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Bruce Willis thwarts cybergeddon

Haxploitation opus set for summer release

Bruce Willis will face down cyberterrorists in upcoming blockbuster Live Free or Die Hard.

Ex-model turned actress Maggie Q will play an uber-hacker out to bring down the US's transport and banking system with a few mouse clicks in the forthcoming haxploitation opus.

In an entertaining development, the latest installment of the franchise finds Willis's character (John McClane) as a semi-retired, divorced, recovering alcoholic working for Homeland Security. He's aided in his fight by a whizz-kid hacker he has in custody at the time the cyber-attack kicks off.

Without giving away too much of the plot, Willis shoots the bad guys and knocks helicopters out of the sky after his car gets stuck in traffic.

Well-known cyber-security myth debunker Rob Rosenberger said the movie frightens him, but not for the reasons the film makers are seeking to achieve. "I fear this movie will give 'cyber-terrorism' the hysterical push it's been waiting for," he told El Reg.

"Remember when the 'Good Times virus alert' spawned a year-long tsunami of email mass hysteria? I fear nothing less from this Bruce Willis movie. Imagine Richard Clarke, John Arquilla, and D.K. Matai on a 'This Week With David Nerdly' where they all scream about the coming cybergeddon." ®

Bootnote

Two years ago, the National Security Agency stand at the RSA Conference in San Francisco featured a video warning about the supposed threat of cyberterrorism from Sylvester Stallone.

In a style reminiscent of has-been actor Troy McClure from The Simpsons, Sly said viewers might remember him from films such as Rambo where he came up against terrorists. A new breed of terrorist was on the loose who used computer viruses and hacking techniques, he said, informing conference delegates that their businesses were on the front line of defending against attack.

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