VOA常速英语2014--英国研究人员开发信用卡更安全的加密措施

 

British Researchers Develop Safer Encryption for Credit Cards 英国研究人员开发信用卡更安全的加密措施

The recent news that data from 40 million credit and debit¹ cards used at Target department stores was hacked² has raised concerns about the security of plastic bank  cards. These contain financial information on a magnetic strip or a memory chip embedded³ in the plastic.  A new method of storing encrypted data is in its early  stages, but the company developing the technology says some credit card companies are paying close attention.

Most credit and debit cards today use magnetic strips that hold the data about the owner's bank account and personal identification number called a PIN.

现今大部分信用卡和借记卡使用磁条加密保存持卡人的银行帐号和个人密码等数据。

Other credit cards hold the data in memory chips that communicate wirelessly⁴ with card readers.

还有一些信用卡是将数据存入芯片，通过无线方式与读卡器相通。

Both systems are vulnerable.

然而这两种系统都可能遭破解。

Criminals can steal the data by hacking⁵ into the banks' or retailers⁶' computer systems or, as in the case of Target, tampering⁷ with card readers in stores.

犯罪人能够通过进入银行或零售商的电脑系统，或者像目标百货商店一案那样，通过篡改店内读卡器盗取相关数据。

Now, scientists in Britain say they are developing a way to make encrypted data more secure by storing it in the plastic itself.

英国科学家表示他们正在研发将加密数据存入塑料本身以提高信用卡等银行卡的安全性。

Gordon Smith, a professor emeritus⁸ at Warwick Manufacturing Group, at the University of Warwick, said researchers are manipulating a plastic molding machine to use the  colors of the card to encrypt data.

华威大学华威制造集团的戈登·史密斯教授称研究人员正在操作注塑机以通过塑料卡片的颜色加密数据：

“As it's making that plastic from a molten plastic into a solid component⁹, we are moving the pigments¹¹ such that they form specific images,” he said.

“用这个机器将熔融塑料变成固态形式，我们调整让它们形成特定图像的颜料。”

The way the pigment¹⁰ is configured inside the plastic ensures the security of the data.

用塑料卡内颜色的变化确保内存数据的安全。

When the card is passed through a special scanner, similar to magnetic strip readers, the software reads the embedded image containing the data.

当这张卡片通过一个类似磁条读卡器的特制扫描器时，软件会读取显示存储的相关数据的图像。

“When we first developed the images within the plastic, it looked as though it would just be an aesthetic¹² aspect to it,“我们最初开发塑料卡内的图像时，看上去就是让这个卡片漂亮了一些，but then we've realized that once we could make it covert¹³, we could color the plastic so that the image was hidden, then it became something a lot more special," said  Smith.

后来我们意识到，可以把用这些颜色使图像隐藏，让它更特别。”史密斯说道。

Smith admits the system could be compromised if someone discovers how the card was made, though he said that's unlikely.

史密斯教授表示如果有人发现了卡片的制成方法，这个系统就可能被破坏，不过他说这种情况不大可能发生，The counterfeiter¹⁴ would need to have access to an injection molding machine that costs more than $300,000.

因为伪造者需要有一台价值30多万美元的注塑机。

The patents for this new method are pending¹⁵, and it has not been used commercially at all.

这种新方法的专利还在审批过程中，而且尚未用于商业用途。

Smith said some credit card companies, however, already have indicated they are interested in the technology.

但史密斯表示一些信用卡公司已经对这种技术表示出兴趣。

1 debit   

n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项

参考例句：

• To whom shall I debit this sum?此款应记入谁的账户的借方？
• We undercharge Mr.Smith and have to send him a debit note for the extra amount.我们少收了史密斯先生的钱，只得给他寄去一张借条所要欠款。

2 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

3 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

4 wirelessly   

不用电线的，用无线电波传送的

参考例句：

• I heard it on the wireless. 我是从无线电收音机里听到的。
• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio. 收音机里有许多无线电线路。

5 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。

6 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

7 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

8 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

9 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

10 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

11 pigments   

n.（粉状）颜料( pigment的名词复数 )；天然色素

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls. 古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。 来自辞典例句
• The original white lead pigments have oxidized and turned black. 最初的白色铅质颜料氧化后变成了黑色。 来自辞典例句

12 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

13 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

14 counterfeiter   

n.伪造者

参考例句：

• If the illegal gains are very large the counterfeiter shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years and not more than seven years and be fined. 对于违法所得数额巨大的，处3年以上7年以下有期徒刑，并处罚金。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Judge: (asking a counterfeiter) Why do you make false money? 法官：（威严地问假币制造者）你为什么制造假币？ 来自互联网

15 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。