美国有线新闻 CNN 想哭病毒席卷全球 教你如何保护电脑不受影响

 

Getting started with the virus that's already affected¹ more than 200,000 victims worldwide. But it's not a biological outbreak that makes people sick, it's a cyber attack. It started on Friday.

Its spread was temporarily slowed down over the weekend by a cyber security researcher, but the criminals behind the attack found a way to get the virus spreading again. And experts were concerned that Monday morning, when people got back to work, and started up their computers, the number of infected machines would jump.

The problem is caused by a type of malware, software that can damage computer systems. What it's doing is locking up computers that used Microsoft Windows and holding them ransom². If owners pay the ransom, between $300 and $600, they'll get access to their machines back.

The thing has spread far and wide. It's been detected at least 150 countries. International companies like FedEx and Nissan had been targeted. Russia's Central Bank was reportedly attacked but wasn't hurt by the virus. Other governments and businesses were taking steps to either contained or prevent the virus altogether.

And there is something people can do to protect themselves.

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT³: Here's what you need to know about the ransomware that's been dubbed⁴ "WannaCry".

Security experts say this is one of the worst and most widespread pieces of malware they've ever seen, especially because it's even caused some hospitals in the U.K. to have to cancel outpatient appointments.

So, what exactly happened to infected computers and how big is this?

The ransomware actually locks up all the files in your computer and demands $300 in bitcoin in order to regain⁵ control. People are seeing this message all around the world. Researchers say this is spreading through a Windows' weakness known as eternal⁶ blue, which Microsoft released a patch for last month.

This ransomware is actually just going through the Internet looking through vulnerable⁷ computers, according to cyber security firm Malware Bites. That means you don't even have to click a phishing email to get infected.

How can you protect yourself? Well, you know those seemingly⁸ annoying security updates from Microsoft Windows, if you've installed the latest one, you're safe. If you haven't, do it right away. For now, that's about it.

Who's responsible? Researchers aren't pointing their fingers yet, but the most amount of attacks so far have been in Taiwan, Ukraine, and Russia, according to Avast.

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

3 correspondent   

n.记者，通信者；adj.符合的，一致的，相当的

参考例句：

• He volunteered as a correspondent for the war.他自愿担任作报道这次战争的记者。
• The result was correspondent with my wishes.结果与我的愿望是一致的。

4 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

6 eternal   

adj.永久的，无休止的，永恒的，永不改变的

参考例句：

• Stop this eternal chatter!不要唠叨个不停！
• Rome has been called the Eternal City.罗马一向被称为不朽之城。

7 vulnerable   

adj.易受伤的，脆弱的，易受攻击的

参考例句：

• He volunteered to protect her as she looked so vulnerable.她看上去很脆弱，他就主动去保护她。
• The company is in an economically vulnerable position.该公司目前经济状况不稳定。

8 seemingly   

adv.从表面上看起来，似乎是

参考例句：

• Seemingly,we can do nothing to prevent this from happening.我们似乎没有什么办法阻止这件事发生。
• For several seemingly interminable seconds no one spoke.有几秒钟没有人讲话，这几秒钟似乎十分漫长。