美国国家公共电台 NPR Senate Intel Committee Unveils Election Security Report In Wake Of Mueller Hearings

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Yesterday former special counsel Robert Mueller told Congress that Russia's interference in American elections is not over. In fact, he said it's going on right now and will continue in 2020. Well, today the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the 2016 vote that makes clear just how big a challenge election security remains¹. NPR justice reporter Ryan Lucas is here in the studio.

Hey, Ryan.

RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE²: Hi there.

SHAPIRO: We've heard a lot about Russia's cyber operations during the 2016 election. What does this report have to say that is new?

LUCAS: We have talked a lot about Russia's hacking³ of Democratic Party emails and its manipulation of social media, pushing disinformation. Mueller talked about this yesterday. This report, though, deals with a third aspect of Russia's interference, and that's its targeting of state election systems. Remember - elections are run by state and local authorities in this country. The report says that Russia basically kind of exploited the seams that exist between federal authorities here in the U.S. who are responsible for national security and state officials who run these elections. It says Russia began targeting election infrastructure⁴ like state voter registration⁵ databases back in 2014. They were using cyberattacks. And it says intelligence suggests that Russian hackers⁶ were scanning systems in one form or another in all 50 U.S. states.

SHAPIRO: But the big question is, why? Like, what did they get from being in these systems?

LUCAS: The report - disappointingly, in a sense, I guess - says Russia's intentions are still unclear at this point. It does suggest a couple of possibilities - traditional espionage⁷. They say Russia may have intended to exploit the vulnerabilities that they discovered but ultimately decided⁸ not to. They may - say they may be holding back, and they may exploit them at a later date. There is agreement, though, that this sort of activity fits into an overall goal of Russia's and that is undermining confidence in the integrity of elections in the U.S., and more broadly, in democracy here in this country.

SHAPIRO: I mean, I think the big question that a lot of voters have is, was the vote tally⁹ changed? Does this report say anything about that?

LUCAS: It says the same thing that we've heard from U.S. officials for a while, and that's that there's no evidence that any of the vote tallies¹⁰ were changed.

SHAPIRO: But they haven't definitively¹¹ proved that it didn't happen either.

LUCAS: Right. Right. The report also says that there's no evidence that any voting machines were manipulated. But along with what you said, it says that the committee's insight and the insight that the U.S. intelligence community has on this question is limited, which is kind of a chilling thing to hear. One thing that is clear, though, is that the U.S. political system at every level - state, local, federal - was unprepared for this sort of cyber assault. One example that they cite is that back in the summer of 2016, as all of this was going on, federal officials told states. They alerted them. But the information was either too vague or too thin to be of any sort of use. And sometimes it even went to the wrong people.

SHAPIRO: And do they make recommendations for what to do now?

LUCAS: They do. One recommendation that the report says is that the U.S. needs to find a way to deter¹² these sorts of attacks. It also suggests better coordination¹³ and information-sharing about the threats, replacing outdated¹⁴ voting systems and, of course, getting more money to states - always that money question.

SHAPIRO: NPR justice reporter Ryan Lucas, thank you.

LUCAS: Thank you.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 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。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

6 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

7 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。

8 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。

9 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

10 tallies   

n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合

参考例句：

• Cash on hand tallies with the figure in the accounts. 现款跟账上的数目没有出入。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He tallies his own marks. 他把自己的得分记了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

12 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

13 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

14 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。