Unit-8-Computers-and-Security课文翻译大学体验英语二.doc

Unit 8 Computers and SecurityPassage A You Are the Weakest Link, Goodbye. Do you remember the good old days? Innocent times spent sharing documents and executable files without a care in the world. Okay, every month or so you might encounter a boot sector virus - but they were easy to deal with even if the anti-virus software didnt pick them up. But those long lazy summers disappeared too fast. Macro viruses made Information Technology (IT) administrators grow up fast as they realized there was a type of virus which could spread very quickly throughout an organization. It wasnt unusual to find hundreds of computers within personal company infected by viruses transmitted via email attachments. The IT staff were amongst the fittest departments in your company, running from Personal Computer (PC) to the next cleaning them up. There had to be a better way. Companies now realize that viruses arent urban myths, and can have a serious impact on their operations. They invest in anti-virus software on the desktops, servers and email gateways and even put in place procedures to ensure their anti-virus is up-to-date with the very latest detection routines. It sounds like companies have put in place adequate defenses to protect against viruses. But have they? Anti-virus software detects most of the viruses your users are likely to encounter - often without the user even knowing. However, the software must be updated regularly, preferably daily in any large company. Even then, a very new virus can infect your users. With the rapid transmission of files through networks and the Internet, a virus can spread a considerable distance before it can be identified and protected against. Fortunately, only a few viruses ever do this but the likes of Melissa and the Love Bug can inflict serious damage before their progress is stopped. Whilst employees become suddenly aware during the ensuing media excitement, they soon forget about the virus threat as the stories disappear from the news headlines. This is the danger. Complacency can set in when there is no perceived action on the virus front with no global crisis, and the importance of being vigilant about viruses recedes in your users minds. They forget what the big deal was in the first place - after all, the anti-virus software deals with the viruses, doesnt it? And isnt it the IT departments job to look after this sort of thing? Before you know it your users are opening unsolicited attachments once more, downloading unauthorized software, and putting your companys data and credibility at risk. All because the users think that they are working in a safe environment. Employees see anti-virus software, firewalls and IT departments as guarantees that their computers will work and will be safe. Of course, there arent any guarantees. Anti-virus software plays one, albeit important, part in the defense of your company from malicious attack but the security of your computer system is only as strong as the weakest link. And that, more often than not, is the human factor. No employer wants to come across as a killjoy or an ogre. Most will willingly accept that the happiest employees are those who feel that they are respected and trusted by their employer. Many companies accept that employees will send and receive a certain amount of personal email and make the odd personal telephone call. However, the worry comes when employees start risking company security in pursuit of personal amusement. Funny screensavers and games downloaded from the Internet can seem harmless enough but they could easily be harboring a dangerous virus. Software downloaded from the net is often unlicensed and unsupported, and may cause conflicts with existing software in use at your company. Unlicensed, pirated software is an ideal vector for a computer virus. Virus writers and hackers often use such software as the ideal kick-start for their virus distribution. It is vitally important that employees be educated about the virus threat but this cannot be a one-off event. The potential threat should always be in the back of an employees mind and precautionary measures should be taken as a matter of course. There is no harm in reminding people about what could happen if they let their guard down. In the end, education is the key to a virus-free environment and this is a continual process. It may not be the most exciting thing on the agenda but it works. The lesson is simple. You can have the best software in the world protecting your companys defenses; you can even be the biggest IT company in the world; but without your users practicing safe computing they will always be the weakest link. PA 你是最薄弱的环节，再见还记得美好的往日时光吗？