美国国家公共电台 NPR What Does Julian Assange's Arrest Mean For WikiLeaks And U.S. Elections?

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Three years ago, WikiLeaks played a major role in the attack that Russia waged on American democracy. When cyber attackers stole emails from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton's campaign staff, they used WikiLeaks to release them. Well, now that group's founder¹, Julian Assange, is in the hands of British authorities. And so what does that mean for the future of WikiLeaks, and what's it mean for potential election interference in this country?

NPR's Miles Parks covers voting and election security. He's in our studios this morning. Hi, Miles.

MILES PARKS, BYLINE²: Good morning.

GREENE: So as officials are thinking about security in the 2020 election, is WikiLeaks prominent on their minds?

PARKS: Yeah. So the first thing that needs to be said here is basically that 2016 is not being viewed as a one-off. The sort of cyberattacks that gave Russia access to the Democratic National Party's emails, as you mentioned, they continue to be very, very popular forms of cyberattacks. Even just last year, former Senator Claire McCaskill, in the middle of a very tight Senate race, said Russian attackers sent her campaign staff fake emails trying to gain access to passwords and trying to gain access to her data.

In these sorts of schemes, when thieves do get access into a server, and they get a hold of this data, they need a place to release it. And that's where WikiLeaks comes in.

GREENE: So was WikiLeaks special in some way? Like, why is that the organization that Russia chose?

PARKS: There's a couple things. The first thing is reach. WikiLeaks has a brand that people know, and that matters when you want your data to make a splash. The second thing is credibility. They've spent the last more than a decade posting leaks - Guantanamo Bay-related, Iraq War-related - that have kind of been sort of viewed as holding power to account in the U.S. And they've, more importantly, been viewed as authentic³. So when Russia wanted these emails to be viewed in the same light, they went - going to WikiLeaks made sense.

I talked to Jake Williams, who runs a cybersecurity firm called Rendition Infosec. And he said, though, that WikiLeaks' reputation for that credibility may actually take a hit here.

JAKE WILLIAMS: Wikileaks does have a, you know, reputation for credibility. They also have a reputation for being a mouthpiece of the Russian government.

GREENE: When you talk about reputation, I mean, how much of the reputation of WikiLeaks was connected to Julian Assange? How much of a hit could WikiLeaks now take because he's in custody⁴ in the U.K.? And what does it mean for the future of the organization - maybe its role in what cyber attackers are trying to do?

PARKS: So what I heard from multiple people is that the actual infrastructure⁵ of WikiLeaks may not be affected⁶ all that much by the arrest of Assange. And cyber attackers in the very near term, people who want to make a difference in the cyber realm, may actually be motivated in the short term by Assange's arrest.

But looking at the big picture, WikiLeaks is now really closely associated with the Russian government because of their role in the 2016 election, and that may kind of taint⁷ the information that they post in the future. So most - excuse me - most whistleblowers want the information that they publish to be sort of free of political bias⁸. They want it to be focused on just the information. So what I heard from multiple sources is that WikiLeaks may not be the best place for publishing that sort of whistleblower information in the future.

GREENE: And Miles, we're getting a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report this Thursday - at least, we're told. I mean, this is an important moment on your beat, covering voting and election security. What are you looking for? Could you learn a lot about 2020?

PARKS: Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of focus has been spent on collusion and obstruction⁹ up to this point. I'm going to be focused more on the big picture - not necessarily President Trump's role in all of this, but Russia's role in how they targeted - any more details we can learn about how Russia targeted our election infrastructure is going to be important playing defense¹⁰ in 2020 and going forward.

GREENE: NPR's Miles Parks. Miles, thanks as always.

PARKS: Thank you.

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 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。

3 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 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。

6 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。

7 taint   

n.污点；感染；腐坏；v.使感染；污染

参考例句：

• Everything possible should be done to free them from the economic taint.应尽可能把他们从经济的腐蚀中解脱出来。
• Moral taint has spread among young people.道德的败坏在年轻人之间蔓延。

8 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

9 obstruction   

n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物

参考例句：

• She was charged with obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty.她被指控妨碍警察执行任务。
• The road was cleared from obstruction.那条路已被清除了障碍。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。