When a nuclear test launch fails due to human error the government decides that it needs to take the human element out of the equation. Control over missile launches is given to a supercomputer developed for NORAD by a brilliant scientist named Stephen Falken (John Wood). The supercomputer is called WOPR (War Operation Plan Response), affectionately called ‘whopper’. The computer system is designed to run simulated scenarios and, over time, learn from them. The operation is overseen by John McKittrick (Dabney Coleman).
In the meantime, David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) is a brilliant, yet unmotivated high school student. He often hacks into the school computer and changes his own grade on tests. Wanting to impress fellow student Jennifer Mack (Ally Sheedy) he alters her test results as well.
David is anxious to play the most updated computer games from a company called Protovision. He decides to hack into the company’s computer system. The company is located in Sunnyvale California, so David has his computer call every number in Sunnyvale to find what he is looking for. David’s computer dials into a company that doesn’t identify itself. Thinking he may be on to something; David asks for games. Several come up. David is intrigued by the list but doesn’t have the password into the system. David takes the list to his computer friends, Jim (Maury Chaykin) and Malvin (Eddie Deezen). They recommend that he find the designer’s backdoor password. The first game on the list is Falken’s Maze. A little research and David comes across Stephen Falken. After a lot of research, he then surmises that the password is the name of Falken’s deceased son, Joshua.
David gets into the system and ends up connected to WOPR. Thinking he is connected to Protovision he decides to play what he thinks is a game called “Global Thermonuclear War”. David chooses the Soviet Union side and selects his American cities to bomb. It triggers WOPR into believing that an actual strike is being launched. NORAD manages to defuse the situation, but WOPR is still playing the simulation in the background and is doing it with real nuclear warheads. If NORAD can’t stop WOPR from fulfilling its programming, real nuclear bombs will be dispatched and cities in the Soviet Union will be destroyed.
“War Games” was released in 1983 and was directed by John Badham. It is an American science fiction techno-thriller. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards for best Cinematography, Sound, and Writing. Ronald Regan was president when the movie came out. It motivated him to take the cyber security of the United States seriously.
In June of 1980, the failure of a .46 cent computer part triggered two false alarms that put the U.S. strategic nuclear forces on alert believing that Soviet missiles had been launched. The failure occurred in the North American Aerospace Defense Command headquarters (NORAD) in the Cheyenne Mountain facility near Colorado Springs. NORAD is a bi-national organization between the U.S. and Canada. The failures spurred the Pentagon and the President into making improvements in the system’s error detection and correction capabilities. Although the movie is an extremely entertaining and thought-provoking fictional tale, the likelihood of it happening is not out of the realm of possibility.
Hacking became illegal in 1986.