PBS高端访谈:对抗黑客的秘密武器--大学生

 　　RICK KARR: Malicious¹ computer hackers⁴ are posing more and more of a threat to business and government–and they will spend around 46 billion dollars this year to protect themselves from those hackers. Some computer security experts argue that in order to fight the bad-guy hackers, the good guys need to beable to use the same techniques -- and a university in Pittsburgh has turned its attention to trainingcomputer scientists who can do just that. Correspondent Rick Karr reports.

　　The bad guys stole more than three million Social Security numbers from the State of South Carolina. As many as seventy million credit card numbers from Sony PlayStation. They got access to all of the personal details of some customers of a nationwide mortgage lending firm. But cybercriminals aren’t just looking to steal personal information and credit card numbers when they break into corporate⁵ computers -- they’re looking for other valuable information.

　　STEWART BAKER⁶: Everything about your business is accessible to an attacker.

　　RICK KARR: Stuart Baker is former general counsel of the NSA who’s now a computer security consultant⁷.

　　STEWART BAKER: They can steal your designs. They can steal your-- knowhow. They can steal your customer list and your internal analysis of what the biggest problems are in your product. This is pretty scary.

　　RICK KARR: The bad guys are mostly working from China and former Soviet⁸ states. They’re well-trained. Some of them are protected by -- or even working for -- their governments, so they don’t care about getting caught. And they might be able to do even more that steal information from businesses. Security experts worry that they could cripple the banking⁹ system ... or shut down parts of the electric grid¹⁰. Baker says ... American businesses need a new mindset if they’re going to defend themselves.

　　STEWART BAKER: I'm a big believer that-- the best defense¹¹ is an offense¹². And-- if we're going to have an offense-- we've got to have people who are really talented drawn¹³ to that field.

　　RICK KARR: People like these college undergraduates, who just might be able to save America’s corporations and governments from the bad-guy hackers: They’re students at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the nation’s top computer science schools ... and they’re learning to fight off the bad guys ... by thinking the same way they do. They’re learning to be the good guy hackers.

　　DAVID BRUMLEY: You have to understand and be able to anticipate how attackers are going to come at you. Cause if you're only doing defense, if you don't look at offense at all, you're always reacting andyou're always one step behind.

　　RICK KARR: Is that different? Is that a change in the way computer science faculties¹⁴ have approached this?

　　DAVID BRUMLEY: Traditionally, yeah. Traditionally, there hasn't been a lot of expertise¹⁵ in offensive computer security. And it really hasn't been taught at the university level.

　　RICK KARR: Computer security professor David Brumley says ... it’s tough stuff to teach ... because the brand-new, cutting-edge cyberattack of today will be available to anyone with a web browser¹⁶ by next week.

　　DAVID BRUMLEY: For example, my courses in computer security? We don't have textbooks. Everything's so new. We have to go out and look at websites, we have to go look at-- the latest things from conferences, and really teach from that. Every year it's a significant update.

　　RICK KARR: Is it ever the case that you actually have a student discover something that nobody knew about, in the middle of a semester?

　　DAVID BRUMLEY: Oh, that's actually a course requirement. One of the things we ask students to do is go out and find a vulnerability that no one else has found, figure out if it's exploitable, and then report it ethically¹⁷.

　　RICK KARR: Which means what?

　　DAVID BRUMLEY: It really means they're going and finding something they could use to break into someone's computer. And then they go tell the programmer, look, here is a flaw; fix it.

　　RICK KARR: All those flaws that Carnegie Mellon’s undergrads find every semester ... don’t necessarily mean that the software on your P-C or your bank’s web site is badly written. Almost every piece ofsoftware, every computer system has vulnerabilities that can be exploited -- it’s virtually impossibleto make anything that’s connected to the internet perfectly¹⁸ secure. And today -- compared to 10 or 20 years ago, all of us have just so many more computers and smartphones and tablets -- all of them connected and vulnerable. So we’re vulnerable, too.

