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Nmap Featured in The Matrix Reloaded

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the ain't-that-special dept.

rajiv was among dozens to report that unlike most "Hacks" in film, The Matrix reloaded actually has an ounce of reality where other films would rely on fancy 3D graphics. You can see more at Insecure.org where they have screenshots. It's only on screen for a split second, but Tritnity uses Nmap to find a vulnerable SSH server, and then exploits it using the SSH1 CRC32 exploit from 2001.

13 of 574 comments (clear)

  1. And there was much rejoicing.. by Trevalyx · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When I went to the 1AM showing on release night, there were a lot of interesting people.. When it got to the hacking scene, only a few people cheered, however, they did it with enough vigor that everyone else was caught of guard.. And when I tried to explain to the guy nibbling his foot next to me, "Nmap," I just got a blank stare...

  2. zero-day warez screenshots? by Speare · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Where did the nmap folks get all these screenshots of a movie that's ostensibly fresh-in-theaters? And why oh why did they name their sources? I'm imagining Agent Smith from the MPAA will be giving out a few cease and desist visits soon.

    --
    [ .sig file not found ]
    1. Re:zero-day warez screenshots? by ThePatrioticFuck · · Score: 5, Interesting

      If you read the article @ Insecure, the guy says when he heard it was in the movie, he asked if anybody could send him some screen captures and ended up being flooded with pics, video, etc. And mentions he found it strange that many of them showed Windows Media Player in the capture :) TPF

  3. Pix by spoonist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Pictures can be found on Fyodor's site.

    Oh, and I must say, that Trinity freakin' kicks ass. As you can see from the pictures, nmap says "No exact OS matches for host". Trinity goes ahead and throws the sploit anyway without knowing the system's architecture AND IT WORKS!

    That just kicks ass.

    A big Eartha-Kitt-Cat-Woman growl for Trinity.

  4. Re:Uhm... by Ann1ka · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In the matrix they are only a few months or a year after the first movie, which took place in the year 1999. The date in the 'real' world is unknown, but believed to be 2199, which is totally irrelevant to this matter.
    So if the exploit had already been possible in 1999/2000 it would have been correct. On the other hand, the matrix is fake, there is no reason to believe the machines based it on real facts from so many years back, from their perspectieve.

    The first time they try to keep it correct and still people are complaining.

  5. Bay Area by tedrlord · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The great thing about watching the Matrix in a theater in Mountain View, CA, is that when that hacking scene came up, half the theater laughed or cheered. We're all geeks here.

    --
    [insert witty quote here]
  6. Reading too much into it... by Mossfoot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What gets me is how some people go out of their way to nippick the movie to pieces "oh this is stupid, this makes no sense" and others love it so much that they read WAY too much into it.

    Take all the religous and phylosphical stuff about it. Yes, there is a lot of connections in there, it was put in the same way that other good story tellers use myth to make their world and stories feel more real and grander. The first Star Wars trilogy comes to mind. But then you have people who think every little thing is an intentional reference to something or other.

    One example. I heard that Neo dies for 72 seconds before he comes back to represent the 72 hours (3 days) Jesus died. I timed it, and it's crap. You can find 72 seconds in there, sure, but there is no place you can say "okay logically you start Neo's death here and his coming back to life here" and it adds up to 72 seconds. Very fuzzy logic going on there. But it is symtimatic of how much people want to find meaning in things like this.

    Is this a bad thing? Perhaps. One of the complaints I've heard of the sequal is that it's trying even harder to sound psudo-religious-phylosophical as a result of this faction of the fandom base.

    Tolkien said it best when he got annoyed at how people thought The Lord of the Rings was an analogy for World War 2 (and would be rolling over in his grave if he knew how people tried to equate the movies with September 11 and the war against terrorism).

    "I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'alegory'; but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and the other in the purposed domination of the author"

    Hey, didn't Morpheus himself say "free your mind"? Stop thinking every gawd damn word is meant to be spiritually profound! :P

    --
    Fuzzy Knights: New RPG Strips Tuesday and Friday!:
    http://www.fuzzyknights.com
  7. Theories and Spoilers by neema · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Off-topic on the nmap discussion, but on-topic as far the Matrix goes, here is something I just thought of. It's pack full of spoilers for reloaded and speculation about revolutions, so consider that your warning.

    SPOILERS AND SPECULATION FOLLOW:

    Now, the theory that Zion is really a matrix within a matrix has been floating around and I happen to agree with it. The premise of the movie, I think, is that not only is Neo "The One" from the first layer of the matrix (which was exposed in the first movie), but happens also to be the small percentage that becomes "The One" in the second layer of the matrix, something the machines didn't count on.

