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13th May '13 9:19:13 PM Tiranasta

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9th May '13 10:06:39 AM Thexder

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9th May '13 10:03:37 AM Thexder

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A [[TheCracker Cracker]] or PlayfulHacker can cause unlimited harm/mischief in the TV world because any computer, or any device with a CPU as a component (or even with a few strands of copper wire in it) is connected to the Internet and thus becomes easily accessible and subvertible to the character's hacking skill. Everything from NORAD to the engine computer on your SUV can be tampered with and shut down from a laptop in a room thousands of miles away. This openly defies the fact that in ''neither'' case are said computers actually ''online'' in a way that is reachable by someone on a modem.

TV writers make no distinction between the Internet and the closed intranets used by governments, the military, or private companies. Nor do they apparently understand the fact that a lot of computers (like the ones in most cars) are closed systems that are responsible only to themselves, and are ''physically'' incapable of contacting outside networks at all, let alone receive remote instructions from some malicious techie.

This being said, writers were probably just getting a bit ahead of themselves as this is increasingly becoming TruthInTelevision. As ubiquitous internet connectivity becomes essential for almost any electronic gadget or device everything from cars [[hottip: * :which are now being marketed at the Consumer Electronics Expo]] to military networks will become increasingly hackable via the internet. Even without an explicit internet connection many devices have [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_star varying types]] of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth wireless functionality]] which, to a [[WorthyOpponent skilled adversary]], are as good as an internet connection.

While one would assume that any security sensitive computer system would avoid being connected to anything, most users and Sys-Admins will fight to the death to avoid complicating their [[MicrosoftWindows Windows Updates]] and G-Mail access so most computer systems end up attached to the internet. Even control units for critical infrastructure now only come with an RJ-45 connector and a hard coded ability to speak IP. Very few organizations have the resources or the will to construct their own air-gap networks, so all the traffic flows over the public Internet or telecommunications networks protected by [[ShieldsAreUseless VPNs and Firewalls]]. Finally, even if a system is air-gapped properly, this is still not a complete guarantee of security, as famously demonstrated by Stuxnet, which is thought to have spread to Iranian nuclear facilities through USB drives.

Still there still remain some gross exaggerations like the ability to [[{{Unperson}} erase a person's existence]] by deleting his identity records. In Hollywood reality, physical records like paper birth certificates and driver licenses are always null and void if the computers can't find a digital copy[[hottip: * :but since the computers contain records of where the records are, they could easily be destroyed.]]. Your friends and family will apparently forget you were ever born if the e-records are deleted[[hottip: * :but they would be unable to protect you if the authorities were convinced you are a criminal and/or a terrorist.]].

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A [[TheCracker Cracker]] or PlayfulHacker can cause unlimited harm/mischief in the TV world because any computer, or any device with a {{CPU}} as a component--or even with a few strands of copper wire in it--is connected to the Internet and thus becomes easily accessible and subvertible to the character's hacking skill. Everything from NORAD to the engine computer on your SUV can be tampered with and shut down from a laptop in a room thousands of miles away. This openly defies the fact that in ''neither'' case are said computers actually ''online'' in a way that is reachable by someone on a modem.

This being said, writers were probably just getting a bit ahead of themselves as this is increasingly becoming TruthInTelevision. As ubiquitous internet connectivity becomes essential for almost any electronic gadget or device, everything from cars [[note]]which are now being marketed at the Consumer Electronics Expo[[/note]] to military networks will become increasingly hackable via the internet. Even without an explicit internet connection, many devices have [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_star varying types]] of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluetooth wireless functionality]], which to a [[WorthyOpponent skilled adversary]] are as good as an internet connection.

