The Materiality of Cyberthreats: Securitization Logics in Popular Visual Culture

This article investigates the representation of cyberthreats in movies and TV-series since the early 1980s to provide an insight into how these threats are constructed and perceived in social discourses. The article identifies three types of representations of threats: 1) computers as the main threat; 2) threats emanating from corrupt organizations, which have power because they possess specific data; and 3) the wielding of code as weapon to create physical damage. The underlying message that frequently emerges from these depictions is that the state cannot handle cyberthreats or that it is at the root of the problem. As a result, the individual is portrayed as the actor capable of countering cyberthreats. This not only undermines the authority of the state as a security provider but also throws up the possibility of legitimate political alternatives.