Hollywood Cyberattacks And The Real-Word Automated Tech That Stops Them

For the past forty or so years, Hollywood has been serving up intense and dramatic portrayals of cyberattacks. From the Matrix to the newest installment of Mission: Impossible, these on-screen hacks are fast and unstoppable, with characters often able to take control of devices and files in an instant. But, in reality, it doesn’t really work like that. Real-life attacks take time, and organizations often rely on automated defenses to stop threats before they cause any harm. Solutions like file monitoring, web application firewalls, and endpoint detection work together to monitor systems and neutralize malicious activity. If you look at the difference between Hollywood portrayals and real-world cyberdefense, you can see just how important these automated tools are in keeping businesses and their data safe.

Automatic file monitoring

Eagle Eye (2008) is a classic example of a cyberattack exaggerated for the big screen. In the movie, a powerful AI successfully gains control of people’s computers and sensitive files to track and manipulate the target characters. But, in reality, no attacker of any sort can get that kind of instant and all-encompassing access. Even if someone did attempt a smaller-scale hack, automated defenses like File Integrity Monitoring (FIM) would quickly pick up on it. This tool is especially important given that hackers are increasingly clever in their abilities to access and edit files and steal data undetected. FIM first records what files look like in their original state, which includes details like content, size, and access permissions. The system also generates a unique digital fingerprint, or hash value, for each file. Whenever the file changes, so does the hash value, and any tampering is, therefore, easy to see. The attack can then be stopped before further damage is done.

WAFs block malicious web-based attacks

The Social Network (2011) features a “capture the flag” challenge where Mark Zuckerberg puts Facebook interns to the test. He wants to see how well they understand cyberattacks and how to defend against them. The goal: hack into a Python website, intercept encrypted data, and hypothetically take control of the system. In reality, around 30,000 websites face attacks like this every day, with over 40% aimed at small businesses. While the movie itself portrays this simulated attack fairly realistically, web application firewalls (WAFs), which were still in their infancy at the time, largely prevent these kinds of attacks today.

A WAF is essentially a security barrier that sits between the internet and a web application. It automatically spots and blocks harmful traffic that tries to reach the server. WAFs use a set of predefined rules to thwart common attacks, but these rules can also be custom-tweaked to suit a business's unique needs. For example, if a company is often hit with a lot of bot activity from a certain location, the WAF can be configured to block traffic from that region. WAFs also use behavioural analytics to identify suspicious behavior, like sudden traffic surges or unusual login activity, that might signal a threat. The system can then send alerts to security teams or simply take automatic action to stop the attack itself.

Endpoint detection stops malware before it spreads

In Blackhat (2015), a hacker uses malware to cause a nuclear reactor meltdown and create nationwide chaos. While this sort of plot sounds far-fetched, it’s actually based on a real-world event: the Stuxnet malware attack on Iran’s Natanz uranium plant. What’s not realistic, though, is how quickly it happens, as an attack like this would really take months for a hacker to pull off. Still, the film successfully highlights the very real threat of malware. 2024 saw over 6.5 billion malware attacks worldwide, and 1 in 2 businesses pay a ransom after a successful attack.

To defend against malware, businesses often use endpoint detection and response (EDR). This technology keeps a constant watch on network-connected devices, including servers, computers, and smartphones, for signs of malware and other suspicious activity. It uses behavioural analytics to analyze huge volumes of data to spot threats in real time. If malware is discovered, EDR will block it in its tracks. And to contain the damage, it can also isolate infected devices from the rest of the network.

Hollywood loves big and dramatic cyberattacks. In reality, though, automated cyberdefense tools usually work behind the scenes to detect and neutralize threats, and keep businesses safe.