谁会是黑客下一个目标-环宇时空-休闲英语-轻松英语-洪恩在线

'Who's Next?'

As one after another major Internet site is disabled by unknown computer vandals[1], Web companies which have so far managed to escape the so-called denial-of-service attacks are wondering who will be next.

"To my knowledge there have been no direct attempts at denial-of-service attacks as yet," said spokesman of Microsoft Tom Pilla. He said a Microsoft partner site was affected before, but would not name the company.

Like many companies afraid to inflame[2] the vandals, Microsoft declined to comment on any heightened security measures that the company may have taken. America Online, the single largest Internet destination in the United States, has been spared. AOL spokesman Tricia Primrose declined to speculate on[3] why that is. "We're not seeing anything unusual but we're monitoring it very close," she said.

Experts are at a loss[4] to spot a trend. Asked if there were a pattern to the attacks, Keynote Systems official Matthew Parks said, "Unfortunately, no". The hackers have managed to stay unknown by hopping from one computer network to another, and by erasing any data that might identify them, computer security experts said. "This is a very sophisticated attack that's going on. It appears to be coming from multiple sources," he said.

And the "smart firewall" technology necessary to prevent this kind of assault, he says, isn't available yet. As for companies who haven't been hit, he says there may be little they can do to prevent an attack. "Invincible[5] is not a word I would use in connection with denial of service," he said.

by Lynn Burke

注释：

1． vandals：
文化艺术的破坏者，故意破坏文物者，破坏他人（或公共）财产者。其实这个词原义是指“汪达尔人”——汪达尔人是日耳曼民族的一支，439年曾洗劫历史名城罗马，这也是后来人们引用这个词来表示“文化艺术破坏者”的原因。

2． inflame：
使激动，引起……的热情，使愤怒。比如：His words inflamed her even more.他的话使她更生气了。

3． speculate on：
在本文中表示“推断”，比如：I can't speculate on their motives for doing this.我猜不透他们这样做的目的是什么。

4． at a loss：
本文中表示“茫然不知所措”，比如：A good salesman is never at a loss for words. 一个好的销售员永远不会找不到话说。

5． invincible：
不可战胜的、不屈不挠的。比如：“常胜军”可以表示为 an invincible army。

“谁会是黑客下一个目标？”

许多大型网站相继遭受不知名电脑破坏者的攻击而陷入瘫痪，许多长期以来致力于防范“拒绝服务式”攻击的网络公司也不禁担忧何时也会恶运当头。

“就我所知，目前还没有直接对付“拒绝服务”网络袭击的方法，”微软发言人Tom Pilla这样说。他还说微软的一个合作伙伴的网站不久前也受到了袭击，但他没有透露该公司的名称。

象其它受袭击公司一样，微软担心会激怒这些网络破坏者，因而拒绝透露任何有关本公司所将要采取的加强保安措施的信息。美国在线，这个美国最大的因特网终端居然幸免遇难。美国在线公司发言人Tricia Primrose拒绝就该事件发表看法。她说：“我们没有看到任何反常现象，不过我们仍旧会加强监测手段。”

专家们也摸不清该系列破坏活动的趋势。当有人问到这些袭击行动是否有固定模式时，Keynote的官员Matthew Parks说，“不幸的是，根本没有规律可循。”黑客们跳跃于电脑网络系统之间，而且巧妙地删除任何有可能暴露身份的数据，网络安全专家这样说：“正在进行的是一次手段极为高明的袭击行动。看起来似乎是一群体行为。”

他还说：对付黑客袭击所必需的的“智能防火墙”技术目前还没有问世，因此，对于那些还未受到袭击的公司而言，他们几乎没有什么能力防范袭击。“在谈到“拒绝服务”时，“不可征服”可不是我愿意用到的词。”他说。