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Hackers

In 1988, 11-year-old Dade "Zero Cool" Murphy is banned from owning or operating computers and telephones until his 18th birthday, after his family is fined US$ 45,000 for his crashing of 1,507 computer systems, causing a 7-point drop in the NYSE.

On his 18th birthday, Dade has moved to New York City with his mother, and his ban is lifted. While he hacks into a local TV station, another hacker by the handle of "Acid Burn" counters Dade's attack and eventually kicks him out. At school, Dade joins a group of hackers: Ramon "The Phantom Phreak" Sanchez, Emmanuel "Cereal Killer" Goldstein, Paul "Lord Nikon" Cook, Joey Pardella (a novice hacker without an alias and the youngest member), and Kate "Acid Burn" Libby—the hacker who kicked him out of the TV station earlier.

Joey, out to prove his skills, breaks into a "Gibson" supercomputer owned by the Ellingson Mineral Corporation. While he is downloading a garbage file as proof of his feat, his mother disconnects his computer, leaving him with a fragmented file. His intrusion has been noticed and brought to the attention of computer security officer Eugene "The Plague" Belford, a former hacker. Plague realizes that the downloaded garbage file is a worm he himself inserted to defraud Ellingson. Claiming the file is the code to the "Da Vinci" computer virus that will capsize the company's oil tanker fleet, and pretending the hackers are to blame, he enlists the U.S. Secret Service to recover the file. In fact, Plague had inserted the "Da Vinci" virus as a red herring to cover for his worm.

Joey is arrested and his computer is searched, but he had hidden the disk containing the file. Dade and Kate make a bet: Dade chooses a date with Kate if he wins, and Kate has Dade be her slave if she does. The hacking duel targets Secret Service Agent Richard Gill, who was involved in Joey's arrest. After various hacks, including canceling Gill's credit cards, fabricating a criminal record, and changing his payroll status to "deceased", the duel remains a tie.

Released on bail, Joey reveals the disk to Phreak, who is arrested the next day, and informs Kate that the disk is hidden in a bathroom at school. Dade refuses to help Kate and Cereal Killer as he has a record, but copies the disk so they have untampered evidence. Determining that Dade did not hack into Ellingson, Plague sends him a powerful laptop and asks Dade to join him. He later threatens to have Dade's mother incarcerated with a manufactured criminal record, forcing Dade to deliver a copy of the disk.

Kate, Lord Nikon, Cereal Killer, and Dade learn that the code is a worm designed to steal $25 million from Ellingson transactions, and that the Da Vinci virus is set to capsize the oil tanker fleet the next day to provide cover and distract from the worm. Dade confesses that he gave Plague a copy of the disk and reveals his hacking history as "Zero Cool".

Dade and Kate seek out Razor and Blade, producers of Hack the Planet, a hacker-themed TV show. Lord Nikon and Cereal Killer learn that warrants for their arrest are to be executed at 9 a.m. the next day.

The next morning, Dade, Kate, Nikon, and Cereal roller-blade from Washington Square Park, evading the Secret Service by hacking the traffic lights. Meeting up with Joey at Grand Central Terminal, they use payphones and acoustic couplers to hack the Gibson. At first, their attempts are easily rebuffed by Plague, who calls Dade to taunt him. Razor and Blade have contacted hackers around the world, who lend their support and distract Plague long enough for Joey to download the file.

After crashing the Gibson, Dade and company are arrested. Dade cryptically informs Cereal Killer that he has tossed the disk in a trash can. As Dade and Kate are being interrogated, Razor and Blade jam TV signals and broadcast live video of Cereal Killer revealing the plot and Plague's complicity. Plague is arrested by Gill on board a flight while attempting to flee to Japan. Their names cleared, Dade and Kate begin a relationship.