{"id":44499,"date":"2015-07-20T16:53:23","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T23:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.mcafee.com\/?p=44499"},"modified":"2025-08-15T08:56:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T15:56:21","slug":"you-should-watch-mr-robot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have an interest in cybersecurity and popular culture, do yourself a favor now: go watch Mr. Robot<\/a>, USA Network\u2019s latest original series. It\u2019s a show about hackers, political intrigue and the nature of power, but more than that, it\u2019s great television.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still on the fence about committing to a 45-minute show, here\u2019s what you\u2019re missing out on: a great physiological drama that uses hacking as a means of telling a story, rather than playing up hacking as a task as simple as slamming on keyboards to instantly crack codes.<\/p>\n

The overarching plot of the series, so far, is this: Elliot Alderson\u2014cybersecurity engineer by day, vigilante hacker by night\u2014is recruited by an elite hacker group called \u201cFSociety\u201d to help take down E-Corp, a conglomerate said to own most of the world\u2019s debt. Elliot works for a struggling company employed to protect E-Corp from hackers like FSociety. FSociety\u2019s goal is to eliminate that debt\u2019s data in particular, in an effort to free countless people from debt payments. This conflict puts Elliot in the center of a moral battlefield. All fine and good as far as plots go, but it\u2019s how Elliot\u2014or Mr. Robot\u2014pulls off the small details that makes it stand out.<\/p>\n

DDoS Attacks Explained<\/h2>\n

Let me explain.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the pilot episode, E-Corp suffers what\u2019s called a Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS, attack. This attack is a type of malicious activity that floods an organization\u2019s servers with so much traffic that legitimate visitors can\u2019t gain access to a network. It\u2019s a bit like the highway rush-hour: everyone\u2019s packed in and no one is going anywhere, but in this case the majority of cars are driverless.<\/p>\n

As an aside: DDoS attacks are relatively common. They\u2019re fairly poorly-executed attacks often used by pretty low-skilled hackers, simply wanting to knock a website offline in order to gain attention. However, in the right hands, DDoS attacks can be harbingers of far more serious, far more troublesome attacks.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s exactly what happens.<\/p>\n

Elliot is brought in to stop the DDoS attack and does. In the course of doing so he discovers the attack is a vehicle for a more serious attack: a root attack. A root attack (or rootkit<\/a>) a stealthy sort of malicious program<\/a> that both a) hides its presence extraordinarily well on a system and b) grants the cybercriminal privileged access to a computer or network. In this case, the attack threatens to infect multiple E-Corp servers and Elliot, again, is tasked with stopping it.<\/p>\n

After an intense scene, Elliot succeeds. But it turns out the attack is more of a message\u2014a message for Elliot hoping that he\u2019ll join FSociety in taking down the very company he\u2019s employed to protect. I\u2019ll let you tune in to see the rest.<\/p>\n

What I like about Mr. Robot is that it clearly presents actual cybersecurity techniques and issues, in a way that is digestible for viewers unfamiliar with them. Yes, sometimes cybersecurity engineers play both sides of the field for both good and ill; yes, Tor, a network allowing its users to browse the Internet anonymously, can be broken<\/a>. There\u2019s no one that stops and explains these things to the viewer, but all presented concepts are easy to understand regardless.<\/p>\n

While there are some inaccuracies<\/a>, they are almost always in service of plot. Like I said about Blackhat<\/a>: one of the most difficult things to translate onscreen is an appropriate sense of time. It takes a lot of time for some programs used in cybersecurity to perform tasks. It also takes a lot of time for hackers to do the research, planning and execution to make successful cyberattacks happen. It takes months of planning and monitoring for cybercriminals to execute every successful breach you see in the news.<\/p>\n

Mr. Robot also hits the nail on the head around hacktivist mentality\u2014hackers who hack for apparent social justice causes. A lot of hackers don\u2019t see themselves, or their actions, as criminal. Some believe that they\u2019re righting wrongs by compromising and exposing secrets. And in some cases, as we see with Elliot in the first few minutes of the pilot, they do just that. But a natural conflict arises when innocent people get caught in middle. It makes for a good story.<\/p>\n

