Editing Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics

{{Short description|Phrase used in cyberpunk literature}}
{{redirect|Black ICE|other uses|black ice (disambiguation)}}
'''Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics''' ('''ICE''') is a term used in the [[cyberpunk]] subgenre to refer to security programs which protect computerized [[data]] from being accessed by [[Hacker (computer security)|hackers]].

==Origin of term==
The term was popularized by [[William Gibson]] in his short story "[[Burning Chrome]]", which also introduced the term ''[[cyberspace]]'', and in his subsequent [[novel]] ''[[Neuromancer]]''.<ref name="JargonFile">{{cite web | url=http://www.jargon.8hz.com/html/I/ice.html | title=Ice | work=[[The Jargon File]] | date=2003-10-27 | access-date=2008-11-21 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204191153/http://www.jargon.8hz.com/html/I/ice.html | archive-date=2008-12-04 }}</ref><ref name="Neuromancer">{{cite book|author=William Gibson|author-link=William Gibson|year=1984|title=[[Neuromancer]]|publisher=[[Ace Books]]|isbn=0-441-56959-5}}</ref> According to the [[Jargon File]], as well as Gibson's own acknowledgements, the term ICE was originally coined by [[Tom Maddox]].<ref name="JargonFile"/>

==Description of ICE {{anchor|blackice}}==
When viewed in a [[cyberspace]] [[virtual reality]] environment, these constructs are often represented by actual walls of ice, stone, or metal. '''Black ICE''' refers to ICE that are capable of killing the intruder if deemed necessary or appropriate; some forms of black ICE may be [[Artificial intelligence|artificially intelligent]].

==Real-world usage==
{{main|Computer security|Intrusion detection system}}
Though real-life [[firewall (networking)|firewalls]], [[anti-virus software]] and similar programs fall under this classification, the term has little real world significance and remains primarily a [[science fiction]] concept. This can be attributed to the fact that using the term "electronics" to describe software products (such as firewalls) is something of a [[misnomer]]. On the other hand, there is a strong connection between real-world [[cybercrime]] and cyberpunk literature.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wall |first1=D.S. |title=The Construction of Crime |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |editor1-last=Gregoriou |editor1-first=C. |pages=4–18 |chapter=The Devil Drives a Lada: the social construction of hackers as cybercriminals |chapter-url=}}</ref> "The Gibsonian concept of cyberspace [...] fed back into both computer and information systems design and theory," wrote Roger Burrows.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burrows |first1=Roger |editor1-last=Westwood |editor1-first=Sallie |editor2-last=Williams |editor2-first=John |title=Imagining Cities: Scripts, signs, memories |date=1997 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |pages=235–48 |chapter-url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/8232287/imagining.cities.scripts.signs.memories.dec.1996_jlu.pdf?1328221797=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DTHIS_HERE_NOW.pdf&Expires=1594913570&Signature=dNEEVxmg2atTvH-BuY5jZJK~ow8ofzjOJFUJi1~MXPn9lyuex7i5hbVU4cXT02kweU7CxA5p8fDta~R3slaqLNGKrIjbqWVI0tcKflb4TcjADqa399Ueo9oAOIFW8zDrf2Pkxbsh3xshiUWFVWRtKkYTTErNeG33jNSm0oYcWPh9MsT2mNcuC5nCpysqVmxyz4HfZEjpB28QK79IbITs~iRStXFrDP9mzgPa6oGWIqjNoWE0pK-qKTcCu6mZN1brM-LM-4nG6VSUEPvbc0tbKYMbGJ~dtUAj5Czg3kwOzXtaDFagtGUROlh-AziCyJ-HBmQIUMgZcKXDwbVq8NtTjg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA#page=244 |chapter=Cyberpunk as Social Theory}}</ref>

