Watch this video and pay attention to the way that movies distort hackers. Hacker Rates 12 Hacking Scenes In Movies And TV | How Real Is It? – YouTube

• After watching the video, write a journal entry about how you think the media influences our understanding about cybersecurity

The media influences our understanding of many different things. For good and for bad. When it comes to cybersecurity, TV and movies bring a skewed view of the subject as a whole. While there are many things that the media may get right, the media is at its core a source of income for someone. In order to make money the media has to be viewed, and in order to be viewed the media has to attract viewers in some way or another. America in particular is crazy about drama. If something can be portrayed to produce some sort of drama, the views skyrocket. The same is true in the media’s portrayal of cybersecurity. By making it seem like the hackers can do anything and everything, it gives the viewer this idea that they can and will be targeted for the slightest thing. This tends to set up one of two possible scenarios. The first is that the viewer is scared and distrusts the internet thus not being educated about how to protect themselves or secondly the individual will get a thrill from taking a risky action which could lead to them being targeted.