In Mission: Impossible (1996), the computer disk Ethan Hunt must recover contains the NOC list.
“NOC” stands for “Non-Official Cover,” referring to agents whose identities and affiliations are not publicly acknowledged. In the film, the NOC list contains the identities of undercover IMF operatives around the world. Recovering it is central to Ethan Hunt’s attempt to clear his name after a mission in Prague goes wrong.
The film was directed by Brian De Palma and stars Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt. Its famous computer-related sequence involves Hunt being lowered into a highly secured CIA vault at Langley, where he must avoid heat, sound, and movement detection while accessing the data.
The NOC list is sometimes confused with the Rabbit’s Foot, a separate object from Mission: Impossible III. The disk is also distinct from the physical IMF dossiers and other intelligence files shown in the series.