2016考研英语最新时文精读：网络安全

考研英语来源：文都教育 2015-07-30　

本文推荐的考研英语泛读文章是2015年7月份的网络时文，主题围绕着网络安全展开(Cyber-security)。网络已经深深地与当代的生活融为一体，我们对它如此熟悉以至于从未担心过他的安全问题。In the nascent “internet of things”, security is the last thing on people’s minds. 那么，当今网络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. 人们对“物联网”有什么样的担忧呢?现代汽车越来越成为长着轮子的计算机。糖尿病人随身带着计算机控制的胰岛素泵，这些生命泵可以实时把重要信号传给医生。智能恒温器了解主人习性，自动为其调节房间温度。一切都接入互联网，以造福人类。

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，随着人们利用互联网传播病毒，蠕虫以及各类恶意软件，互联网业也带来了一些危害。怀疑者现在担心，黑客通过操控控制系统，能使汽车故意冲撞;通过远程控制使胰岛素泵失灵，会让糖料病人生病不保;或者，小偷能根据用电情况了解某户人家何时外出，进而实施入室偷盗。没有安全保障的物联网带来的可能会是敌托邦。

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. 所有一切听起来似乎遥不可及，不太可能。但是，黑客和安全调查员却已经证明一切皆有可能。例如，美国计算机安全调查员比利•莱奥斯(Billy Rios)六月份就宣布他已经研究出如何黑进计算机系统，控制联网药泵，改变管理员之前设定的给药量。

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. 汽车同样不堪一击。数名调查员展示了如何破坏计算机控制系统，进而使汽车刹车或油门失灵。汽车制造商指出这类攻击大多需要在车辆上接入一台笔记本电脑。然而今年八月，在拉斯维加斯一年一度的计算机安全大会上，一场讲座却展示了，不需接近汽车，通过远程无线控制同样可以做到。

网络给我们带来生活便利的同时，也给我们带来了许多安全隐患，很多黑客会借此来挣钱牟利，制造出更多的恶意软件(malware)。黑客通过入侵电脑，建立起广泛的僵尸网络(botnets)，来进行破坏活动，发送垃圾邮件(spam e-mail)，开展拒绝服务攻击(denial-of-service attacks)。这就是互联网的安全问题!提醒广大考生，考研英语泛读的学习也是非常有必要的，希望大家多多积累背景知识，祝大家梦想成真!