好英语网针对美基础设施的电脑攻击大增
ASPEN, Colo. — The top American military official responsible for defending the United States against cyberattacks said Thursday that there had been a 17-fold increase in computer attacks on American infrastructure between 2009 and 2011, initiated by criminal gangs, hackers and other nations.
科罗拉多州阿斯彭——负责保卫美国、使其抵御网络攻击的美国军方最高官员上周四透露，从2009年到2011年，针对美国基础设施发起的电脑攻击增加了17倍。这些攻击的发动者包括犯罪团伙、黑客，以及其他国家。
The assessment by Gen. Keith B. Alexander, who heads the National Security Agency and also the newly created United States Cyber Command, appears to be the government’s first official acknowledgment of the pace at which America’s electricity grids, water supplies, computer and cellphone networks and other infrastructure are coming under attack. Those attacks are considered potentially far more serious than computer espionage or financial crimes.
美国国家安全局(National Security Agency)局长、新近成立的美国网络战司令部(United States Cyber Command)司令基思·B·亚历山大将军(Keith B. Alexander)作出的以上评估，似乎是美国政府首次正式承认，美国的电网、供水体系、电脑和手机网络，以及其他基础设施，正以怎样的速度受到攻击。与计算机间谍行为或金融犯罪相比，这些攻击被视为潜在严重得多。
General Alexander, who rarely speaks publicly, did not say how many attacks had occurred in that period. But he said that he thought the increase was unrelated to the release two years ago of a computer worm known as Stuxnet, which was aimed at taking down Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.
很少公开发言的亚历山大将军，并没有透露这段时间里总共发生过多少次攻击。不过他说，他认为攻击数量的增长与两年前计算机蠕虫病毒Stuxnet的出现没有关系。Stuxnet的目标是破坏伊朗纳坦兹的铀浓缩设施。
When the worm inadvertently became public, many United States officials and outside experts expressed concern that it could be reverse-engineered and used against American targets. General Alexander said he saw no evidence of that.
这种蠕虫被意外公之于众后，许多美国官员及外界专家曾表达忧虑，称敌方可对其进行逆向工程，然后用来攻击美国的目标。亚历山大将军表示，他没有看到这方面的证据。
General Alexander, as head of the N.S.A., was a crucial player in a covert American program called Olympic Games that targeted the Iranian program. But under questioning from Pete Williams of NBC News at a security conference here, he declined to say whether Stuxnet was American in origin; the Obama administration has never acknowledged using cyberweapons.
作为美国国家安全局局长，亚历山大将军在代号为“奥运会”(Olympic Games)、针对伊朗核计划的美国秘密行动中扮演着关键角色。不过在这里举行的一个安全会议上，他在回答NBC新闻的皮特·威廉姆斯(Pete Williams)提问时，拒绝说明Stuxnet是否源自美国；奥巴马政府从未承认动用网络武器。
General Alexander said that what concerned him about the increase in foreign cyberattacks on the United States was that a growing number were aimed at “critical infrastructure,” and that the United States remained unprepared to ward off a major attack. On a scale of 1 to 10, he said, American preparedness for a large-scale cyberattack is “around a 3.” He urged passage of legislation, which may come to a vote in the next week, that would give the government new powers to defend private computer networks in the United States. The legislation has prompted a struggle as American companies try to avoid costly regulation on their networks, and some civil liberties groups express concern about the effect on privacy.
亚历山大将军表示，就外国向美国发起的网络攻击增多而言，他尤其感到担忧的是，越来越多的攻击针对“关键基础设施”，而美国仍未做好抵御大规模攻击的准备。他说，如果在1到10之间打分，美国对大规模网络攻击的准备程度“大约为3分”。他敦促通过立法，赋予政府保护美国私人部门电脑网络的新权力。这项可能在本周进行表决的法案遭遇了反对，美国企业试图避免对它们的网络实行成本高昂的监管，一些公民自由团体也对隐私受到的影响表达了担忧。
General Alexander said that the administration was still working out rules of engagement for responding to cyberattacks. Because an attack can take place in milliseconds, he said that some automatic defenses were necessary, as was the president’s involvement in any decisions about broader retaliation.
亚历山大将军说，奥巴马政府仍在拟定遭遇网络攻击时的交战规则。他说，因为攻击可能在几毫秒内发生，采取一些自动防御措施是必要的，同样，在作出全面报复的决定时由总统拍板也是必要的。
He confirmed that under existing authorities, only the president had the power to authorize an American-directed cyberattack. The first such attacks occurred under President George W. Bush.
亚历山大将军证实，根据现有权限，只有总统才有权授权美国发起网络攻击。首批此类攻击是在乔治·W·布什(George W. Bush)总统任期内发生的。
The Pentagon has said previously that if the United States retaliated for an attack on its soil, the response could come in the form of a countercyberattack, or a traditional military response.
五角大楼此前曾表示，在美国对其本土所受的攻击发起反击时，可能采用网络攻击的形式，也可能发起传统的军事回击。
General Alexander spoke in a 75-minute interview at the Aspen Security Forum at the Aspen Institute here. The New York Times is a media sponsor of the four-day conference. Another conference speaker, Matthew Olsen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, addressed the escalating “hot war” between Israel and Iran and Iranian-backed groups like Hezbollah.
亚历山大将军是在阿斯彭研究所(Aspen Institute)的阿斯彭安全论坛(Aspen Security Forum)上接受75分钟的采访时发表上述讲话的。《纽约时报》是这个四天会议的赞助媒体之一。会上，另一位发言人，美国国家反恐中心(National Counterterrorism Center)主任马修·奥尔森(Matthew Olsen)谈到了以色列和伊朗以及伊朗支持的黎巴嫩真主党(Hezbollah)等组织之间不断升级的“热战争”。
Iran has blamed Israel for assassinations of several of its nuclear scientists. Israel has accused Hezbollah operatives backed by Iran of carrying out the suicide bombing last week that killed five Israeli tourists and a local bus driver in Bulgaria.
伊朗指责以色列暗杀了多名伊朗核科学家。以色列则指控称，伊朗支持的真主党特工最近在保加利亚实施自杀爆炸，造成5名以色列游客和1名当地公交车司机死亡。
The United States has said Iran was behind a thwarted plot last fall to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States.
美国称，去年秋天，伊朗曾在幕后策划暗杀沙特阿拉伯驻美国大使，该计划以失败告终。
“Both with respect to Iran and Hezbollah, we’re seeing a general uptick in the level of activity around the world in a number of places,” Mr. Olsen said.
“不管是伊朗还是真主党，在世界各地多个地方，我们正看到活跃程度总体有所抬头，”奥尔森说道。
Mr. Olsen did not address the Bulgaria attack, but he said the plot to kill the Saudi envoy in Washington “demonstrated that Iran absolutely had the intent to carry out a terrorist attack inside the United States.”
奥尔森没有评论保加利亚发生的袭击，但他表示，暗杀沙特驻华盛顿大使的阴谋“表明伊朗绝对有意在美国境内进行恐怖袭击。”