456”. In 2019, theBBC reportedthat almost 23 million people still use “123456” as their password. You need to come up with stronger, longer, and more unique passwords. “123456seven” isn’t a good alternative either. Remember, your password is your secret; do not share it with anyone.
In Mr. Robot, Elliot easily captures login credentials by trying all combinations using a password list that you can easily find on the internet. Real-world hackers use the same lists. They can try all combinations in a very short space of time using a program they have coded themselves. Or they could simply use one of the advanced tools already available to hackers.
The internet is comparable to the real world. While many parts of this world are beautiful, there are also dangerous, dark corners to stay away from. Just as you avoid going to such places, you should also avoid some addresses online. The site you enter may promise to give you something for free; a free download, for instance. But the file you download may infect your device with malware, spyware, adware, a keylogger, and ransomware.
In the second episode of Mr. Robot, someone was giving out free CDs. This freebie actually contained a Trojan horse.
In mythology, Odysseus, who wanted to seize the historical city of Troy (located within the borders of Çanakkale, Turkey, today), brings a huge wooden horse as a gift into the city. But inside lurked soldiers who had gained access to Troy through this subterfuge. The software equivalent of this is the remote administration tool.Trojan malwarecan get into your device via a CD, DVD, USB stick, or a file you download. Trojans allow the hacker to access your device remotely. Then, without you noticing, the hacker takes over all of your resources, including the camera and microphone.
Mr. Robot gives viewers a solid foundation on which to build their cybersecurity knowledge. Hopefully, that means more people are adept at dealing with hackers.
Take Precautions Against Mr. Robot-Like Hackers
When using online services, use two-step verification, if available. Track your digital footprints. Make sure your favorite websites are trustworthy. Don’t click on links within emails, nor download attachments. Don’t share your personal information.
Mr. Robot is just a TV show. Not everything in the series is real. However, the reality of this series is quite high. Be sure to learn lessons while watching this series. Remember, no system is safe.
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