While one would assume that any security sensitive computer system would avoid being connected to anything, most users and Sys-Admins will fight to the death to avoid complicating their [[MicrosoftWindows Windows updates]] and Gmail access so most computer systems end up attached to the internet. Even control units for critical infrastructure now only come with an RJ-45 connector and a hard-coded ability to speak IP. Very few organizations have the resources or the will to construct their own air-gap networks, so all the traffic flows over the public Internet or telecommunications networks protected by [[ShieldsAreUseless VPNs and firewalls]]. Finally, even if a system is air-gapped properly, this is still not a complete guarantee of security, as famously demonstrated by Stuxnet, which is thought to have spread to Iranian nuclear facilities through USB drives.

Still, there remain some gross exaggerations like the ability to [[{{Unperson}} erase a person's existence]] by deleting his identity records. In Hollywood reality, physical records like paper birth certificates and driver licenses are always null and void if the computers can't find a digital copy.

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* In ''SerialExperimentsLain'', '''everything''' is online, without exception, to the point that one of the catchphrases is: ''no matter where you go, everyone's connected.'' [[spoiler:In fact, Lain once almost gets run over by a car, because of a failure in the citywide car guidance system.]] Considering that the first scene depicts someone uploading their consciousness to the internet by committing suicide, conventional electrical gadgets being connected to the internet isn't far-fetched by comparison.
** The basic premise is basically this (minus the psychokinetic powers also present): human brains have electromagnetic vibrations in them as part of the neurons' functions. Planet Earth has ubiquitous electromagnetic resonance (called Schumann Resonance after its discoverer), which according to the series subtly affects the functions of the human brain. Somebody discovered how to manipulate the Schumann Resonance in a way that connects all people's minds subconsciously together without necessarily even relying on machines, which naturally are also affected.
* Perhaps the SEELE attack on MAGI in ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]'' would have failed much sooner if NERV, instead of putting up firewalls in a RaceAgainstTheClock, had simply disconnected the bloody thing from every line connected to the outside world.
** The English dub translation for Iruel's invasion of the MAGI makes Ritsuko suggest that attempting to sever connections between different parts of MAGI or MAGI from anywhere else would require a matter of dismantling the Geofront (in the Japanese translation, she merely voices her concern about abandoning MAGI so swiftly).
** Given that SEELE paid for the Geofront to be built in the first place, its entirely possible that they installed their own backdoor hard lines.
* Satsuki, the [[TheCracker hacker]] in ''{{X1999}}'', has a computer that is not only sentient and can hack into anything online, but it can actually electrically manipulate the power cords themselves to attack people. Even disconnecting the computer from the network doesn't help once she's got her claws in it.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Satsuki steals Nataku's life support data. "We're being hacked and we aren't even on a network!"

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* In ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'', '''everything''' is online, without exception, to the point that one of the catchphrases is: ''no matter where you go, everyone's connected.'' [[spoiler:In fact, Lain once almost gets run over by a car, because of a failure in the citywide car guidance system.]] Considering that the first scene depicts someone uploading their consciousness to the internet by committing suicide, conventional electrical gadgets being connected to the internet isn't far-fetched by comparison.
** The premise is basically this (minus the psychokinetic powers also present): human brains have electromagnetic vibrations in them as part of the neurons' functions. Planet Earth has ubiquitous electromagnetic resonance (called Schumann Resonance after its discoverer), which according to the series subtly affects the functions of the human brain. Somebody discovered how to manipulate the Schumann Resonance in a way that connects all people's minds subconsciously without necessarily even relying on machines, which naturally are also affected.
* Perhaps the attack on the Magi computer system in ''EndOfEvangelion'' would have failed much sooner if NERV, instead of putting up firewalls in a RaceAgainstTheClock, had simply disconnected the bloody thing from every line connected to the outside world.
** The English dub for Ireul's invasion of the Magi has Ritsuko suggest that attempting to sever the Magi from each other or anything else would require dismantling the Geofront (in the Japanese version, she merely voices her concern about abandoning the Magi so swiftly).
** Given that SEELE paid for the Geofront to be built in the first place, it's entirely possible that they installed their own backdoor hard lines.
* Satsuki, the [[TheCracker hacker]] in ''Manga/{{X1999}}'', has a computer that is not only sentient and can hack into anything online, but it can actually electrically manipulate the power cords themselves to attack people. Even disconnecting the computer from the network doesn't help once she's got her claws in it.
** {{Lampshaded}} when Satsuki steals Nataku's life support data. "We're being hacked and we aren't even on a network!"

