The Top 10 Best Movie Hackers

5. Thomas Gabriel- Live Free or Die Hard

We come to the first villain on this list of movie hackers, Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant). Gabriel originally worked as an infrastructure security analyst for DOD and was considered one of the foremost security experts in the world. Alas, the government doesn’t take kindly to “experts” telling them “science” and Gabriel was forced to take drastic measures by hacking into and shutting down NORAD with a laptop to prove America is vulnerable to cyber-attack. Rather than listen to Gabriel, the government discredited and fired him. That proved to be a huge mistake because movie hackers believe in disproportionate responses. Case in point, Gabriel created a program to completely destroy all aspects of America’s infrastructure and economy. The only reason he’s stopped is that he outsourced part of the project to another hacker, who installed a backdoor. Oh, and the whole John McClane thing too.

4. Cipher- The Fate of the Furious

Remember when the Fast and Furious franchise was just about guys driving real, real fast in cars to see who the fastest was? Those gear heads have come a long way since then and are now an elite team of operatives who… well, they usually drive around real fast. The point is that they needed a higher quality of villain and Cipher (Charlize Theron) answered the call. Being a legendary hacker is one thing, but convincing the world that you’re a network of hackers is on a whole other level. Of course, Cipher has plenty of goons to do her dirty work, which is exactly how she likes it. Why risk your own life when you can pay, manipulate, or blackmail someone else into doing the dirty work for you? She is not all brains and beauty, and on the rare occasion where things don’t go exactly to her plans, she’s more than capable of taking a more hands on approach.   

3. Nick Hathaway- Blackhat 

As I said, I’m not really a computer guy, but from what I’ve heard, hackers really like the movie Blackhat. I know, it’s surprising to know it’s got so many fans considering it flopped at the box office. Then again, those dang hackers probably pirated the movie. Anyway, we come to the most ridiculously good-looking movie hacker of all, Nick Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth). Like a few of the other movie hackers on this list, Hathaway starts the film in prison for computer crimes. His sentence is commuted in exchange for his help to catch an international cyber-terrorist. Reading up on Blackhat, it seems like a lot of it is fairly legit from the cyber stunts Nick pulls to the attacks by the terrorist. While it might not have been a success, I think the praise it received from tech geeks warrants Hathaway a spot among the best movie hackers of all time.  

2. Dade Murphy AKA Zero Cool AKA Crash Override- Hackers  

We come to the reason for my rule of one hacker per movie. Hackers is one of those rare films that’s so awful it’s beautiful. Watching it is like having the 90s beamed directly into your head, and I honestly think it is the birthplace of pretty much every modern movie hacker cliche. Despite having a gaggle of hackers to choose from in this flick, I had to go with protagonist Dade Murphy (Jonny Lee Miller). The film makes him out to be a living legend for crashing 1,507 computer systems and causing a 7-point drop in the New York Stock Exchange, which would totally be no big deal, except he did it when he was 11! Flash forward a few years and Dade is a rebellious teen looking to get in with other rebellious teen hackers/caricatures. Despite Dade earning the official slot, I’m still going to give a shout-out to “Acid Burn” (Angelina Jolie), “Cereal Killer” (Matthew Lillard), “Lord Nikon” (Laurence Mason), and “The Phantom Phreak” (Renoly Santiago).     

1. Lisbeth Salander- The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo films

Of all the movie hackers I’ve seen over the years, none are as terrifying as Lisbeth Salander. The character has been played by Noomi Rapace, Rooney Mara, and Claire Foy (joined by another talented hacker played by LaKeith Stanfield), but no matter the actress, Salander is consistently a terrifying tech wiz. Fortunately, she seems to only use her powers for the forces of good as a hacker/avenging angel of justice. If you find yourself in her sights, you’ve done something terrible to deserve it. Salander is brutally effective with her approach to justice and approaches John Wick levels of unstoppable once she makes up her mind. She’s taken on some pretty intimidating adversaries over the years, but Salander has always been the one to walk away, which earns her the spot of top dawg when it comes to movie hackers. 

Honorable Mention: Thomas A. Anderson AKA Neo- The Matrix Trilogy

Before he was “The One”, Neo was Thomas A. Anderson (Keanu Reeves). During the day Mr. Anderson worked in a cubicle in a fluorescent-filled hell hole, but at night he became a hacker extraordinaire surfing the interweb in search of digital truth. While we don’t get to see much of Neo doing real hacking, we’re to assume that his skills at computer stuff are what help him to become such a formidable force inside The Matrix. Then again, it could be that he’s just really good at using cheat codes. While Anderson might not demonstrate traditional hacking skills, he does kick a lot of butt inside of a computer. Either way, I thought that “The One” deserved an honorable mention on this list of movie hackers.     

Shout-Out: Theodore Donald “Rat” Finch- The Core

Hear me out on this one. I’ll admit that The Core is probably one of the most ridiculous disaster movies of all time, but that doesn’t mean “Rat” (DJ Qualls) doesn’t accomplish some pretty impressive feats in it. With the world ending in the dumbest way possible, the government hopes to keep the public unaware with the help of this notorious hacker. Not only does he keep a watchful eye on the entire internet, quickly removing or discrediting any mentions of the world ending, but he also manages to secretly hack multiple government systems in order to locate and disable a top-secret project. Despite The Core being far from great, Finch deserves a shout-out as one of the most underappreciated movie hackers of all time.

Dishonorable Mention: Dennis Nedry- Jurassic Park

We go from some of the best movie hackers of all time to one of the most notorious. Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) is the entire reason Jurassic Park happened. If he hadn’t disabled every system in the park so he could make a quick getaway with some Dino-DNA (patent pending), a lot of people would still be alive. Still, the guy did manage to override every system in the park and lock everyone out long enough for the dinos to grab a few quick bites. Because of that, I acknowledge his abilities, but still, have to give him a dishonorable mention.

That concludes the 10 best movie hackers of all time. As I’ve mentioned, I’m not a computer guy, so if I missed any other great movie hackers, let me know in the comments below. As always, I’ll be updating this list as new and improved movie hackers hit the information superhighway. So, be sure to stop back in the future to see how the rankings might change.