    As for him having to make a decision between saving Trinity and saving mankind, I don't think he's gotten to the choice yet and that will come in revolutions. The Architect said that the expulsion of humans from the first matrix servered a purpose for the machines, so, theoretically, perhaps Morpheus, Trinity and the rest of them are actually computer programs, to assist moving the dissident population of the first layer of the matrix to the second layer. Of course, there is a possibility they are not aware of their own existance. This would explain Morpheus' adamant belief in "The One" (it's been programmed in him). Of course, Neo's love for Trinity complicates things and I think that will be the choice in the third matrix. He will have to decide between destroying this second layer of the matrix, which would destroy Trinity the computer program too, or preserving it because of his love for her.

    Feel free to point out flaws, because I'd really appreciate that.

    1. Re:Theories and Spoilers by Jason+H.+Smith · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Just got back from my third viewing tonight. It took that many times for all that architect talk to sink in. A few thoughts...

      First, AFAICT, they are definitely still in the Matrix. The architect is intentionally difficult to follow, but I think his point was, the 99% acceptance rate is nice, but something must be done with those who do not accept. And the answer is simply have the Matrix make them think they busted out. Also, there's no need for any meta-Matrix, as the first Matrix could easily simulate the escape. Think chroot vs. user-mode Linux. But that's a small point.

      If you watch again, you will notice the Merelvengian (sp) say that Neo's predecessors had much more respect, and also that he has survived those predecessors, and he will survive Neo. But that's all said before you know what he means. But what I got is that eventually, the shit hits the fan, and they just reboot the whole damned thing every hundred years or so (not a bad uptime).

      Also, unlike you, I think he made the choice. Neo chose not to go to the source. At first, I thought this was weird, because the Neos on TV did the same. I thought this was the previous recordings (i.e. all 6 made the same choice); but after watching again, it looks like the TVs are showing now, not the past. That makes sense. This is the first time Neo made the wrong choice. I'm thinking this fits the Hollywood formula pretty well. The previous 5 Neos were simply benevolent mankind-lovers; but this time, we get the predictable theme that love conquers all or such.

      I thought it was pretty cool, but the plot is treading into dangerous ground. When you start blurring reality with dreams, you're walking on cheesy, overused deus ex machina storylines. It's easy to get lame and make crap. E.g. look at how dumb Existenz ended up being. But then, I liked Total Recall, so there is hope for a great finale.

      So I think there's still a lot up for grabs. Since Zion and the war are still a computer simulation, for all we know, there might not even be a war going on at all! Although there probably is, since it wouldn't be very Hollywood to just handwave away two movies worth of bad guys.

      Anyway, I'm thinking now that they know they're still in the matrix, perhaps the people in Zion will start breaking the rules and have some actual means of fighting the approaching machine army? Or maybe they'll all just pop up a level, leaving the machine army there to twiddle their thumbs.

    2. Re:Theories and Spoilers by OmniVector · · Score: 5, Interesting

      ****SPOILER ALERT****

      I think the best explination i've heard, or at least the one I like the most, is someone said Neo is really just a computer program too. The purpose of Neo, and the whole reason 5 different versions of him have existed alreay, is to try and find the "perfect" AI. The Matrix is really run by humans, the the humans are trying to find a version of Neo that will truely be human enough to be considedered actual AI.

      If you remember where Trinity types in her password to crack the power system, Z1ON0101, the binary 0101 translates to 5. Is Trinity aware of this being the 5th incarnation through the fact that she too is just a computer program or is this just odd coincidence?

      For the people who say the 2nd was too much action, and not enough plot i think it was twice the plot and action... This second one raises a lot more mindfuck questions.

      --
      - tristan
  8. "Alias" by ElGanzoLoco · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The "Alias" series on TV also features quite realistic computer manipulation. SSH, "ping -f", traceroutes, recompiles, etc...

    They pushed realism quite far: in one particular episode (can't remember the name, but this scene takes place in Mexico), one of the agents goes undercover as a DJ, and uses an iBook (macs are popular among musicians and DJ's) instead of his PC laptop, for more realism... Cool :)

    --
    Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
  9. Re:Nice Password by GMontag · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes and he pulled that from real life from when he worked at the BBC. Room 101 was the room where the editors worked.

    Many of his experiences from the BBC and other places made it into his books, like the cleaning women singing in the halls in thee early morning hours became the proles singing in 1984. Bad, sand-dry tobacco during the Spanish Revolution-Civil-War (Homage to Catalonia) that ran out of the cigarette before you could smoke it became Victory cigarettes in 1984, etc.

    Good catch!

    --
    Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
  10. Re:Uhm... by The+Only+Druid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Exactly.

    The only other alternatives I can think of at the moment are:
    1: Neo's power, unbeknownst to him, actually extends to distorting the real world, not just the matrix. This seems implausible and undesireably theological.
    2: Neo's power extends to controlling the machines somehow in or outside of the matrix. This could be a result of the machines' conception of Neo always including his matrix-bending powers. In other words, this would be a programming flaw in the machines. This seems a little lame.
    3: The ENTIRE "real world", including Zion, is inside the matrix. Just as the oracle seems to be part of a control scheme, so is the supposed ability to leave the matrix. I like this explanation, although its a bit dark for most people: it would be a serious philosophical blow to Morpheus, of course.

    --
    "Stumble before you crawl"