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* ''SupermanIII'', notable for displaying this trope ''before'' the Internet as we know it came along, stars a guy who figures out how to glean the fractions of cents ignored when a percentage of one's income is taken for taxes, becoming rich. The bad guys recruit him, and he undergoes {{Flanderization}}, eventually becoming an über-[[TheCracker Cracker]] and controlling everything from bank accounts to traffic lights to ''[[WeatherControlMachine the weather itself]]'' (by messing with satellites).
** It wasn't entirely {{Flanderization}}, as the character was depicted during his training sequence (to become a computer programmer) creating a program that did something the instructor has just explained was impossible to program. The rest of it...it IS a comic book movie, after all, and one about a nigh-invulnerable alien with god-like powers, so you don't really get to complain about anything being unrealistic.
** It also wasn't HIM who actually controlled everything, but the AI that he designed and built for the original BigBad (before the AI abruptly replaces him as BigBad).
--> It wants to live!
** That first bit is actually TruthInTelevision; it's a tactic called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salami_slicing "salami slicing"]] that goes back to the early 70s.
** Its played for laughs to a certain extent. The traffic light flashes back and forth between the red man and the green man eventually both stay lit ''then one jumps down and starts attacking the other.'' Now that's some magical hacking. Richard Lester contributed mostly camp to the Superman franchise.
* The SandraBullock movie ''TheNet'' (1995) is ''well'' built around this trope. Angela Bennett led a ''completely'' [[LonersAreFreaks solitary existence]] where [[{{Otaku}} most of her acquaintances were online]]. Her only living family was her mother - who had Alzheimer's. She meets a man on vacation who seduces her based on her chatroom logs and steals her identification, then is forced to sign a different name on a computer pad so she can get tickets home. They then erase her identity by hacking public records. Several of her friends come to her aid, but they decoy the first one's plane into a smokestack by hacking his GPS, the second is hospitalized and then overdosed with insulin when they hack the hospital, and a third [[MundaneSolution is just shot]]. Of course, the whole thing is run by Jeff Gregg, a [[CaptainErsatz software billionaire]] who is making millions off his [[strike:faster, more efficient browser which provides better access to the internet]] "hackproof" security system -- which contains a [[AppliedPhlebotinum backdoor]].

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* ''Film/SupermanIII'', notable for displaying this trope ''before'' the Internet as we know it came along, has the villains remotely accessing everything from bank accounts to traffic lights to ''[[WeatherControlMachine the weather itself]]'' (by messing with satellites). This is played for laughs to an extent: the traffic light flashes back and forth between the red man and the green man; eventually both stay lit--''and then one jumps down and starts attacking the other.'' Now that's some magical hacking.
* The SandraBullock movie ''Film/TheNet'' (1995) is ''well'' built around this trope. Angela Bennett led a ''completely'' [[LonersAreFreaks solitary existence]] where [[{{Otaku}} most of her acquaintances were online]]. Her only living family was her mother - who had Alzheimer's. She meets a man on vacation who seduces her based on her chatroom logs and steals her identification, then is forced to sign a different name on a computer pad so she can get tickets home. They then erase her identity by hacking public records. Several of her friends come to her aid, but they decoy the first one's plane into a smokestack by hacking his GPS, the second is hospitalized and then overdosed with insulin when they hack the hospital, and a third [[MundaneSolution is just shot]]. Of course, the whole thing is run by Jeff Gregg, a [[CaptainErsatz software billionaire]] who is making millions off his "hackproof" security system -- which contains a [[AppliedPhlebotinum backdoor]].

