In previous years, bug bounties were seen as cheap stunts by startups. In 2015, the scales tipped. Microsoft and Google hosted massive "hack the pentagon" style side events. The atmosphere shifted from "hackers vs. vendors" to "researchers subsidized by vendors."

One of the most anticipated talks was by Chris Krebs, the then-Assistant Secretary for the DHS's Office of Infrastructure Protection, who emphasized the importance of collaboration between government and industry to address the growing threat of cybercrime. Another notable keynote was by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who discussed the implications of hacking and surveillance on individual freedoms.

However, in the years following its release, the film has undergone a critical re-evaluation. It is now frequently cited as a "beguiling anomaly" and a "palpably cold financial thriller" that predicted the rising threat of state-sponsored cyber warfare and infrastructure attacks.

The phrase " blackhat.2015 — deep text " refers to critical and thematic analyses of the 2015 film , directed by Michael Mann