在那样的纯真年代，我们共享文档和可执行文件，根本没有半点顾虑。不错，每隔一个月左右你可能会碰到一个引导扇区病毒，不过这些很容易对付，就算杀毒软件没有把它查出来也不要紧。 那些长长的夏日，悠闲自得，可惜消逝得太快。宏病毒使IT管理者们迅速成长起来，他们意识到有的病毒能迅速扩散到整个机构。一家公司里的数百台计算机感染了通过电子邮件附件传播的病毒，也是十分平常的事。公司各部门中身体最好的当属IT员工，因为他们奔走于各台计算机之间，清理病毒。防病毒得想个更好的办法才行。各家公司现在都意识到病毒并不是“现代神话”，而确实会严重影响到公司的运作。他们投资杀毒软件，安装在计算机、服务器以及电子邮件网关上，甚至还采取措施确保使用最新的检查程序，随时更新杀毒软件。听起来好像各公司已经采取了充分的措施防范病毒。可事实真的如此吗？ 杀毒软件确实能检测出用户会碰到的绝大多数病毒，而且往往在用户毫不察觉时就已经处理完毕。然而，软件必须定期更新，大公司则最好是每天更新一次。即使是这样，新的病毒也还是可能感染用户。通过网络和互联网，文件可以快速地传输，等到人们发现一种病毒并加以防范时，病毒可能已经扩散到了相当的范围。好在只有少数几种病毒有这么大的破坏力，不过像梅利莎和爱虫病毒则是例外，人们还来不及制止，它们就已经造成了严重的破坏。然后媒体轰动，员工会突然警觉起来，但一旦新闻头条不再报道这些事件，他们就会很快将其抛之脑后。这正是危险所在。若病毒战线没有能察觉到的“大动作”，也没有全球性的危机，人们就会洋洋自得，对病毒保持警惕的重要性的意识就会在用户的脑子中渐渐淡化。他们会忘掉这件首要大事毕竟杀毒软件会对付病毒，不是吗？何况，这不也正是IT部门的职责所在吗？你还没有反应过来，用户们又一次打开了来历不明的附件，下载了非法软件，将公司的数据资料和信誉置于危险之中。这一切都是因为用户们认为他们的操作环境很安全。员工们认为杀毒软件、防火墙以及IT部门足以保障他们的计算机正常运作，而且没有危险。其实保障根本没有的。杀毒软件的作用固然很重要，但在保护公司不受恶意攻击的战斗中，只能起到一定的作用。公司的计算机系统安全与否实际上系于最薄弱的一个环节，而这个环节往往就是人的因素。身为雇主，谁都不愿扮演令人扫兴或者令人生畏的角色。大多数人都愿意相信，员工若能感受到雇主的尊重和信任，肯定会很开心的。很多公司都默许员工接发一定数量的私人电子邮件，偶尔打一两个私人电话。但是，如果员工为了追求个人乐趣而置公司安全于不顾，就着实堪忧了。从互联网上下载有趣的屏保或者游戏，看起来好像没有危险，不过它们很可能是危险病毒的藏身之所。从网上下载的软件经常是无使用授权的，而且不提供支持，可能与公司使用的其他软件发生冲突。未经许可的盗版软件是计算机病毒的理想的携带者，制造病毒者以及黑客们经常利用这类软件作为病毒扩散的理想开端。对员工进行有关病毒危害的教育至关重要，但这种教育不能一劳永逸。员工的潜意识里应该随时留意潜在的危险，而且应该总是采取防范措施。应该提醒人们如果放松警惕会有什么后果。归根结底，营造无病毒环境，教育才是关键，而且应该坚持不懈。这可能不是日程表上最激动人心的事，但是行之有效。道理很简单。你也许拥有世界上最好的软件来保护公司的防护系统，甚至可能是世界上最大的IT公司，但如果你的用户不注意计算机的使用安全，他们将始终是最薄弱的环节。Passage B So Sorry to Bug You Youd think after all these years Id know better than to spread a virus by email. Youd be wrong. The email was from a woman I knew decades ago, back when we were spooning teenagers. We had corresponded electronically maybe three times since then, I swear. The subject line on this latest missive was Homepage. The message read, simply: Hi! Youve got to see this page! Its really cool. It was signed with a goofy emotion, a winking, sideways smiling face :0). Ho, ho! You sly thing! I thought, recalling the feverish summer of 70. and clicked on the attached file. Pause. Uh-oh. It was the dumbest thing Id done since 1979, when I pitched a tent on a colony of army ants in Mexico. My screen started shimmering like a Yucatan sunset. I had unleashed a computer virus. I felt like the doctor in The Andromeda Strain; the clock was outracing me. I went to my email program, clicked on File, then selected Work Offline. That, I assumed, would cordon me off from the Net and keep me from spreading the bug while I figured out how to get rid of it. Next I checked my Outbox. Argh! Sixty-five messages were queued up, waiting to be sent to my friends. Each was from me. Each bore the subject line Homepage. Each had a file attached, as doom-laden as a warhead. I deleted the messages and emptied the Recycle Bin. Then I went to the Web for guidance. Cursing myself for not using an anti-virus program on my home computer, I learned that the Homepage virus is the most common bug - technically, its a worm - out there. It afflicts only PC users of Microsoft Outlook and would not damage my computer. But it would immediately mail itself to everyone in my address book - that is, everyone to whom Ive ever sent a Reply message. The worm also resets your browsers home page to one of four porn sites. This last bit had not happened to mine. Was I spared? Gingerly, I fired up Outlook and connected to the Net. Fifty messages poured into my Inbox. Most were from corporate servers - such as Time Inc.s - informing me that my email was being returned unopened since it contained a virus. The last message was from my friend Marshall: If you dont mind my asking, which homepage? Double argh! I had spread the accursed worm. I wrote a mea culpa warning, which I mailed to everyone in my address book: Dont click on that attachment! The worst part was that many of the people I had emailed were newbies - subscribers who had emailed me for help in connection with this column. Most of these folks were kind; only one asked me to remove her name from my address book. A guy from the Philippines, birthplace of the dread Love Bug virus, wrote, It is quite ironic that I got a worm from you. Let that irony be a lesson to you: Never open an attachment, even from a friend, unless youve been told to expect it. And always use virus protection. Finally, if you get an email from me whose subject is Homepage, run.PB 很抱歉打扰你你可能想，这么多年了，还用电子邮件传播病毒，我不至于这么笨吧。那你可就错了。那封电子邮件来自我几十年前认