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* ''Film/IndependenceDay'' is truly guilty of this. Will Smith and the scientist find themselves trapped in an organic alien craft with, of all things, a laptop. They then manage to use this laptop to hack the "brain" of the craft and and escape. Assuming of course, that alien "brains" are not only compatible with earth computers, but are vulnerable to their attacks.
** As with [[spoiler:the 2007 ''{{Transformers}}'' [[TransformersFilmSeries movie]]]], it's implied ([[FanWank though never stated]]) that [[spoiler:[[ETGaveUsWiFi all modern electronics are based on technnology recovered]] from the [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell Crash]]]].
** Arguably the worst part of the whole scenario is how they're able to interface with the alien mothership using an Apple laptop, a computer that isn't even compatible with about 90% of the other computers ''on this planet.''
** In the director's cut, there is a brief scene which justifies this. It shows the programmer working with a laptop and the alien craft crashed at Roswell, trying some things, until he stumbles across the virus which disables the shields. 
* In ''Short Circuit 2'', Johnny 5 replaced his shoulder-mounted laser with a radio that can hack things. He uses it to shut down cars by triggering their burglar alarms and pilot remote controlled model airplanes. However, in the last few minutes of the movie where the villain is escaping in a boat, Johnny 5 tries to use it on the boat, but [[PhlebotinumBreakdown it doesn't work]] because ''it is not radio controlled.''
* ''Untraceable'': Apart from hacking a car, the villain also sets up [[MurderDotCom a system where footage of whatever victim he's caught is streamed live to the internet, and the more views it gets, the closer the trap they're caught in comes to killing them.]] 'Cause NewMediaAreEvil.
** [[AluminumChristmasTrees Oddly enough]] the car-hacking thing is actually justified, although it is not hacking per-se: Jennifer owned a brand new car which had many techological amenities including code-enabled lockdown (exists in real life, although quite rare). What the hacker did was to acquire her codes (through a fairly realistic example of phishing), then use them to disable the car once she drove by his ambush spot.

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* ''Film/IndependenceDay'' is truly guilty of this. Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum find themselves trapped in an organic alien craft with, of all things, a laptop. They then manage to use this laptop to hack the "brain" of the craft and and escape.
** It's implied ([[FanWank though never stated]]) that [[spoiler:[[ETGaveUsWiFi all modern electronics are based on technology recovered]] from the [[RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell crash]]]]. The director's cut included a brief scene in which the programmer works with a laptop and [[spoiler:the remains of the Roswell ship]], studying the aliens' code.
** The funniest part of the whole scenario is how they're able to interface with the alien mothership using a {{Macintosh}}, a computer that wasn't even compatible with about 90% of the other computers ''on this planet.''
* In ''Film/ShortCircuit 2'', Johnny 5 replaced his shoulder-mounted laser with a radio that can hack things. He uses it to shut down cars by triggering their burglar alarms and pilot remote-controlled model airplanes. However, in the last few minutes of the movie where the villain is escaping in a boat, Johnny 5 tries to use it on the boat, but [[PhlebotinumBreakdown it doesn't work]] because ''it is not radio controlled.''
* ''Film/{{Untraceable}}'': Apart from hacking a car, the villain also sets up [[MurderDotCom a system where footage of whatever victim he's caught is streamed live to the internet, and the more views it gets, the closer the trap they're caught in comes to killing them.]] 'Cause NewMediaAreEvil.
** [[AluminumChristmasTrees Oddly enough]] the car-hacking thing is actually justified, although it is not hacking per se: Jennifer owned a brand new car which had many techological amenities including code-enabled lockdown (exists in real life, although quite rare). What the hacker did was to acquire her codes (through a fairly realistic example of phishing), then use them to disable the car once she drove by his ambush spot.

