2021年经济学人 美国要害--不堪一击的能源基础设施(1)

United States

美国版块

Hacking¹ and ransoms²

黑客攻击与勒索

Post-Colonial studies

Colonial Pipeline³遭受勒索攻击事件的复盘

A cyber-attack exposes growing risks to America’s energy infrastructure⁴

一次网络攻击事件暴露出美国能源基础设施所面临的与日俱增的风险

Pipelines⁵, like cables and substations, are the type of dull, critical infrastructure that Americans don’t think about until, suddenly, they must. On May 7th a cyber-attack prompted Colonial Pipeline, a firm headquartered in Georgia, to shut down a tube stretching from Texas to New Jersey⁶ that supplies about 45% of the petrol and diesel⁷ used on the east coast. Federal officials confirmed that DarkSide, a ransomware gang believed to be based in the former Soviet⁸ Union, was responsible. "We're not talking about some small pipeline,” explains Amy Myers Jaffe, author of “Energy’s Digital Future”, a new book. "We’re talking about the jugular⁹.”

就像电缆和变电站一样，管道是一种不起眼却必不可少的基础设施，美国人若非突然必要，通常不会将管道放在心上。5月7日，总部位于佐治亚州的Colonial Pipeline公司因一次网络攻击而被迫关闭了从德克萨斯州到新泽西州的输油管道，该管道承担着东海岸45%的汽油和柴油供应。联邦官员证实，此次网络攻击的幕后黑手是据信前苏联的勒索组织DarkSide。新书《能源的数字未来》的作者艾米·迈尔斯·贾菲解释说：“我们谈及的可不是什么小管道，而是美国的要害。”

On May 12th Colonial Pipeline said it had “initiated the restart of pipeline operations”, a carefully worded statement that conveys both the difficulty of returning to normal and a desire to contain panic. That day average petrol prices topped $3 a gallon for the first time since 2014. Much depends on whether more drivers rush to buy petrol, as they did in the oil shocks of the 1970s. If 30m carowners with half a tank decide to fill up, reckons S&P Global Platts Analytics, a data group, they would guzzle¹⁰ over 4m barrels, more than the recent daily demand of the entire eastern seaboard. Many are already buying while they can. Long queues formed at petrol stations in the south-east on May 11th. Some stations limited purchases; others ran out of fuel. The White House said it had established “an inter-agency response group” to “ ensure a continuing flow of fuel”.

5月12日，Colonial Pipeline公司称已经“开始重启管道运营”，这一措辞谨慎的声明既表达了恢复正常的难度，也表达了其遏制恐慌的愿望。当天，汽油平均价格自2014年以来首次突破每加仑3美元。汽油价格在很大程度上取决于是否有更多的司机像上世纪70年代石油危机时那样急于购买汽油。数据集团标准普尔全球普拉茨分析公司估计，如果3000万名拥有半箱油的车主决定加满油，那将消耗400多万桶汽油，超过整个东海岸最近的每日需求量。很多人已经在尽可能购买汽油了。5月11日，美国东南部的加油站排起了长队。部分加油站限购汽油；其他加油站则全部卖光。白宫表示已成立了“跨机构应对小组”，以“确保燃料的持续供应”。

Even if supplies are restored quickly, however, America faces a more stubborn problem. Despite more than a decade of attention to cybersecurity, the country’s energy infrastructure—the pipelines, power generators¹¹ and grids¹² on which the economy depends—remains exposed to hackers¹³. Indeed the energy system may yet become more vulnerable, not less.

不过，即使供应迅速恢复，美国也面临着一个更为棘手的问题。尽管人们十多年来一直关注网络安全，但美国的能源基础设施——经济赖以增长的输油管道、发电机和电网——仍然面临黑客的威胁。事实上，美国能源系统目前可能更易受到攻击，而并非不太脆弱。

Securing oil and electricity assets used to mean guarding against physical attacks: a bombing of a refinery¹⁴, for instance. Those risks remain, but hackers can also infl?ict grave damage. In 2010 the Stuxnet worm, generally believed to have been deployed¹⁵ by Israel and America, targeted a nuclear facility in Iran. In 2015 and 2016 Russian hackers caused blackouts in Ukraine.

确保石油和电力资产安全在过去意味着防范物理攻击：例如，轰炸炼油厂。物理风险仍然存在，但黑客也可能造成严重损害。2010年，通常被认为是以色列和美国部署的Stuxnet蠕虫病毒攻击了一个伊朗核设施。2015年和2016年，俄罗斯黑客攻击乌克兰，造成断电。

Aware of such risks, American executives and politicians have tried to mitigate¹⁶ them. The American Petroleum¹⁷ Institute, the country’s main oil lobby, has held an annual conference on cybersecurity since 2006. The Department of Energy dutifully developed “The Energy Sector¹⁸ Specific Plan” for cyberthreats, in 2015, “The Multi-year Plan for Energy Sector Cybersecurity”, in 2018 and “The 2020 Cybersecurity Multi-year Program Plan”, to name but a few.

美国高管和政客们在意识到黑客攻击的风险后试图降低风险。美国主要的石油游说团体美国石油协会自2006年以来每年都举办一次网络安全会议。美国能源部尽职尽责地在2015年制定了针对网络威胁的《能源部专项预案》，2018年制定了《能源部网络安全多年计划》，还有《2020年网络安全多年计划》等等。

1 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

2 ransoms   

付赎金救人，赎金( ransom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The kidnappers exacted ransoms for their hostages. 绑匪勒索人质的赎金。
• Hotel:Wealthy captives sleep at the hotel for an increase in their ransoms. 酒店：富有的俘虏们要住在酒店等待足够的赎金以回家。

3 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

4 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。

5 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

8 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

9 jugular   

n.颈静脉

参考例句：

• He always goes for the jugular.他总是直奔要害而去。
• Bilateral internal jugular vein stenting is also a rare procedure.两侧内颈静脉支架置放术也是少见的技术。

10 guzzle   

v.狂饮，暴食

参考例句：

• Melissa had guzzled gin and tonics like they were lemonade.梅利莎像喝柠檬汽水一样大口地喝着加奎宁水的杜松子酒。
• Pigs guzzle their food.猪总是狼吞虎咽地吃东西。

11 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

13 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

14 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

15 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

16 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

17 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

18 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。