If the Golden Globe Awards judges aren’t cybersecurity enthusiasts, what is it about the Mr. Robot TV Drama that won them over? The acting may be of a superb caliber, but there must be something in the storyline that wins the approval of the show’s fan base and its evaluators alike.
Mr. Robot is often considered an impeccably accurate account of cybersecurity and cyber crime.
Mr. Robot is a work of art by none other than Michael Bazzell, an FBI expat, Bazzell spent 18 years as a law enforcement officer with a rank of Detective. During the majority of that time, he was assigned to the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Task Force where he focused on “Hackers” and various computer crime investigations. In other words, Mr. Robot may be considered more of a historical drama than a full-on work of fiction.
Mr. Robot’s protagonist, Elliot Anderson, is a cybersecurity engineer at his day job, yet works a vigilante hacker in the night time. He belongs to FSociety, a coalition of underground hackers — who have enlisted him to bring down his security firm’s biggest client, E-Corp.
Perhaps the punchline keeping both viewers and judges at the end of their (respective) seats is the darkly mysterious insight into the mind of a cyber hacker. A fear had by anybody who owns a computer of any kind, cybercrime is an area of expertise reserved for an elite cohort of criminals. They must be exceedingly discreet and daring, yet also possess intelligence and knowledge of the highest regard.
Mr. Robot portrays the dichotomy among world-class cyber engineers. They possess the skillset to salvage the most valuable sources of data from the dirty hands of criminals, but they also bear the ability to cause the very damage that they’re summoned to prevent. They’re capable of creating a legacy as competent tech gurus who can push companies to greater heights. But for whatever reason, the dark web has won them over.
As the world becomes more increasingly susceptible to foul cyber threats, it’s hard to dismiss the epidemic’s evident overlap with the year’s most successful TV drama.
Granted the evolving dangers of the dark web, is our most sought-after storyline a sheer reflection of the reality we fear the most?