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* Averted in the first ''MissionImpossible'' movie: the CIA terminal containing the information Ethan needs to steal is completely isolated, so getting said information requires an elaborate distraction to allow Ethan and crew access to the [[AirVentPassageway ductwork]] of the building so he can infiltrate the room the terminal is in.
* In ''HighSchoolMusical'' one of the "brains" uses her laptop to hack the school's electrical grid, disabling power everywhere except the theater, so that Troy and Gabriela can make their callback at the climax of the show (movie or stage).
* In ''EagleEye'', the VoiceWithAnInternetConnection who guides the protagonists, (ab)uses the fact that EverythingIsOnline to control every bit of electric machinery to aid the protagonists in their tasks. Traffic lights, security cameras, metros, mobile phones, electronic billboards, everything can be manipulated. Even construction cranes. And the movie, via timestamps on computers, shows it takes place in the distant future of January 2009.

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* Averted in the first ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movie: the CIA terminal containing the information Ethan needs to steal is completely isolated, so getting said information requires an elaborate distraction to allow Ethan and crew access to the [[AirVentPassageway ductwork]] of the building so he can infiltrate the room the terminal is in.
* In ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' one of the "brains" uses her laptop to hack the school's electrical grid, disabling power everywhere except the theater, so that Troy and Gabriela can make their callback at the climax of the show (movie or stage).
* In ''EagleEye'', the VoiceWithAnInternetConnection who guides the protagonists, (ab)uses the fact that Everything Is Online to control every bit of electric machinery to aid the protagonists in their tasks. Traffic lights, security cameras, metros, mobile phones, electronic billboards, everything can be manipulated. Even construction cranes. And the movie, via timestamps on computers, shows it takes place in the distant future of January 2009.

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* In Dan Simmon's {{Literature/HyperionCantos}}, most of the computer systems in the world are connected together through the "megasphere", a multi-world Internet monitored by AIs from the TechnoCore, but some systems (notably military networks) are designed to be independant. It is revealed, however, that the TechnoCore can access these systems anyway. So, everything everything ''is'' online even if it's not supposed to be. [[spoiler: Which sucks because, of course, [[AIIsACrapshoot the apparently benevolent AIs finally betray humanity]].]]
* In Charles Stross' {{Literature/Glasshouse}}, both everything and ''everyone'' is online. First because everyone has a communication implant allowing network access at any time, and second because almost all of the technology for transportation, healing and other activities common in the futuristic setting (immortality, altering its own body, creating clones of oneself, ...) is based on nanotechnological devices that deconstruct people (or things) molecule by molecule, store the pattern, alter/duplicate/transport it and reconstruct the result. Therefore, wars are fought through network worms which infect these nanoassemblers, and you have better have a good firewall if you don't want your ''personality'' to be hacked and edited.

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* In Dan Simmon's Literature/HyperionCantos, most of the computer systems in the world are connected together through the "megasphere", a multi-world Internet monitored by AIs from the TechnoCore, but some systems (notably military networks) are designed to be independant. It is revealed, however, that the TechnoCore can access these systems anyway. So, everything everything ''is'' online even if it's not supposed to be. [[spoiler: Which sucks because, of course, [[AIIsACrapshoot the apparently benevolent AIs finally betray humanity]].]]
* In Charles Stross' Literature/{{Glasshouse}}, both everything and ''everyone'' is online. First because everyone has a communication implant allowing network access at any time, and second because almost all of the technology for transportation, healing and other activities common in the futuristic setting (immortality, altering its own body, creating clones of oneself, ...) is based on nanotechnological devices that deconstruct people (or things) molecule by molecule, store the pattern, alter/duplicate/transport it and reconstruct the result. Therefore, wars are fought through network worms which infect these nanoassemblers, and you have better have a good firewall if you don't want your ''personality'' to be hacked and edited.