The term ICE has occasionally been used for real-world software:
* ''BlackICE'', an [[intrusion detection system]] built by a California company named Network ICE in 1999, acquired by [[IBM Internet Security Systems]], then discontinued in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Edwards |first1=M |title=BlackICE |url=https://www.itprotoday.com/compute-engines/blackice |website=ITPro Today |access-date=16 July 2020 |date=8 December 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Naraine |first1=Ryan |title=IBM kills off BlackICE firewall |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/ibm-kills-off-blackice-firewall/ |website=ZDNet |publisher=CBS Interactive |access-date=16 July 2020}}</ref>
* The [[ICE (cipher)|ICE cipher]], an encryption algorithm, may be inspired by Gibson's ICE, but it is explained as meaning "Information Concealment Engine".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kwan |first1=Matthew |title=Fast Software Encryption |chapter=The design of the ICE encryption algorithm |journal=Proceedings of Fast Software Encryption - Fourth International Workshop, Haifa, Israel |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |date=1997 |volume=1267 |pages=69–82 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2FBFb0052335.pdf |publisher=Springer-Verlag|doi=10.1007/BFb0052335 |isbn=978-3-540-63247-4 }}</ref>
* The Java bytecode verifier in the Apache ByteCode Engineering Library (BCEL) is called JustIce (see the 'docs' folder for documentation).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/apache/commons-bcel/blob/master/docs/verifier/JustIce.lyx|title=JustIce|last=Haase|first=Enver|website=[[GitHub]] }}</ref>

On April 28, 2009, the Information and Communications Enhancement Act, or ICE Act for short, was introduced to the [[United States Senate]] by Senator [[Tom Carper]] to make changes to the handling of [[information security]] by the federal government, including the establishment of the National Office for Cyberspace.<ref name="ICEAct">{{cite web|url=http://searchcompliance.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid195_gci1354854,00.html|title=ICE Act would restructure cybersecurity rule, create White House post|last=Howard|first=Alexander B.|publisher=SearchCompliance|date=2009-04-28|access-date=2010-05-07|archive-date=2009-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091108184204/http://searchcompliance.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid195_gci1354854,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ICEAct-OpenCongress">{{cite web|url=http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s921/show|title=S.921 - U.S. ICE Act of 2009|publisher=OpenCongress|access-date=2010-05-07|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831005015/http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s921/show|archive-date=2010-08-31}}</ref>

==Usage in fiction==
The term ''ICE'' is widely used in [[cyberpunk]] fiction.

===Anime===
* ''[[Cyberpunk: Edgerunners]]''
* ''[[Cyber City Oedo 808]]''
* ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'', where ICE is referred to directly by name or else as an 'Attack Barrier'.

===Cartoons===
* ''[[Phantom 2040]]'', though in it "ICE" stands for "Integrated Cyber Environment", referring to [[cyberspace]], rather than Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics<ref name="Phantom2040">{{cite episode|title = Fire and I.C.E. | series = Phantom 2040 | series-link = Phantom 2040 | season = 1 | number = 4}}</ref>

===Card games===
* ''[[Netrunner]]'', based on ''[[Cyberpunk 2020]]'' setting, where the corporate player uses ICE and the runner player uses icebreakers; while corps in ''Netrunner'' understand ICE to be an acronym for "Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics", the runner viewpoint is that the acronym should be for "Insidious Cortical Electrocution"
* ''[[Android: Netrunner]]'', an adaptation of the original ''Netrunner'' for the ''[[Android (board game)|Android]]'' setting
* [[Hacker (card game)|''Hacker'']] and [[Hacker (card game)#Expansions|''Hacker II - The Dark Side'']], where the players attempt to gain illicit access systems represented by playing cards arranged in a network while avoiding getting zapped by ICE and Black ICE.

