美国国家公共电台 NPR--Examining 2 recent cyberattacks against NATO members

Examining 2 recent cyberattacks against NATO members

Transcript¹

The war in Ukraine has put a spotlight² on NATO. For alliance members, an attack on one is considered an attack on all. But those obligations are less clear in the cyber sphere.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The U.S.-led NATO alliance operates on a paramount³ principle, an attack on one is considered an attack on all. When the United States was attacked on 9/11, the alliance invoked⁴ that principle. If Russian tanks were ever to roll into a NATO nation, the principle surely would apply again. But things get murkier⁵ when a NATO nation faces a cyberattack. NPR cybersecurity correspondent Jenna McLaughlin is covering this story. Good morning.

JENNA MCLAUGHLIN, BYLINE⁶: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: I guess we should just note, if you follow the news, you know that numerous NATO nations get cyberattacked. The U.S. has been cyberattacked. What's a recent example?

MCLAUGHLIN: For sure. So one you might not have heard of but was really important was in Albania on July 15. The government was hit by a massive cyberattack. Now, many months later in September, Albania, alongside a whole bunch of independent researchers, concluded that it was Iran that was behind it. And that was based on forensics and because the attack was directed at a conference that was featuring some Iranian dissidents. So as a result, Albania actually decided⁷ to completely cut off diplomatic ties with Iran and kick all their diplomats⁸ out of the country, which was huge. That's actually never happened before. And actually, the latest is that it looks like there was another cyberattack on border crossing stations over the weekend in Albania. And they're also blaming Iran for that.

INSKEEP: And I guess we should just remind people, Albania is part of the NATO alliance, which now includes more than two dozen nations across Europe. So even the U.S. is blaming Iran. What happens now?

MCLAUGHLIN: Sure. So experts did agree that this was pretty huge and unprecedented⁹. So it's a little hard to know. I imagine that part of the hope had been that cutting diplomatic ties would deter¹⁰ Iran from doing it again. But clearly, it's actually heating up. On the U.S. side, the White House did come out with some new sanctions on Iran's Ministry¹¹ of Intelligence. And they've sent some teams to help out.

INSKEEP: Is NATO getting involved or invoking¹² its treaty provision that an attack on one is an attack on everyone?

MCLAUGHLIN: So that is where things get interesting. And it's actually not just Albania that recently had a major cyberattack. We're also seeing Montenegro be hit by a ransomware attack. Criminal hackers¹³ demanded tens of millions to unlock government files. There's still a lot about this hack¹⁴ we don't know. There are U.S. teams on the ground in both of those places. So we have seen some NATO action to come and help and investigate and defend. NATO has condemned¹⁵ the attack. And it's in touch with those governments. But there hasn't been a team dispatched yet.

INSKEEP: And I suppose NATO is not about to fire missiles at Iran or something?

MCLAUGHLIN: Probably not. Like you said, Article 5 is - says that an attack on one is an attack on all. That doesn't automatically mean military action, though it could. But with cyberspace¹⁶, I remember having conversations at the beginning of the war in Ukraine when the U.S. was warning that Russia might hit NATO allies with cyberattacks. Experts did say that it's not exactly clear that members would have to respond with additional cyberattacks or some kind of strong response like that. I spoke¹⁷ to John Hultquist about this. He's with the cyber firm Mandiant. Here's what he said.

JOHN HULTQUIST: Cyberattacks live in a very interesting space because they're nonviolent. And because a lot of their effects are reversible, the actors who use them probably recognize that this may be a tool that they can use without necessarily launching some sort of Article 5 response.

MCLAUGHLIN: Even so, cyberattacks are clearly more and more a part of modern warfare¹⁸. If they get worse, we could see responses escalate¹⁹ as well.

INSKEEP: Such as how?

MCLAUGHLIN: So Biden has promised to use every tool to respond to Russia. The White House did quickly impose these sanctions. I think that they're always keeping their options open. And we'll have to see with Montenegro. But in the future, if an attack does lead to violence or permanent destruction on critical infrastructure²⁰, we could see an even stronger response.

INSKEEP: NPR's Jenna McLaughlin. Thanks.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thanks so much.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

4 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 murkier   

adj.阴暗的( murky的比较级 )；昏暗的；（指水）脏的；混浊的

参考例句：

• If not, the outcome may be a lot murkier. 而如不然，结果可能就会更加含糊不清。 来自互联网
• This leads us into the murkier areas of human behaviour. 这让我们看到了人类行为较阴暗的领域。 来自互联网

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 invoking   

v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• You can customise the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can customize the behavior of the Asynchronous Server and hence re-brand it by defining your own command set for invoking services. 通过定义自己调用服务的命令集，您可以定制自定义异步服务器的行为，通过为调用服务定义自己的命令集从而对它重新标记。 来自辞典例句

13 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

14 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

15 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

16 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

18 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

19 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

20 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。