Zero Days is a documentary about two points. First, Zero Days summarizes the discovery and development of the Stuxnet virus, which was a joint cyber attack by Israel and the US during the Bush and Obama administrations to prevent the development of the Iranian uranium enrichment centrifuges. Second, Zero Days decries the fact that it is technically a criminal act to discuss this program. Zero Days poses the question of whether or not cyber attacks are a declaration of war even if the creators intended to avoid a physical confrontation. After seeing the devastating results on American government institutions after a cyber attack sponsored by another country’s government with American collaborators installed into power, I think the answer is rather obvious.
I think that I saw a preview for Alex Gibney’s documentary, Zero Days, before watching Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World. This preview placement makes sense because there are references to cyber warfare, specifically Titan Rain, in Werner Herzog’s documentary. My mom and I are huge fans of Alex Gibney documentaries: Steve Jobs: The Main in the Machine, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief; Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer, Casino Jack and the United States of Money and Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream.
Zero Days revealed events that I did not know happened even though they occurred recently. I did not know that Iran has repeatedly attacked US financial institutions. I actually did not know about any of the details exposed in Zero Days though I am aware that cyber warfare exists. It was nice to see Richard Clarke again-my favorite talking head since 9/11, but his book still lies unread on my bookshelf.
Zero Days may inadvertently explain why Russia decided to use WikiLeaks and other hackers to attack the US during the 2016 Presidential Election. I love President Obama and thank him for his service, but he suspected that the Stuxnet virus would spread beyond its intended target, and instead of terminating the program that Bush started, he permitted it to continue until it accidentally (hopefully) spread world wide, and Russia discovered. Live by the cyber sword. Die by the cyber sword.
If the spread of the Stexnet virus was not accidental, then it could be argued that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu timed the exposure to sabotage President Obama, a man that Netanyahu and others considered an enemy to Israel to install a man supported by anti-Semites into the highest office in our nation. Just wondering how many other US Presidents have had a former Israeli soldier in his cabinet? Coughs *racism* coughs.
Zero Days is not an easy documentary to follow because the uranium enrichment is not an easy subject. I often had to rewind scenes to understand what was happening. Folks, I got into MIT and Caltech. Those days are clearly long gone. Even though it is not an easy documentary to understand, Zero Days is essential viewing particularly since cyber warfare started our political apocalypse.