英语学习:Cyber​​ warfare——今日和未来战争的真貌

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以往打仗用刀枪剑戟弓箭,然后是火药炸弹、原子弹、核弹,但下一波的战争不会且不需用传统武器,也不费一兵一卒,但造成的伤害和破坏就更惊人,可以摧毁敌人整个政府和金融系统,瘫痪整个社会的运作,那就是cyber warfare(网络战)。

美政府的first blood

其实cyber warfare已经无声无息地开始了,而且天天更在进行中。 David Sanger在The Perfect Weapon: War, Sabotage, and Fear in the Cyber​​ Age中就指出:
In 2015, Russian hackers(黑客) tunneled deep into the computer systems of the Democratic National Committee, and the subsequent leaks of the emails they stole may have changed the course of American democracy.

但他说这只是冰山一角,同年,俄罗斯入侵White House(白宫)、the State Department(参议院)和the Joint Chiefs of Staff(参谋首长联席会议)的networks(网络),并在美国的核电和其他发电设施安装了植入物,给他们”the power to switch off vast swaths(长而宽的长条) of the country”。 

但美国只是挨打么?当然不是。 “Two presidents – Bush and Obama – drew first blood with Operation Olympic Games, which used malicious(怀有恶意的) code to blow up Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.”

First blood解the first shedding of blood, especially in a boxing match or formerly in dueling with swords,在拳击或用刀剑的决斗中流的第一滴血;first blood亦引申解the first point or advantage gained in a contest,在比赛中取得的第一分或首个优势。
在“奥运行动”中,布殊和奥巴马两名前美国总统就先发制人,用恶意的编码,捣毁了伊朗的离心机核设施。

容易取得 用途广泛

Cyber​​ warfare进行,没有大锣大鼓,除非涉及的方面,不论是攻击者或被攻击者有原因要张扬,或破坏、影响大得无法隐藏,否则就算有差不多造成灾难的事故,公众都根本无法得知。 Cyber​​ warfare的武器叫cyber weaponry,是今时今日不论大国小国,正义之士或恐怖分子的首选武器,原因是什么?

Cheap to acquire, easy to deny, and usable for a variety of malicious purposes – from crippling(瘫痪) infrastructure to sowing discord(不和) and doubt(猜忌) – cyber is now the weapon of choice for democracies, dictators, and terrorists .

David Sanger就说,容易取得,事后又容易推得一干二净,用途广泛,瘫痪基建,挑拨离间,制造不和,无所不能,民主、独裁抑或恐怖分子,网络可作首选武器。

听起来,这差不多有点广告语句的感觉,但这却是对cyber weaponry真确贴切描述,怎不令人心寒?有国家安全专家最近就在加拿大一个国会听证会上警告:

The proliferation(激增) of cutting-edge offensive cyber power, combined with an increased willingness to use it with minimal blowback(后座力、未预见的坏后果) and spiraling distrust, has set the stage for more disruptive and destabilizing cyber events , possibly in the near future.

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