Sneakers is a 1992 American thriller film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, written by Robinson, Walter Parkes, and Lawrence Lasker, and starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, and David Strathairn; the film was released by Universal Pictures.
In 1969, students Martin Brice and Cosmo are sneakers who hack into computer networks to finance socialist organizations. When Martin leaves for a pizza, Cosmo gets arrested, forcing Martin to become a fugitive.
In present-day San Francisco, Martin, now called Martin Bishop, heads a security specialists team undertaking penetration testing. The team includes Donald Crease, a former CIA officer and family man; Darren "Mother" Roskow, a conspiracy theorist and electronics technician; Carl Arbogast, a young hacking genius; and Irwin "Whistler" Emery, a blind phone phreak.
After performing their services for a bank, Martin is approached by NSA officers Dick Gordon and Buddy Wallace. He is asked to recover a "black box" from mathematician Dr. Gunter Janek, developed under the name "Setec Astronomy" supposedly for the Russian government. Martin is hesitant but agrees when the agents reveal that they are aware of his true identity and offer to clear his past in exchange. With help from his former girlfriend, Liz, Martin and his team secure the box, which is disguised as a telephone answering machine. During their subsequent celebration party, Whistler, Mother, and Carl investigate the box, finding it capable of breaking the encryption of nearly every computer system. Martin works out that "Setec Astronomy" is an anagram of "too many secrets", and issues a lockdown until they can deliver the box the next day.
