Nicolas Cage is the Center of the Cybersecurity Universe

Abstract

Nicolas Cage, prolific actor, Oscar winner but also master of ham acting, star of many excellent films and of at least as many really bad ones. A conspicuous number of these films directly revolve around cybersecurity or can be used to explain cybersecurity notions in such a way that they can be understood by non-experts. This paper is part of a research program that I have been carrying out on how to use films and other artworks to explain cybersecurity notions, and thus provide a form of “cybesecurity show and tell” (in which telling, i.e., explaining notions in a formal, technical way, can be paired with showing through visual storytelling or other forms of storytelling). Here, I focus on 15 of Cage’s films in which he has played a wide variety of roles: a stunt motorcyclist, a paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger, a U.S. Marine in World War II, an agent of an authoritarian agency, a retired master car thief, a criminal mastermind, an illegal arms dealer, a master sorcerer, a treasure hunter historian, a Batman-like superhero, Spider-Man Noir, Superman, an NSA employee, and a hacker star-nosed mole.