Overall, I think Mr. Robot is likely the closest we\u2019ll get to an accurate portrayal<\/a> of hacking on television. Cybersecurity may not be the most glamorous line of work, but it can be very intriguing.<\/p>\n

For more articles and insights, stay on top of the latest consumer and mobile security threats by following @McAfee_Home<\/a> and myself<\/a> on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have an interest in cybersecurity and popular culture, do yourself a favor now: go watch Mr. Robot, USA…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":674,"featured_media":67436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10661,13],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3973],"class_list":["post-44499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet-security","category-privacy-identity-protection"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How | McAfee Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you have an interest in cybersecurity and popular culture, do yourself a favor now: go watch Mr. Robot. Here's how the show gets hacking right.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How | McAfee Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you have an interest in cybersecurity and popular culture, do yourself a favor now: go watch Mr. Robot. Here's how the show gets hacking right.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"McAfee Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-20T23:53:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-15T15:56:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"McAfee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@McAfee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@McAfee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"McAfee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"McAfee\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/47851fdb92fad9456152405839c92efa\"},\"headline\":\"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-20T23:53:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-15T15:56:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/\"},\"wordCount\":812,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/robot_arm650.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Internet Security\",\"Privacy & Identity Protection\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/\",\"name\":\"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How | McAfee Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/robot_arm650.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-20T23:53:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-15T15:56:21+00:00\",\"description\":\"If you have an interest in cybersecurity and popular culture, do yourself a favor now: go watch Mr. Robot. Here's how the show gets hacking right.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/robot_arm650.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/robot_arm650.png\",\"width\":650,\"height\":488},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Internet Security\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/\",\"name\":\"McAfee Blog\",\"description\":\"Internet Security News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#organization\",\"name\":\"McAfee\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mcafee-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mcafee-logo.png\",\"width\":1286,\"height\":336,\"caption\":\"McAfee\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/McAfee\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mcafee\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/McAfee\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/47851fdb92fad9456152405839c92efa\",\"name\":\"McAfee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/1ffadfeeda1f4f9e7891a81f27a9ecf4\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Original-Logo-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Original-Logo-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"McAfee\"},\"description\":\"We're here to make life online safe and enjoyable for everyone.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mcafee\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/McAfee\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/author\/mcafee\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How | McAfee Blog","description":"If you have an interest in cybersecurity and popular culture, do yourself a favor now: go watch Mr. Robot. Here's how the show gets hacking right.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How | McAfee Blog","og_description":"If you have an interest in cybersecurity and popular culture, do yourself a favor now: go watch Mr. Robot. Here's how the show gets hacking right.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/","og_site_name":"McAfee Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/","article_published_time":"2015-07-20T23:53:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-15T15:56:21+00:00","author":"McAfee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@McAfee","twitter_site":"@McAfee","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"McAfee","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/"},"author":{"name":"McAfee","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/47851fdb92fad9456152405839c92efa"},"headline":"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How","datePublished":"2015-07-20T23:53:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-15T15:56:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/"},"wordCount":812,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/robot_arm650.png","articleSection":["Internet Security","Privacy & Identity Protection"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/","name":"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How | McAfee Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/robot_arm650.png","datePublished":"2015-07-20T23:53:23+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-15T15:56:21+00:00","description":"If you have an interest in cybersecurity and popular culture, do yourself a favor now: go watch Mr. Robot. Here's how the show gets hacking right.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/robot_arm650.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/robot_arm650.png","width":650,"height":488},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/you-should-watch-mr-robot\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Internet Security","item":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Mr. Robot Gets Hacking Right. Here\u2019s How"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/","name":"McAfee Blog","description":"Internet Security News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#organization","name":"McAfee","url":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mcafee-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mcafee-logo.png","width":1286,"height":336,"caption":"McAfee"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/","https:\/\/x.com\/McAfee","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mcafee\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/McAfee"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/47851fdb92fad9456152405839c92efa","name":"McAfee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/1ffadfeeda1f4f9e7891a81f27a9ecf4","url":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Original-Logo-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Original-Logo-96x96.png","caption":"McAfee"},"description":"We're here to make life online safe and enjoyable for everyone.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/McAfee\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mcafee\/","https:\/\/x.com\/McAfee"],"url":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/author\/mcafee\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/674"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44499"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219988,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44499\/revisions\/219988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44499"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=44499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}