The world isnt run by weapons any more or energy or money. Its run by little ones and zeroes little bits of data. Its all just electrons Theres a war out there old friend, a World War. And its not about whos got the most bullets. Its about who controls the information; what we see and hear, how we work, what we think. Its all about the information. In the movie sneakers cosmo makes this statement signifying that who occupys the information has power over the world rather than who has the greatest army or armaments.
The movie is the basis of this concept that with information is power. In the movie a small group of talented hackers are hired by who they think are the NSA to recover a small black box. When they find this box they discover that is a universal code breaker of every secret computer file in the world, everyone is after them. During the movie everyone desires to get their hands on this box, as they know what power it holds. At one stage in the movie they use the box to enter into the airport terminal control center where they have the power to direct aircrafts wherever they want.
They have the ability to access the FBI database or any other government agencys database in the world; such access gives the owner of the box complete power. An example of how this power could be used is this, if there is a war currently in progress, the knowledge within this box could be used to access a military database of the opposing force and would show where the enemy is situated or based then an air raid could wipe them out. Obviously this is an extreme example of what such information could be used for but this is a highly probable situation. Its all about the information
With access to any secret file in the world you have unlimited power, access to banks where you can withdraw billions of dollars, access to nuclear weapons and missile silos around the world, the ability to reek havoc upon any country or person in the world. Information is power. The agencys within the movie understand this, as does cosmo who makes the statement, that is why they are all out to find the box as international abomination is capable; not with millions of military ground troops, not with thousands of jet fighters, not with megatons of nuclear power, but with one simple thing, information.
To put this into a real life retrospective; not long ago for a terrorist to black out New York City he would have to make physical contact with the power plant by means of bombs, or actual hands on in destroying the power grid. This is not the case anymore. Now experts say it is very possible for a trained computer hacker to create the blackout, and even worse he could be as far away as Tehran, Iran. This hacker could also have full technological and financial backing of that foreign government.
In a closed briefing to Congress, the CIA chief said at least 12 countries; some which are hostile to America are creating computer programs to attack other nations information and computer systems. China, Libya, Russia, Iraq, and Iran are just a few that pose a serious threat to the United States. All one of these countries would have to do is create a bug that would mess up the computer systems of the United States banks, and that would sequentially destroy the U. S. Economy. The organizations in the movie strive to get their hands on the box, the power.
The small group of people who have the box know that once these agencies have the box they will use the power for destructive purposes. Thats why they must do everything in their control to prevent this from happening. Most of the worlds infrastructure is either driven or connected by computers. Financial networks, the flow of oil and gas through pipelines, water reservoirs, sewage treatment plants, power and air traffic control systems, telecommunications, emergency services are just a few examples of what is run by computers. This is how such a device as this black box can be used to gain admission to all of these networks.
In February 1997 computer experts at the Pentagon detected an invader. Someone was hacking into the systems at Air Force and Navy bases around the U. S, trying to get in and access the information. The NSA tracked the intruder to Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates. The hackers turned out to be just a couple of teenage boys in Cloverdale California, coached by a third teenager in Israel. The threat of information warfare is deadly serious. The Pentagon sends about 85% of it\’s communication over commercial telephone lines, which are very vulnerable.
Knowledgeable officials in the Government and private experts all agree the danger of cyber terrorism is very real, and present. With 85% of the pentagons communication sent over phone lines, contact with this information by such means as a black box would be priceless. Control of information is control of power. Today in the real world information plays a major part in the events of today. Control of information is complete power as shown in the examples above where people have tried to access information as the power behind it has phenomenal potential to cause havoc. Its all about the information.