Module 11

The movie I chose to watch is War Games. This is a movie that I really enjoyed watching as a kid, but one that I did not fully grasp or follow at that age. After watching the movie again, the plot and story line made much more sense with my background in computer science.

The story begins with a simulation of a nuclear attack against the United States from the Soviet Union. A large computer named the “WAPR” sits at NORAD and monitors and simulates WWIII, and how to respond to such an attack. A teenage boy named David, who is a computer junkie, breaks into his school database via a dial-up connection and changes his grades, along with his friend Jennifer's, after hacking the password from the principal's office. He also breaks in to the Pan-AM database and creates reservations for himself and Jennifer to fly to Paris just for fun. His computer is constantly dialing phone numbers, and finds a response from a computer in Sunnyvale, California which has a list of games to play. However, he is unable to access them due to being unable to get past the security. He visits a couple of his computer programming friends and they suggest the concept of a back door; one that is placed to bypass front end security and is simply accessed by a password of the programmer's choice. David researches the developer of the program, Professor Falken, and finds out he is deceased, and that his family was killed in an auto accident. He also learns his child’s name is “Joshua” and uses that as the password and successfully enters the back door.

He begins interaction with the computer, as it is one that can think for itself, much like we as humans can think and make decisions on our own. He suggests playing a game, “Global Nuclear War”, and the computer begins by asking him if he would like to be on the side of the United States or the Soviet Union. He responds he would like to be on the side of the Soviet Union, and that he would like to launch a missile attack targeting Las Vegas and his hometown of Seattle. This sets off a fury of excitement at NORAD, as they don’t know this is a simulation and are preparing for an actual attack by the Soviet Union.

At this point, “Joshua”, the program running the whole operation, has stolen the launch codes from NORAD, and is simply waiting for Death Con 1 which is required to launch the missiles. David and Jennifer find out that Professor Falken is actually still alive, and pay him a visit at his home on a small Island off the coast of Oregon, as they believe he is the only one who can stop “Joshua” from going through with the game and launching the nuclear missiles. “Joshua” begins another simulation that launches 300 missiles, which takes NORAD to Death Con 1, and enables a full scale nuclear response. Professor Falken and David make an entrance into NORAD just in time. As all the gates and doors are closed, they convince the general that this is simply a simulation and not an actual attack by the Soviet Union. As the screens at NORAD reflect missiles striking the United States at various points, it becomes clear that this is just a simulation. Eventually, David and Professor Falken convince “Joshua” to play a game of tic-tact-toe and teach “Joshua” the notion of futility. This is an important concept of the movie, as when Professor Falken programmed “Joshua”, he was unsuccessful in teaching “Joshua” this concept. This concept is what is necessary for “Joshua” to understand that not all games are winnable.

The use of computers in the movie are for the most part realistic. Back in 1983 when this movie came out, computers and networks were rather elementary compared to today's technologies, but in my estimation, hacking of computer equipment and causing problems was a real problem, just as it is today. The back door notion that was suggested by David's friends is also realistic. This is a concept I have heard of quite a bit though my education in computer science. What classifies as fiction in the movie, is the depiction that a program could actually be developed that can think and make decisions on its own. Even today, I believe this is out of the scope of what technologies are capable of.

The social issue this movies brings up is security. Even though this was simply a game that a young teenager wanted to play, the impact of such a breach of the nuclear network is very frightening. In today's world, with essentially all major components of life tied to networks, databases, and computers, the possibility that an essential infrastructure such as the electric grid being exposed by a terrorist, or a criminal network, is very real, and one that government and business alike should take very seriously. It has been discovered recently that Iran's nuclear program has been compromised by the efforts of US and Israeli personnel who devised a virus to penetrate the Iranian networks and set their nuclear program astray. This is an example of how hacking technologies actually benefit us, but that same virus and technology could just as easily be used in creating destruction. There are already concerns that now the Iranian breach has gone public, this virus could be studied by terrorists to create their own destructive plot against the United States.