Die Hard: Metasploit

5:55 PM -- The Oscars are over for now, but all any red-blooded American really cares about are those summer blockbusters.

Mark your calendar for July 4. Now. That's when Bruce Willis' latest sequel to that blow 'em up, shoot 'em outta the sky sequel -- Die Hard 4(?), comes out, under the tentative title of Live Free or Die Hard. It's still in production, so the final version isn't completely firm, but this is one Die Hard movie I may pay the $14 to go see. Let me explain.

I confess I've been tracking the film's progress ever since Metasploit creator HD Moore last fall told me Metasploit may factor in the plot. (See HD Moore Unplugged.)

Details on the movie are still sketchy. The plot description: "John McClane (Willis) takes on an Internet-based terrorist organization who is systematically shutting down the United States."

No mention of how, but early speculation was that the bad guys would use Metasploit as a tool for their lofty plan to take down the U.S. But no one -- not even Moore -- seems to know for sure right now whether Metasploit will end up on the silver screen or the cutting room floor. Moore gave the filmmakers permission to use Metsasploit screen shots, likeness, and logos, after a Hollywood pal of eEye Digital Security's chief hacking officer Marc Maiffret made the Metasploit connection.

There's no clue from the 20th Century Fox trailer I watched today. Just the usual vehicular explosions, people getting blown out of buildings, police cars going airborne and exploding, Willis wielding heavy firepower -- you know, the signature Die Hard motif. The only line in the trailer was the young (good) hacker riding shotgun saying to Willis/McClane after a few explosions and crashes flashed by: "Why are you so calm? Have you done this kinda stuff before?"

Moore says his attempts to learn Metasploit's fate have failed. He's hoping Metasploit gets at least some mention. Otherwise, the working title for his upcoming talk next month at CanSecWest, "Live Free or Hack Hard: Metasploit 2007," just won't cut it.

— Kelly Jackson Higgins, Senior Editor, Dark Reading