　　Carnegie Mellon’s students are so good at exploiting those vulnerabilities ... that the NSA enlisted¹⁹ them to create a game that teaches hacking²⁰ skills to high-school-aged students -- and paid for the job.Cylab, the university’s cybersecurity institute, is home to the to-ranked competitive hacking team in the world: the Plaid Parliament of Pwning -- “pwn” is hacker³-speak for “own”, as in the hacker takes a computer over and owns it. For third straight year, the team won top honors at international contests that pit teams of hackers against one another ... and utterly²¹ demolished²² the competition at a prestigious²³ contest in Las Vegas.

　　DAVID BRUMLEY: It's a little bit like a little, mini-cyber-war that's going on. And you get points byhow well you find exploits in your adversaries²⁴ and how well you can defend against their attacks. They're-- secure from the normal internet and they're set up specifically for this purpose.

　　RICK KARR: How stiff is the competition here? I mean, who's on your heels in terms of the top ten rankings.

　　MALE STUDENT #3: Man, so, you know, who's not? There's all sorts of government contractors²⁵ who have, you know, teams that we compete with. And, you know, they do this professionally.

　　RICK KARR: “Hacker” is a label the students embrace. The word has a long history in computer science circles -- where it was originally meant as praise. The students say ... it still can be.

　　MALE STUDENT #2: We don't think of it as bad. We think of it as-- getting a deeper understanding for how something works in order to make it do something that maybe it wasn't intended to do but it's capable of doing.

　　ANDREW CONTE: It's often the people who as young high school students they started goofin' around with-- electronics or computers, and they started figuring out, you know, how to do simple attacks, how to get inside of-- machines.

　　RICK KARR: Andrew Conte is an investigative reporter at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review who’s written dozens of articles about hackers and cybersecurity.

　　ANDREW CONTE: And at some point they make the decision. You know, "Am I going to be-- a good hacker or a bad hacker? And there's not that much difference between them in terms of-- their abilities. Huge difference in terms of their motivations.

　　RICK KARR: That raises the question of how wise it is to teach these abilities to students barely outof their teens ... with unknown motivations. Cylab graduate student Peter Chapman says not to worry.

　　RICK KARR: If you're figuring out how to attack things, isn't it possible that somebody who comes outta here isn't going to do it for the right reasons?

　　PETER CHAPMAN: If that person's motivated, they can certainly find it out on their own. This isn't hidden information. Someone who's determined²⁶ to break into a system, they can take normal courses and just add this, "How am I going to ruin the world mindset" to it. It's the same way a locksmith who knows how to fix locks can probably also break into them.

　　RICK KARR: Cybersecurity consultant Stewart Baker says ... sometimes it makes sense for a company that’s been the target of bad-guy hackers to engage in a little digital breaking and entering of its own -- to hack² back, in other words. He thinks it could be an important weapon in the cybersecurity arsenal²⁷. But it isn’t always so clear-cut ethically. Or legally, because in can violate federal computer security laws.

　　STEWART BAKER: I have been making a very public-- argument that we should allow this and we should read the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to permit it.

　　RICK KARR: What if the machine in question is outside the U.S.? I mean, is that still a violation²⁸ ofthe act?

　　STEWART BAKER: Unfortunately, it is.

　　RICK KARR: Baker says good-guy hackers who have “hacked back” have learned that cybercriminals aren’t always as clever as they seem to be. Take the example of a hacker who broke into law-enforcement computers, copied personal information about officers ... and posted it online. He also left a ... provocative²⁹ ... picture of his girlfriend as a calling card, which turned out to be a mistake.

　　STEWART BAKER: They took the picture with an iPhone. And that meant that somebody had helpfully included the-- geographic³⁰ coordinates³¹ where the picture was taken. So the F.B.I. finds the girlfriend of the hacker, and went and busted³² the guy in Texas. So these digital clues are everywhere.

　　RICK KARR: The hacker pleaded guilty to accessing a protected computer without authorization³³; and received a sentence of twenty seven months in prison. Stewart Baker says ... that’s the kind of outcome he’d like to see from good-guy hackers, like the students at Carnegie Mellon.

1 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

2 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

3 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。

4 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

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

7 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

8 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

9 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

10 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

11 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

12 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

13 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

14 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

16 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

17 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。

18 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

19 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 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。

21 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

22 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

23 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

24 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

25 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

27 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

28 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

29 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

30 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

31 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

33 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。