where the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing can escape.
I always wondered about this. Isn't it just a basic calculation showing the point where escape velocity exceeds the speed of light? Meaning that ballistically nothing can escape on it's own, but if you had a "space elevator" (with super-strong cables not defined here) you could raise and lower things into a black hole (or planet Earth) at whatever speed you wanted. So why not lower in a camera and take a look? And if the super-strong cable also does Ethernet, you wouldn't even have to raise it back, unless gravitational escape velocity also applies to electricity.
Physics being what it is, the rebuttal could something like proof that such a super-strong cable couldn't exist, even if the thought-experiment is valid. To keep it from getting infinitely crushed, maybe you have to build it out of some sort of antidote physical-contradiction like magnetic monopoles
movie plot threats are not worth worrying about.
As opposed to, "movie theater threats" like Batmans and ex-cops. Who needs terrorists when USA is already well-supplied with local wackos?
I've noticed several design suggestions in your code.