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* John Henry from ''TheSarahConnorChronicles'' is apparently able to control lights, elevators, and normal doors through the Internet.
* Micah in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' embodies this trope with his [[strike:mutant]] evolved ability to talk to machines.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''The Green Death'', the meglomaniac computer BOSS (Bimorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor) plans to take over the world by controlling all the world's computers. In the 1970s ([[ContinuitySnarl or was it the 80s?]]). 
** In "Dalek", the Dalek not only manages to [[ItsASmallNetAfterAll download the entire Internet]] within mere seconds from a random terminal in an ElaborateUndergroundBase, it also succeeds in draining the entire Eastern United States of electricity within these same mere seconds.
** Also, in the episode "The Eleventh Hour" [[spoiler:the Doctor writes a computer virus that resets everything everywhere to zero which includes random clocks on the wall. ''Mechanical'' clocks]].
* Played straight and averted in the ''same'' episode of ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', ''Shear Strength''. Dr. Octopus hacks into and controls satellites, cell phone GPS locators, street lights, even a coffee shop cash register all because they have computers. However, he later needs the help of someone else to get some Homeland Security codes, as they are on a closed network.
* Amazingly averted by ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', when asked to do something about a security system the team hacker points out that it isn't actually connected to the internet.

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* John Henry from ''Series/TheSarahConnorChronicles'' is apparently able to control lights, elevators, and normal doors through the Internet.
* Micah in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' embodies this trope with his [[{{Technopath}} ability to talk to machines.]]
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath The Green Death]]'', the megalomaniac computer BOSS (Bimorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor) plans to take over the world by controlling all the world's computers. In the 1970s ([[ContinuitySnarl or was it the 80s?]]). 
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS1E6Dalek&#8206; Dalek]]", the Dalek not only manages to [[ItsASmallNetAfterAll download the entire Internet]] within mere seconds from a random terminal in an ElaborateUndergroundBase, it simultaneously drains the entire eastern United States of electricity.
** Also, in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E01TheEleventhHour The Eleventh Hour]]", the Doctor writes a computer virus that resets everything everywhere to zero, including random clocks on the wall. ''Mechanical'' clocks.
* Amazingly averted by ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'': when asked to do something about a security system, the team hacker points out that it isn't actually connected to the internet.

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* In ''{{Champions}}'', every motor vehicle in Millennium City is remotely controlled by a central computer. They never really discuss the implications of this.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' is generally one of the usual suspects, though it does avert the trope on occasion. In 3rd edition, extra-sensitive systems were often off-line or in a closed-circuit system, though "extra-sensitive" may or may not include the security of top-secret megacorp research labs. 4th edition still takes the cake: almost all computers rely on wireless technology, meaning you don't even need a physical connection to your target to wreak havoc. Forget people's cars, start thinking about people's ''{{cyberware}}'', which may include things like eyes or even the connection between their brain and their somatic nervous system.
* ''EclipsePhase'' has most everything connected by wireless mesh, including robot brains. [[spoiler: Exsurgent technology goes farther, actually. You can hack someone's brain through their sensory input.]]

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* In ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'', every motor vehicle in Millennium City is remotely controlled by a central computer. They never really discuss the implications of this.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' is generally one of the usual suspects, though it does avert the trope on occasion. In 3rd edition, extra-sensitive systems were often offline or in a closed-circuit system, though "extra-sensitive" may or may not include the security of top-secret megacorp research labs. 4th edition still takes the cake: almost all computers rely on wireless technology, meaning you don't even need a physical connection to your target to wreak havoc. Forget people's cars, start thinking about people's ''{{cyberware}}'', which may include things like eyes or even the connection between their brain and their somatic nervous system.
* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' has most everything connected by wireless mesh, including robot brains. [[spoiler: Exsurgent technology goes farther, actually. You can hack someone's brain through their sensory input.]]

