VOA慢速英语2015 伊朗与美国一边核谈判一边增加网络攻击

AS IT IS 2015-03-09 Iran, US Increase Cyberattacks Despite Nuclear Talks 伊朗与美国一边核谈判一边增加网络攻击

A newly published report says Iran and the United States have increased cyberattacks, even as their top diplomats¹ are working toward a nuclear agreement. The goal is to guarantee that Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon, and to loosen Iran’s international sanctions. 

The top U.S. and Iranian diplomats have been holding almost weekly meetings in an effort to finish an agreement on nuclear weapons. However, a website called The Intercept² says that a “cyber war,” attacks against computer networks, is taking place behind the scenes. The website takes some of its information from secret U.S. government documents made public by Edward Snowden. It published details of a U.S. National Security Agency paper, written two years ago. The NSA paper calls for a stronger U.S. answer to Iran’s improved cyber warfare³ abilities.

The report says Iran learned from a virus called Stuxnet that was placed into its nuclear program. The virus allegedly was put there by U.S. and Israeli intelligence services in 2012.

David Stupples of City University, London is a cyber-warfare expert. He says the incident may have shown Iranian leaders the value of cyber warfare, compared to controversial, costly⁴ and dangerous nuclear weapons.

Iran has “now realized they have a much stronger weapon at hand,” Mr. Stupples said. He added that Iran “can continually attack and continually get payoffs from their activities quite cheaply.”

A basic cyberattack means a computer attacker closes down a website. Real problems, however, result when cyberattacks steal or destroy data. That is what happened in the attack on Sony Pictures last year, reportedly by North Korea.   

A year ago, the head of the NSA, Admiral Mike Rogers, told Congress that cyber warfare is here to stay. “Clearly, cyber will be an element of almost any crisis we are going to see in the future,” said Admiral Rogers. He added that he believes cyber warfare was used in Ukraine, Syria and Georgia. “It increasingly is becoming a norm,” he said.

Cyberattacks are inexpensive, secret, and can be denied. Those are some of the reasons that could make them more appealing to terrorists and governments, instead of using conventional or nuclear weapons. 

Words in This Story

abilities – n. (plural) the powers or skills to do something

allegedly – adv. said to have happened but not yet proven

controversial – adj. likely to produce controversy⁵; relating to much discussion, disagreement, or argument

conventional – adj. usual or traditional

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

3 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。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。