WarGames 2 puts cybercrime in spotlight

Filming is about to begin on the follow-up to the 1980s classic that spawned a million hacker wannabes — WarGames.

The next version, entitled WarGames 2: The Dead Key, will begin filming in Europe in July, according to reports.

Film-makers seem content not to deviate too far from the original script in the latest outing, which will see a young hacker on the run from a government convinced he is a cyberterrorist.

The 1983 original saw Matthew Broderick, equipped with an IMSAI microcomputer, accidentally almost initiate World War III by finding a back-door into a military system.

ZDNet UK was unable to confirm whether the sequel will be updated for the new millennia with the teen hero struggling to find time to crack military level encryption whilst keeping up his MySpace account and downloading the latest episode of Lost on BitTorrent.