Last Updated: February 26th, 2024
Along with technical skills, one needs inspiration to develop into an ethical hacker. The majority of techies now are interested in learning how to hack through the innovative work of groups like Anonymous. Such documentaries on hacking will push one into becoming a hacker if they still feel hopeless. These documentaries would guarantee to make you take your coding and power up your computers, as they are very informative and brings interest to the topic.
Best Documentaries on Hacking You Should Watch
10. Zero days
Year- 2016
Runtime- 1hr 56mins
Watch on – Amazon Prime
The documentary was made portraying ‘Stuxnet’, a self-replicating computer virus that Israel and the United States deployed to disrupt a crucial component of an Iranian nuclear facility but which ended up spreading beyond its original target.
The Deadly computer virus and the development of the malware known as the “Olympic Games” are also topics featured in Zero Days. It ends with a discussion of the Iran Nuclear Deal and the orders of cyber operation “Nitro Zeus.”
The implications of ‘Stuxnet’, the software that was allegedly used to disrupt Iranian nuclear production of nuclear material, are discussed by technologists and decision-makers. Zero days is one of the documentaries on hacking you should watch.
Stuxnet created a new phase where industrial control systems were pushed to the front lines of possible invasion and the internet was transformed into a battlefield. Zero Days explores further into this captivating story.
9. The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz
Year-2014
Runtime-1hr 45mins
Watch on- amazon prime
A documentary film that recounts the miserable life of cyber activist and developer Aaron Swartz.
In 2010, a contentious cybercrime prosecution against the co-founder of Reddit hinged all around for stealing research papers from the JSTOR over the MIT network. Swartz reacted because he thought that academic research shouldn’t be kept behind a price.
Swartz killed himself because he was concerned about being sent to jail.
This portrays the life of American programmer, author, activist, and social organizer Aaron Swartz. Along with interviews with his coworkers and friends, it also includes family members.
The documentary chronicles his life up to his untimely suicide during a judicial dispute and examines the issues with the availability of information and civil freedoms that motivated his work and activities.
8. The Great Hack
Year-2019
Runtime- 1hr 54mins
Watch on – Netflix
This is Odd, the most popular documentary about hacking doesn’t even discuss hacking techniques and technologies of any kind; instead, it concentrates on how social information gathering is exploited for political advantage.
A Netflix-distributed movie called The Great Hack revolves around the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica server problem and claims of shady practices during the US presidential election in 2016 and the Brexit campaign.
The documentary centers on Carole Cadwalladr, a British investigative journalist, and Brittany Kaiser, a former business development associate at SCL Group, the organization that owns Cambridge Analytica.
7. We Are Legion“The Story of the Hacktivists”
Year-2012
Runtime- 1hr 36mins
Watch on -Youtube
Link- https://youtu.be/ZHl0WI32XkY
Filmmaker Brian Knappen Berger delivers a well-crafted investigation of the internal dynamics and principles of the cyber community Anonymous.
We Are Legion outlines many actions taken by the cybercriminal group to achieve its goals, such as strikes on the Church of Scientology and subsequently attacks targeting DDoS payment processors that cut off WikiLeaks’ operation.
This film tends toward portraying phishers as libertarians who use their expertise to oppose what they view as unethical corporate and governmental objectives.
At least obviously, it makes hacking an illegal action that can have disastrous repercussions for any entity that gets caught in the collective’s sights.
The attackers of We Are Legion, as well as other hacker documentaries, shed light on the true price of a cyber-attempt, irrespective of if a hacker is motivated by social equality or criminal purpose.
6. Secret history of hacking
Year- 2001
Runtime- 50mins
Watch on- youtube
Link – https://youtu.be/PUf1d-GuK0Q
The Secret History of Hacking, a 2001 documentary on the Discovery Channel TV show, explores the origins of computer “hacktivism” put out from the mid-1970s through into the nineties, with a special emphasis on Kevin Mitnick, a well-known, top-rated hacker who later turned into turned a cyber-security expert.
This documentary shows how hacking developed from a hobby for enthusiasts to the start of cyber-attacks, along with how law enforcement joined the fight against the hackers’ community as their actions increased the economic losses caused by those who were invaded.
