CNN Uses Fallout 4 Image In Report On Russian Hacking

A lot is being said in the media these days about Russian cyberattacks against the United States. President Obama recently took several major steps in retaliation against the hacks which included expelling more than 30 Russian diplomats that the country’s intelligence agencies believed to be involved in espionage activities. If the Russians did hack U.S. agencies you can be sure that they used very sophisticated machines, machines that would be far more advanced than the computers players can hack in the game Fallout 4.

That’s obviously not something that the average viewer would know. If someone hasn’t played Fallout 4, chances are they would not know that the image that CNN used in its report about Russian hacking came straight out of Bethesda’s superhit title.

It’s not that CNN made a massive journalistic mistake by using an image from Fallout 4 to depict hacking, it’s just B-roll footage after all, but it’s amusing because hacking in Fallout 4 works in a completely different manner than the real world.

Players can hack computers in Fallout 4 to gain access to additional stuff. The computers in the game are not connected to the internet because the game is set in an era when there was no internet. Fallout 4’s concept of hacking is basically unlocking a computer that’s not online.

Whether or not CNN will continue to air the same B-Roll footage now that this has gathered some steam remains to be seen.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: General
Tags: Bethesda, CNN, fallout 4, Hacking