本文推薦的考研英語泛讀文章是2015年7月份的網絡時文,主題圍繞著網絡安全展開(Cyber-security)。網絡已經深深地與當代的生活融為一體,我們對它如此熟悉以至于從未擔心過他的安全問題。In the nascent “internet of things”, security is the last thing on people’s minds. 那么,當今網絡中到底存在哪些不安全因素呢?
What lies behind some people’s worries about what is often known as the “internet of things”? Modern cars are becoming like computers with wheels. Diabetics wear computerised insulin pumps that can instantly relay their vital signs to their doctors. Smart thermostats learn their owners’ habits, and warm and chill houses accordingly. And all are connected to the internet, to the benefit of humanity. 人們對“物聯網”有什么樣的擔憂呢?現代汽車越來越成為長著輪子的計算機。糖尿病人隨身帶著計算機控制的胰島素泵,這些生命泵可以實時把重要信號傳給醫生。智能恒溫器了解主人習性,自動為其調節房間溫度。一切都接入互聯網,以造福人類。
But the original internet brought disbenefits, too, as people used it to spread viruses, worms and malware of all sorts. Suppose, sceptics now worry, cars were taken over and crashed deliberately, diabetic patients were murdered by having their pumps disabled remotely, or people were burgled by thieves who knew, from the pattern of their energy use, when they had left their houses empty. An insecure internet of things might bring dystopia. 但是,隨著人們利用互聯網傳播病毒,蠕蟲以及各類惡意軟件,互聯網業也帶來了一些危害。懷疑者現在擔心,黑客通過操控控制系統,能使汽車故意沖撞;通過遠程控制使胰島素泵失靈,會讓糖料病人生病不保;或者,小偷能根據用電情況了解某戶人家何時外出,進而實施入室偷盜。沒有安全保障的物聯網帶來的可能會是敵托邦。
All this may sound improbably apocalyptic. But hackers and security researchers have already shown it is possible. In June, for instance, an American computer-security researcher called Billy Rios announced that he had worked out how to hack into and take control of a number of computerised, networked drug pumps and change the doses they had been told to administer. Hacking medical devices in this way has a long pedigree. 所有一切聽起來似乎遙不可及,不太可能。但是,黑客和安全調查員卻已經證明一切皆有可能。例如,美國計算機安全調查員比利•萊奧斯(Billy Rios)六月份就宣布他已經研究出如何黑進計算機系統,控制聯網藥泵,改變管理員之前設定的給藥量。
Cars, too, are vulnerable. Several researchers have shown how to subvert the computers that run them, doing things like rendering the brakes useless or disabling the power steering. Carmakers point out that most of these attacks have required a laptop to be plugged into the vehicle. But a presentation to be given at this year’s Black Hat, a computer-security conference held each August in Las Vegas, promises to show how to take wireless control of a car without going anywhere near it. 汽車同樣不堪一擊。數名調查員展示了如何破壞計算機控制系統,進而使汽車剎車或油門失靈。汽車制造商指出這類攻擊大多需要在車輛上接入一臺筆記本電腦。然而今年八月,在拉斯維加斯一年一度的計算機安全大會上,一場講座卻展示了,不需接近汽車,通過遠程無線控制同樣可以做到。