VOA常速英语2015--美国与伊朗之间的网络战争

Cyber War Rages Between Iran, US 美国与伊朗之间的网络战争

LONDON—

A newly published report indicates Iran and the United States have increased their cyber attacks on each other, even as their top diplomats¹ are working toward an agreement to guarantee Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon and to free Iran from international sanctions. The development is part of a growing global trend.

The top U.S. and Iranian diplomats have been holding almost weekly meetings, to try to finish the accord by their deadline at the end of March. But behind the scenes of collegiality, an active cyber war is raging.  

美伊高级外交官几乎每周都在会谈，希望完成最后期限在3月底的协议，但在和平相处的背后，一场网络战争正在积极进行。

According to a website called The Intercept², which draws on 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, that calls for a more robust³ U.S. response to Iran’s improved cyber warfare⁴ abilities.

根据一个名叫Intercept的网站，该网站利用爱德华·斯诺登曝光的美国政府文件，网站公布了美国国安局两年前撰写的一份文件，该文件要求美国积极应对伊朗加强的网络战能力。

The report says Iran learned from a virus called Stuxnet inserted into its nuclear program, allegedly by U.S. and Israeli intelligence services in 2012.

该报告称伊朗了解到一个被嵌入其核项目的病毒，这个名叫Stuxnet的病毒是美国和以色列情报机构2012年借以攻击伊朗的。

Iran's capabilities⁵

That incident may have shown Iranian leaders the value of cyber warfare capabilities, as compared to expensive, controversial and highly deadly nuclear weapons, according to cyber warfare expert David Stupples of City University London.

那次事件可能让伊朗领导人明白了与昂贵、有争议且非常致命的核武器相比，网络战能力有其自己的价值，伦敦城市学院网络战专家戴维·斯塔普斯如是说。

“Iran have now realized they have a much stronger weapon at hand," he said. "If they pour resources into that, they can continually attack and continually get payoffs from their activities, quite cheaply.”

伊朗“现在意识到他们手中拥有更强大的武器，如果他们在这方面投入资源，就能以低廉的成本继续发动袭击且从其活动中获得收益。”

A basic form of cyber attack is shown in a video produced by Stupples’ team from an actual incident.

斯塔普斯团队根据现实事件制作的视频显示了网络攻击的基本形态。

“This is the website servicing each of the requests that come in, and you see the answers going back. Where it goes to start being bright, it means the website is becoming quite heavily loaded," said Stupples. "So all the requests are coming in, but nothing is going back. Essentially⁶, the website is completely closed down.”

该网站对每个到来的请求提供服务，“你能看到会有答案反馈，当网站开始变亮时，这就说明网站负荷变得过大，所有的请求都来到，但没有答案得到反馈，基本上来说，这个网站已经关闭了。”

Such overload⁷, or ‘denial of service’ attacks, are irritating, but real problems come when cyber attacks steal or destroy data, as happened in the attack on Sony Pictures last year, allegedly by North Korea. Such attacks also could put people at risk by overheating power plants or taking services like highway signals or air traffic control off line.

这种超载，也就是“拒绝服务”的攻击很让人恼火。但真正的问题是网络攻击盗窃或毁掉数据，正如去年索尼影业遭遇的那样，据悉这是朝鲜所为。此类攻击通过让发电厂过热、让高速信号或空中交通管制终端的方式给人们带来风险。

Growing threat

A year ago, the new head of the U.S. National Security Agency, Admiral Mike Rogers, told Congress cyber warfare is here to stay.

一年前，美国国安局新局长罗杰斯上将告诉国会，网络战争还将继续。

"Clearly, cyber will be an element of almost any crisis we are going to see in the future," said Rogers. "It has been in the past, I believe we see it today in the Ukraine, we've seen it in Syria, Georgia, it increasingly is becoming a norm.”

“很显然，网络将成为未来几乎任何危机的组成部分，过去已经发生过，我相信今天在乌克兰也能看到，我们在叙利亚和格鲁吉亚也见过，这个问题越发成为常态。”

There also is concern that terrorist groups could move into the cyber domain⁸, said Rachel Briggs of London’s Institute for Strategic Dialogue.

伦敦战略对话研究所的分析家雷切尔·布里格斯说，人们还担心恐怖组织会深入互联网领域。

“We know that extremists are trying to use technology in the same way that they use wires and batteries. They have not so far, as far as we know, been successful. It will only be a matter of time,” she said.

“我们知道极端分子在企图像使用电线和电池那样地使用科技，就我们目前所知他们尚未成功，但这只是个时间问题。”

Cyber attacks are inexpensive, secret, deniable, and while frequent are largely unknown to the public, potentially making them more attractive to terrorists and governments than conventional or nuclear weapons.

网络攻击成本低、形式隐秘、可以否认，且通常为公众所不知，与常规或核武器相比，这就使得网络攻击可能对恐怖分子和各国政府更具吸引力。

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 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

4 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。

5 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

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 overload   

vt.使超载；n.超载

参考例句：

• Don't overload the boat or it will sink.别超载，否则船会沉。
• Large meals overload the digestive system.吃得太饱会加重消化系统的负担。

8 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。