VOA英语2010年-WikiLeaks Supporters Step Up Cyber Attacks

Computer hackers² used to be mostly sophisticated criminals, high tech spies or new media pranksters. But now a new breed of hacker¹ is engaged in what some call a cyber war of political activism.

In the streets of New York, these supporters of the WikiLeaks website want to send a message to anyone who will listen.

"The charges against WikiLeaks are really nothing but a fraud and a cover up," said one supporter of Wikileaks.

But top U.S. officials say classified documents released by WikiLeaks founder⁴ Julian Assange put American lives at risk, and may be criminal. Assange is now in a British jail on an unrelated sexual assault charge from Sweden.

Unlike these protesters, tens of thousands of WikiLeaks supporters are making a statement through the Internet.

A group called "Anonymous⁵" has launched cyber attacks against companies that have stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks. Gregg Housh, a spokesman for Anonymous, said "That's made people a little upset so they've decided⁶, 'Let's hurt those companies, let's make them understand it was a bad move.'"

Cyber attacks temporarily shut down the websites of MasterCard and Visa. Internet activists⁷ accuse the credit card companies of being against freedom of information on the Internet. Housh tells VOA that members of Anonymous consider WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a hero who has not broken any laws by releasing classified information through his website.

Housh says Anonymous is made up of WikiLeaks supporters from around the world who are mostly in their late teens or 20s. "Anyone can be Anonymous," he said. "There's no central location there's no central server. There's no leaders."

In a Skype Interview with VOA, cyber security expert Paul Sop³ of Prolexic Technologies says WikiLeaks supporters involved in the latest attacks are not traditional cyber criminals and will be easier to catch. "You're going to see, from a lot of these WikiLeaks attack activity, several people go to jail from it, because they haven't been altogether clever about hiding their tracks," he said.

But cyber security experts say there is a limit to what police can do because of the large number of participants in these attacks. Another challenge for law enforcement: Sop says it is impossible to stop the flow of information even if WikiLeaks is shut down. Hundreds of mirror sites hosting WikiLeaks contents have appeared. Sop says in the time it would take to shut down one server, the information on WikiLeaks could have been copied 100 times on other websites.

"What it really means is that if you want to distribute information on the Internet, one way or another you're going to be able to do so, and it's beyond the capabilities⁸ of the human race to stop it," said Sop.

Some cyber security experts and Internet activists agree that it is too early to tell whether online protest movements will become a permanent way for people to express their ideas, or whether the activists will get bored and abandon what many are calling a cyber war.

1 hacker   

n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客

参考例句：

• The computer hacker wrote that he was from Russia.这个计算机黑客自称他来自俄罗斯。
• This site was attacked by a hacker last week.上周这个网站被黑客攻击了。

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 sop   

n.湿透的东西，懦夫；v.浸，泡，浸湿

参考例句：

• I used a mop to sop up the spilled water.我用拖把把泼出的水擦干。
• The playground was a mere sop.操场很湿。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