5. Def Con: The documentary
Year- 2013
Runtime- 1hr 50mins
Watch on- YouTube
The program was shot through in four days in L.A. in 2012 during the 20th annual “Defcon” hacker’s conference. Any remaining notions that phishers are a marginal or fringe power that can be disregarded or neglected are debunked by this film. Additionally, it debunks the myth that hackers are social misfits or loners and demonstrates how the hacker community is joining together to tackle common problems.
The logical conclusion is that as phishers do get more professional, their unique methods will advance and their initiatives will be more effective.
It was a movie about the 20th anniversary of the biggest hacking convention in the world. The filming took place through the summertime of 2012, and there were countless hours of interviews, events, celebrations, and performances.
4. Citizenfour
Year- 2014
Runtime- 1hr 54mins
Watch on – Amazon Prime
The above hacking short film concisely discusses Edward Snowden, a former NSA analyst who turned into a whistle-blower, and his flight from American officials to Hong Kong & subsequently to Russia after disclosing highly sensitive data regarding the worldwide government surveillance that the American government uses to intrude on individual citizens and the operations of other countries.
The widely praised Citizen four tells the actual narrative of why Edward Snowden revealed the scope of the US government’s extensive surveillance of its people.
The documentary by Laura Poitras plays out like the build-up to a mystery while providing an everyday narrative of Snowden as he interacts with the press before the release of his shocking discoveries.
3. The Hacker Wars
Year- 2014
Runtime- 1hr 31mins
Watch on – youtube
This documentary tries to bring attention to the social fair justice concerns that some cyber attackers employ to strike against what they believe to be government precautions to control data. This video concentrates on three men and intelligence data releases. But it excludes the far more pervasive hacking issue that hits businesses and results in huge losses that might force such businesses to fail and cause financial lags for those shareholders. The conflict between hacker groups and the US authorities is the primary topic of the video.
Despite revealing a loophole in AT&T’s security that allowed the email accounts of several iPad users to be revealed, Auernheimer was bizarrely found guilty and sentenced to prison. The 2012 sentencing for computer fraud and information theft was ultimately overturned.
Brown was indeed a member of the operated group Anonymous and served in this capacity as an unauthorized representative for the group. He was charged with crimes related to that same 2012 Stratfor leaked emails.
Hammond was found guilty of breaching the business intelligence company Stratfor and then leaking the information to WikiLeaks.
This was a pretty interesting case, worth watching.
2. Hackers World: Anonymous
Year – 2012
Runtime – 20mins
Watch on – YouTube
This is a shorter interview or video to get the outline of the popular phisher group Anonymous. This documentary was taken in 2012. Hackers World: Anonymous Investigation, also included the hacking group Anonymous. This was an exceptional interview with an alleged representative of the Anonymous network that was featured in this video. Some viewers might interpret this clip as a defense of specific hacking practices. However, “hacking” goes well beyond employing coding skills for social equality. In the modern technological era, a vast number of cybercriminals use their abilities to collect data and other personal details to profit monetarily. Hackers World: Anonymous is another one of the documentaries on hacking worth watching. Learn Python.
1. WannaCry: The Marcus Hutchins Story
Year – 2019
Runtime – 25mins
Watch on – YouTube
After unexpectedly finding a kill switch that prevented the spread of WannaCry moments just after malware had infected many systems around the world, Marcus Hutchins catapulted from relative obscurity to overnight stardom as of May 2017. WannaCry is perhaps one of the best documentaries on hacking.
The biography of Marcus Hutchins, once a harmful hacker from the UK, is the subject of an interesting documentary. When he discovered a cure for the Wannacry virus, he was elevated to national hero status. Soon afterward, he was detained in the United States for the record of hacking and was sentenced to a ten-year prison sentence. Marcus’s impressive effort was noted by the court, which advised against using his 140 IQ in illegal activities. Like his Kronos stock. Marcus received a sentence of only suspended sentences, and he was dismissed.
Neither of the computer networks is secure from cybercriminals, despite repeated attempts by government regulations to hinder their operations, according to all those kinds and other hacker’s films. A single hacking attempt can destroy a cash flow and leave it open to catastrophic legal action from external individuals whose information could have been compromised. By offering funds and resources to make up for deficits and liabilities.
Hopefully, these documentaries on hacking and hacktivists may inspire you in some way.