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* This trope is used {{egregious}}ly in ''TheMagicSchoolBus'', where a computer can raise and lower the flag, make coffee, and open doors. The problem is not so much that computers are doing things they couldn't do (all of those things could be connected to a central control and run by network) and more that computers are being used to do things it would be safer and easier to do manually. Possibly justified, because they were addressing what could happen in a computer program to make the above tasks go haywire. In the end, it was a programing error (The code read "Every minute" instead of "Every Day".). It wasn't so much that the tasks could be done or not, but rather how a computer processes information. The task of raising a flag is just a visual aid for the kids watching the show to get that something is wrong.
* The most wonderful example of this would be ''InspectorGadget'''s niece Penny's Computer Book. In a time when the first laptop computers were ''just'' being released, hers could break into ''anything'' to help her Uncle Gadget.
** What makes this more fantastical is that she was able to do this before anything that could be called the Internet existed. Through radio and microwave hacking? Or electric telepathy?
*** At least early on, there were comments suggesting everything she was hacking (usually MAD robotics) ''was'' being radio-controlled, which could maybe be handwaved by Dr. Klaw wanting personal overrides on everything. And this tends to happen when she's physically closer to the device than Klaw, so Penny ''could'' be squelching signals. Not that the treatment's still anything close to realistic.
* Also applies to XANA's attacks in ''CodeLyoko'', although this is partially [[HandWave explained away]] -- the inky black "spectres" are apparently capable of wiring up any electronic device, inanimate object, or even human being, as desired.

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* Played straight and averted in the ''same'' episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', "Shear Strength". Dr. Octopus hacks into and controls satellites, cell phone GPS locators, street lights, even a coffee shop cash register all because they have computers. However, he later needs the help of someone else to get some Homeland Security codes, as they are on a closed network.
* In ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', a disgruntled technician builds a helmet that allows her to uplink her consciousness to the Internet in the form of the ultimate worm virus. Not only can she connect to things that shouldn't be online, she can take anything that has a computer in it and use that fact to access functions the computer itself couldn't, such as driving cars by accessing "the onboard computer systems", which should really just consist of a GPS or something. Now, given that she chose to pull this gimmick against an electricity-themed hero and his supergenius sidekick, she doesn't last very long -- she gets taken out with antivirus software which winds up feeding back through the helmet and pretty much rendering her catatonic. The repercussions are never discussed.
* Acknowledged in ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'': Daemon can't infect systems that don't have a connection to the net. Interestingly, you can use Portals to access said systems.

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* Networked devices that have no reason for being that way were recently pointed out as a massive security problem in office environments, as in this case of a [[http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/493387 net-enabled, self-updating ''coffee maker'']] (?!?). Not only can a sufficiently grief-minded hacker execute a "[[PokeThePoodle denial of coffee attack]]" by remotely screwing with the boiler temperature or the grounds:water ratios, but the control program has to be run on an XP box somewhere on the coffee maker's LAN, which effectively opens a back door onto that machine, and from there into the ''entire network''. Oops!
** Even the ''power grid'' [[http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10216702-83.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1 is online]]. And using default or no passwords.
** One can also connect an Wifi-equipped interceptor device into a private and secure network, then spy on that unit, and consequently the network, over an internet connection. In fact, this is the way most viruses work, exchanging "device" for "program."

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* Networked devices that have no reason for being that way were recently pointed out as a massive security problem in office environments, as in this case of a [[http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/493387 net-enabled, self-updating ''coffee maker'']] (?!?). Not only can a sufficiently grief-minded hacker execute a "[[PokeThePoodle denial of coffee attack]]" by remotely screwing with the boiler temperature or the grounds:water ratio, but the control program has to be run on an XP box somewhere on the coffee maker's LAN, which effectively opens a back door onto that machine, and from there into the ''entire network''. Oops!
** Even the power grid [[http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10216702-83.html?tag=newsLeadStoriesArea.1 is online]] -- ''using default or no passwords''. [[http://money.cnn.com/2013/04/08/technology/security/shodan/ Not to mention]] traffic lights and ''nuclear plants''.
** One can also connect a Wifi-equipped interceptor device into a private and secure network, then spy on that unit, and consequently the network, over an internet connection. In fact, this is the way most viruses work, exchanging "device" for "program."

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This list shows the last 3 events of 3. Show all.

new edits

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