2021年经济学人 美国遇史上最严重黑客入侵,幕后黑手系俄罗斯?(3)

Yet this effort to stamp norms onto a covert¹ and chaotic² arena³ of competition has been unsuccessful. For one thing, it is not always simple to define what is “honourable”, in Mr Hayden’s parlance⁴, and what is not. If stealing a policy document is kosher, why not a vaccine⁵? The line between espionage⁶ and subversion⁷ is also blurred⁸: is Russia stealing emails to understand American policy, or to publish them later? It is not always clear until after the fact.

然而，这种将规范强加于隐蔽而混乱的竞争舞台的努力却没有成功。首先，用海登的话来说，界定入侵行为是否“光荣”并不总是那么简单。如果界定窃取政策文件为正当活动，那为什么不可以窃取疫苗文件呢？间谍活动和破坏活动之间的界限也很模糊：俄罗斯窃取电子邮件是为了了解美国政策，还是为了稍后公布它们？直到事后才清楚。

Most so-called cyber-attacks are simply espionage. But espionage conducted over computer networks has enabled intelligence gathering⁹ on a scale that was previously¹⁰ impossible. Though America has been as much a beneficiary of this intelligence revolution as it has been a victim, it has grown less tolerant in recent years. American views of “what’s allowed in cyberspace” have changed since the OPM breach¹¹ five years ago, says Max Smeets of the Centre for Security Studies in Zurich. Such large-scale espionage “would be now at the top of the list of operations that they would deem as unacceptable,” he suggests.

大多数所谓的网络攻击只是间谍活动。但通过计算机网络进行的间谍活动使情报收集达到了前所未有的规模。尽管美国既是这场情报革命的受益者，也是受害者，但近年来美国的容忍度有所下降。苏黎世安全研究中心的马克斯?斯梅茨称，自从五年前人事管理局被攻破以来，美国对“网络空间准入什么”的看法已经发生了变化。他表示，美国目前认为如此大规模的间谍活动“将是不可接受的首要行动”。

Yet forbidding something is different from stopping it. “Deterrence is mostly irrelevant¹² in an intelligence contest,” writes Joshua Rovner of the American University in Washington, a scholar-in-residence at the NSA in 2018-19. “No combination of threats and promises will stop a rival intelligence service from collecting information.” Sturdier defences are needed.

然而，禁止与阻止是不同的。美国国家安全局2018-19年度的驻校学者、华盛顿美国大学的约书亚?罗夫纳写道：“威慑在情报竞赛中大多无关紧要。”。“任何威胁和承诺的结合都不能阻止敌对情报机构收集信息。”我们需要更坚固的防御。

1 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。

2 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

3 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

4 parlance   

n.说法；语调

参考例句：

• The term "meta directory" came into industry parlance two years ago.两年前，商业界开始用“元目录”这个术语。
• The phrase is common diplomatic parlance for spying.这种说法是指代间谍行为的常用外交辞令。

5 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

6 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

7 subversion   

n.颠覆，破坏

参考例句：

• He was arrested in parliament on charges of subversion for organizing the demonstration.他因组织示威活动在议会上被以颠覆破坏罪名逮捕。
• It had a cultural identity relatively immune to subversion from neighboring countries.它的文化同一性使它相对地不易被邻国所颠覆。

8 blurred   

v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离

参考例句：

• She suffered from dizziness and blurred vision. 她饱受头晕目眩之苦。
• Their lazy, blurred voices fell pleasantly on his ears. 他们那种慢吞吞、含糊不清的声音在他听起来却很悦耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

10 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

11 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

12 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。