(credit: Showtime)
Admittedly, many of my colleagues at Ars—not to mention readers—have far more extensive knowledge of computer security than I do. But even I can recognize a ridiculous hacking scene when I see one.
And boy, Sunday night’s season opener of Homeland contained a doozy. If you’re not a Homeland fan, all you need to know for a basis is that this show is set within a fictional but modern-day CIA. (This particular season is set in Berlin.) Within the first four minutes of Season 5, Episode 1—before any recognizable characters show up on screen—two IT guys working for a Berlin-based porn site somehow manage to penetrate the CIA Berlin Station’s firewall and steal over 1,000 sensitive files. (Art imitating life, anyone?)
Showtime
Somehow in the world of Homeland, real search engines don't exist.
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Here’s how Homeland depicts an epic CIA hack: