Zero Days

A computer virus rapidly spreads across the world, baffling hackers in 2010. Where does this advanced virus come from, who developed it, and for what purpose? Oscar winner Alex Gibney investigated and filmed this non-fiction thriller.

Stuxnet was developed by the United States and Israel to disrupt an Iranian nuclear factory. It was the intention that nobody, not even the Iranians, would realise it was a hacking attempt. But the virus managed to find its way out and spread to computers across the globe.

In his documentary Zero Days, Alex Gibney unravels the history of Stuxnet and takes a peek into the future of cyberwarfare. Stuxnet is not discussed by the people who worked on it at the time. That makes it difficult to make a documentary about it. However, Gibney does manage to get key people connected to the development and exposure of the virus in front of his camera, and he gets them to talk. This provides a thorough picture of a new form of warfare that is screaming for new forms of international law. Because if one thing becomes clear from this documentary, it is that the world is very dependent and vulnerable when it comes to digital infrastructures.

Text: Dirk van der Straaten