===Literature===
* ''[[Neuromancer]]'', original popularizer of the term<ref name="JargonFile"/><ref name="Neuromancer"/>
* ''[[Count Zero]]'' the second novel of [[William Gibson|William Gibson's]] "Sprawl trilogy"
* ''[[Hyperion (Simmons novel)|Hyperion]]'', wherein black ICE is used to defend the TechnoCore
* ''[[Trouble and Her Friends]]'' by Melissa Scott, wherein IC(E) refers to Intrusion Countermeasures (Electronic), solving the problem of implying that the measures are hardware-based

===Roleplaying games===
* ''[[Cyberpunk 2020]]'', upon which the ''Netrunner'' card game is based
* ''[[GURPS Cyberpunk]]''
* ''[[Shadowrun]]'', called IC (The setting drops the "electronics" [[misnomer]]) but is colloquially named "Ice" by hackers in the setting
* ''Shadow of the Beanstalk'', a roleplaying game based on ''[[Android (board game)|Android]]'' universe

===Movies===
* ''[[Johnny Mnemonic (film)|Johnny Mnemonic]]'', mentioned in the opening crawl.
* ''[[Track Down]]'', wherein a friend of [[Kevin Mitnick]] says in a club that he is the hacker known as "IceBreaker"

===Television===
* ''[[Babylon 5]]'', in the episode "[[Born to the Purple]]"
* ''[[Max Headroom (TV series)|Max Headroom]]'', in the episode "Security Systems", April 21, 1987

===Video games===
* ''[[Anarchy Online]]'' features an item called "Hacker ICE-Breaker Source", which can be further upgraded to "Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics Upgrade".
*''[[AI: The Somnium Files]]''
*[[Baldr Sky]] uses the term to describe the technology protecting the characters' "brain chips" and virtual structures.
* ''[[BloodNet]]'' uses the term to describe the technology the player must overcome when hacking a computer system.
* ''[[Cyberpunk 2077]]'' uses the term to refer to defensive countermeasures that prevent netrunners and cyberware from hacking a target.
* ''[[Deus Ex (video game)|Deus Ex]]'', where the player's hacking program is referred to as an "ICE Breaker"
* ''[[Dystopia (computer game)|Dystopia]]'', wherein there are security programs called "ICE walls"
* ''[[Fallout 4]]'' uses "Black Ice" as a construction material during a cyberspace hacking minigame in the Far Harbor DLC.
* ''[[Mr. Robot (video game)|Mr. Robot]]'', where "ICE" in its RPG part refers to shields or armor that can be attacked by various "ICE breaker"s
* ''[[Midnight Protocol (video game)|Midnight Protocol]]'', where "ICE" is an umbrella term for security measures that shield nodes from being accessed
* ''[[Neuromancer (video game)|Neuromancer]],'' where ICE, BlackICE, and ICE Breaking are highly featured.
* ''[[Perfect Dark Zero]]'', where players use ICE technology to bypass security.
* ''[[Project Snowblind]]'', features an ICE pick, to hack enemy cameras, turrets, and robots and use them against enemy forces.
* ''[[Ripper (video game)|Ripper]]'' has the player break into various cyberspace systems, which involves fighting the "ICE" security programs in the form of a [[rail shooter]].
* ''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic]]'', an item called "ICE Breaker" can be obtained and used as a hacking tool during a sequence on the Leviathan, in which the player chooses one character to remain behind and attempt to rescue the other captured party members.
* ''[[StarCrawlers]]'' features an ability called Black Ice, which the Hacker character may use.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hacker |url=https://starcrawlers.gamepedia.com/Hacker#Black_Ice |website=StarCrawlers Wiki |language=en}}</ref>
* ''[[System Shock]]'', where ICE is represented in cyberspace as both autonomous security programs and ICE protection attached to data or software objects appearing as blue crystal formations.
* ''[[System Shock 2]]'', where an item that auto-hacks electronics is known as an "ICE-Pick"
* ''[[The Ascent (video game)|The Ascent]]'', where items are protected by various levels of ICE that the player must overcome to access.
* [[Invisible, Inc.]], wherein "ICE" is used intermittently with "firewalls" to reference mainframe defenses which the player-controlled AI program Incognita breaks through to take control of enemy electronics.

===Web comics===
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', icewalls are a standard security measure.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{William Gibson}}

[[Category:Cyberpunk themes]]
[[Category:William Gibson]]
[[Category:Fiction about malware]]