US launches cyber security plan

US launches cyber security plan 美国实施网络安全计划

 

Barack Obama: "Our digital infrastructure¹ will be treated as a strategic national asset"

US President Barack Obama has announced plans for securing American computer networks against cyber attacks.

 

He said that from now on, America's digital infrastructure would be treated as a strategic national asset.

 

He announced the creation of a cyber security office in the White House, and said he would personally appoint a "cyber tsar"（沙皇）.

 

Both US government and military bodies have reported repeated interference from hackers² in recent years.

 

 

 PRESIDENT'S SPEECH

 

 

US President Barack Obama's speech on cyber security [31.2 KB]

Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe³ Reader

Download the reader here

Mr Obama pointed⁴ out that al-Qaeda and other groups had threatened computer warfare⁵.

 

Acts of terror today, he said, could come "not only from a few extremists in suicide vests, but from a few key strokes of a computer - a weapon of mass disruption."

 

The president said the United States was particularly dependent on its computer networks and therefore particularly vulnerable to（易受。。。的攻击） cyber attacks.

 

In 2007 alone the Pentagon reported nearly 44,000 incidents of what it called malicious⁶ cyber activity carried out by foreign militaries, intelligence agencies and individual hackers.

 

Security priority

 

Mr Obama said that protecting America's digital infrastructure, the networks and computers everyone depended on every day, would be "a national security priority".

 

"It is now clear," he said, "this cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation."

 

He said the United States had failed to invest in its digital infrastructure. "We are not as prepared as we should be," he said.

 

In the past, no one US department was responsible for cyber-security, resulting in poor communication and co-ordination, he said.

 

The new cyber-security office will be a multi-billion dollar effort designed to restrict access to government computers and to protect systems - such as those that run the stock exchange and air traffic control - that keep the country going.

 

 

But Mr Obama emphasised that it would also help protect individual Americans, adding: "Millions... have been victimised: their privacy violated, their identities stolen, their lives upended, and their wallets emptied."

 

He pointed out that according to one survey, cyber crime cost Americans more than $8bn over the last two years. Worldwide, it was estimated that cyber criminals stole intellectual property from businesses worth up to $1 trillion.

 

"In short, America's economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber-security," he said.

 

The Obama administration is also expected to create a new cyber command at the Pentagon with the dual（双重的） task of eradicating⁷ (根除，根绝)potential vulnerabilities（脆弱点） in America's sensitive computer networks, while simultaneously（同时的） creating ways to exploit them in the systems of potential enemies.

 

An influential⁸ study published last year suggested that having an offensive computer warfare capability⁹ would have a deterrent¹⁰ effect （阻遏效果）against would-be attackers. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

3 adobe   

n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司

参考例句：

• They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
• Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。

4 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

5 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

6 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

7 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

8 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

9 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

10 deterrent   

n.阻碍物，制止物；adj.威慑的，遏制的

参考例句：

• Large fines act as a deterrent to motorists.高额罚款是对开车的人的制约。
• I put a net over my strawberries as a deterrent to the birds.我在草莓上罩了网，免得鸟歇上去。