英語學習:Cyber​​ warfare——今日和未來戰爭的真貌

加拿大都市网

以往打仗用刀槍劍戟弓箭,然後是火藥炸彈、原子彈、核彈,但下一波的戰爭不會且不需用傳統武器,也不費一兵一卒,但造成的傷害和破壞就更驚人,可以摧毀敵人整個政府和金融系統,癱瘓整個社會的運作,那就是cyber warfare(網絡戰)。

美政府的first blood

其實cyber warfare已經無聲無息地開始了,而且天天更在進行中。 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.

但他說這只是冰山一角,同年,俄羅斯入侵White House(白宮)、the State Department(參議院)和the Joint Chiefs of Staff(參謀首長聯席會議)的networks(網絡),並在美國的核電和其他發電設施安裝了植入物,給他們”the power to switch off vast swaths(長而寬的長條) of the country”。 

但美國只是挨打么?當然不是。 “Two presidents – Bush and Obama – drew first blood with Operation Olympic Games, which used malicious(懷有惡意的) 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,在拳擊或用刀劍的決鬥中流的第一滴血;first blood亦引申解the first point or advantage gained in a contest,在比賽中取得的第一分或首個優勢。
在「奧運行動」中,布殊和奧巴馬兩名前美國總統就先發制人,用惡意的編碼,搗毀了伊朗的離心機核設施。

容易取得 用途廣泛

Cyber​​ warfare進行,沒有大鑼大鼓,除非涉及的方面,不論是攻擊者或被攻擊者有原因要張揚,或破壞、影響大得無法隱藏,否則就算有差不多造成災難的事故,公眾都根本無法得知。 Cyber​​ warfare的武器叫cyber weaponry,是今時今日不論大國小國,正義之士或恐怖分子的首選武器,原因是什麼?

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

David Sanger就說,容易取得,事後又容易推得一乾二淨,用途廣泛,癱瘓基建,挑撥離間,製造不和,無所不能,民主、獨裁抑或恐怖分子,網絡可作首選武器。

聽起來,這差不多有點廣告語句的感覺,但這卻是對cyber weaponry真確貼切描述,怎不令人心寒?有國家安全專家最近就在加拿大一個國會聽證會上警告:

The proliferation(激增) of cutting-edge offensive cyber power, combined with an increased willingness to use it with minimal blowback(后座力、未預見的壞後果) and spiraling distrust, has set the stage for more disruptive and destabilizing cyber events , possibly in the near future.

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