Pentagon Battles Cyber Attacks

The United States Department of Defense developed some of the technology that led to the internet.
美国国防部开发了一些与互联网有关的技术。

Defense department workers built what they say was the first workable model for the internet many years ago. The goal was for U.S. universities and researchers to share information. Later, the goal became data sharing between the U.S. and other countries.
国防部的工作人员在数年前建了他们称之为互联网第一个可行模式的网络。建设该网的目标是供美国大学和科研人员分享信息。不久之后，这个目标就变成了在美国和其他国家之间分享数据。

Because of that work, and others, the world is now more connected than ever. There is more information stored online than any of the internet’s creators could have imagined. But that also means it is harder than ever to keep important data safe from criminals.
因为他们和别人的工作，这个世界变得比以前联系更加紧密了。在线存储的信息量，大到超过了每一位互联网缔造者的预计。但是，这也意味着，保护重要数据不受犯罪分子侵犯变得更加困难了。

Steve Welby is the Defense Department’s Chief Technology Officer. He spoke with VOA about some of the issues the department faces in protecting its information from cyber attacks.
斯蒂夫·威尔比是国防部首席技术官。他在接受“美国之声”采访时谈到了国防部在保护信息免受网络攻击时所面临的问题。

Welby says the growth of data available on computer systems is “both an opportunity and a challenge.”
威尔比说，电脑系统中可用信息的增长“既是机遇也是挑战”。

Almost everything the Department of Defense does involves some kind of software, he notes. And if a hacker attacks a small weakness in a program, it can bring down an entire wall of cyber defense. That is why he believes that defending cyberspace may be just as important as defending air, land, sea and space.
他指出，几乎国防部做的所有事情都与某种软件有关。如果黑客攻击了程序中的一个小弱点，就有可能摧毁整个网络防御系统。所以他才坚信，网络保卫战和陆海空以及宇宙空间的保卫战同样重要。

But that kind of work is not always easy.
但是这种工作往往不容易。

James Lewis is Strategic Technologies Program Director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
詹姆斯·路易斯是战略与国际研究中心的战略技术方案主任。

He says the tradition of using simple “Band-Aid” solutions to correct small problems in cyber defense is a mistake.
他说，传统解决网络保卫战中小问题的方法是简单的“亡羊补牢”，而这是不对的。

Lewis says there are other militaries with computer experts that are as good as those in the United States. He says hackers will eventually find ways through virtual walls if they have time and resources.
路易斯说，由电脑专家们组成的军队和美国其他的军队一样厉害。他说黑客如果有足够的时间和资源，就终究会找到办法攻破虚拟的防御系统。

“It’s not so much that our defenses are weak,” Lewis says. “It’s just that they are hard to defend against.”
“我们的防御并没有那么弱。”路易斯说，“只是敌人实在是太难防御了。”

Welby says the Defense Department is trying to develop systems that are easy to defend, instead of turning to products from the marketplace.
威尔比说国防部正在尝试开发容易防御的新系统，而不是向已经投放市场的产品寻求帮助。

Lewis says one problem the department faces is that some of its computer systems are very old. And old systems are hard to protect.
路易斯说国防部面临的一个问题就是一些电脑系统已经非常老旧了。老旧的系统很难进行防御。

He says, “within three years, five years, they [opponents] know every bug, they know every opening, they know every vulnerability...”
他说，“在三年内，五年内，敌人就会知道每一个系统弱点，每一个系统漏洞，每一处难以防御的地方……”

But help could be on the way.
但是支援已经在路上了。

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter is working with technology developers who may be able to improve defenses in the U.S. Carter met last week with Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and product developer of Tesla Motors.
美国国防部长阿什·卡特正与技术开发者合作，这些开发者可能会增强美国的网络防御。卡特上周会见了太空探索技术公司创始人兼特斯拉汽车的产品开发工程师----艾伦·穆斯克。

I’m Anne Ball.
安妮·贝尔为您报道。