When the DEA shuts down a dummy corporation operation code named SWORDFISH, they had generated $400 million which they let sit around; years of compound interest has swelled it to $9.5 billion. A covert counter-terrorist unit called Black Cell, headed by Gabriel, wants the money to help finance their war against international terrorism, but it's all locked away behind super-encryption. He brings in convicted hacker Stanley, who only wants to see his daughter Holly again but can't afford the legal fees, to slice into the government mainframes and get the money.