时代周刊:无人机泛滥引来安全威胁(1)

RISING TO A NEW THREAT

无人机成为新威胁

BY W.J. HENNIGAN

文/W.J.亨尼根

LAST FOURTH OF JULY, AS FIREWORKS BURST across the night sky

去年7月4日（美国国庆日），趁着烟花在夜空中绽放之际，

near the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, S.C.,

南卡罗来纳州里奇维尔的利伯惩教所附近，

convicted kidnapper¹ Jimmy Causey tucked a lifelike dummy² into his bed,

被判绑架罪的吉米·考西往床上塞了一个栩栩如生的假人，

sneaked³ out of his prison cell and completed a daring escape.

便偷偷溜出牢房，完成了一次大胆的越狱。

It wasn’t until three days later, when Texas Rangers⁴ found Causey holed up 1,200 miles away,

直到三天后，德州护林员在1200英里（约1930公里）之外发现了科西的藏身之处，

that authorities offered an explanation for how he had obtained the equipment for the breakout,

当局才对他获取越狱设备的方式做出解释，

including a pair of wire cutters used to snip⁵ through four fences that encircle the maximum-security prison.

他的设备中有一把钢丝钳，可用来剪断重刑监狱四周的四道围栏。

“We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,”

南卡罗来纳州惩教署署长布莱恩·斯特林在新闻发布会上告诉记者，

Bryan Stirling, director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, told reporters at a news conference.

“我们认为，有人用无人机给他递那些工具，他才得以逃脱。”

A lengthy⁶ investigation⁷ confirmed that an accessory role was played by a small, of-the-shelf drone.

漫长的调查也证实，一架无需改装的小型无人机起到了辅助作用。

And with that, law-enforcement and national-security officials added “prison breaks”

于是，执法部门和国家安全官员将“越狱”纳入了

to the potential ill-uses lurking⁸ in a technology widely available at retailers⁹ including Amazon and Walmart.

亚马逊和沃尔玛就能轻松买到的这一科技产品的潜在弊端。

Unlike military drones that can cost more than $15 million and look like small airplanes,

与军用无人机不同的是，军用无人机价格高达1500万美元以上，体型跟小型飞机差不多，

mini quadcopters can be obtained for a few hundred dollars—and their capabilities¹⁰ are exciting the imaginations of bad guys.

而小巧的四轴无人机只需几百美元，其强大的性能也大大激发了心怀不轨之人的想象力。

Criminals have used drones to drop drugs into prisons.

罪犯用无人机往监狱投递毒品。

Mexican smugglers have flown them above the border to spy on the movement of patrolling federal officers.

墨西哥的走私犯在边境上空布置无人机，监视巡逻的联邦官员的行动。

ISIS used them to drop crude bombs on U.S. and allied¹¹ forces in Iraq and Syria.

ISIS利用无人机向美国及其在伊拉克和叙利亚的盟军投掷土炸弹。

It is the widespread availability of commercial drones that poses the largest threat.

最大的威胁来自于商用无人机的获取门槛已经很低。

Almost everybody who uses a drone in the U.S.—

美国使用无人机的人——

and the Federal Aviation Administration has licensed¹² more than a million operators—flies by the rules.

FAA已经授权了100多万个使用者——几乎都有遵循使用规定。

But not everyone, and perhaps the major lesson of 9/11 was to look for threats from unexpected places, especially overhead.

但也不是所有人，或许，“9·11事件”的主要教训就是留意来自意想不到的地方的威胁，尤其是来自头顶的威胁。

Yet on drones, the federal response has been largely haphazard¹³ and behind the curve.

然而，在无人机问题上，联邦政府的反应很大程度上都存在随意、滞后的问题。

The Pentagon is working to develop and deploy¹⁴ technologies to defeat drones

巴德学院无人机研究中心的一项研究显示，

and intends to spend $401.2 million on counter-drone initiatives this fiscal¹⁵ year,

五角大楼正致力于研发和部署反无人机技术，

according to a study by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard¹⁶ College.

计划在本财年投入4.012亿美元开展反无人机行动。

“We know that terrorists are using drones overseas to advance plots and attacks,

国土安全部部长克尔斯蒂恩·尼尔森接受本刊采访时表示，

and we’ve already seen criminals use them along and within our borders for illicit¹⁷ purposes,”

“我们知道，恐怖分子正在海外操纵无人机大搞阴谋和破坏，

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tells TIME.

我国的边境沿线及边境线以内也出现了将无人机用于非法用途的犯罪分子。”

“We are working with Congress for the authorities needed

他说：“我们正在与国会合作，争取必要的权力，

to ensure we can better protect the American people against emerging drone threats.”

来确保我们能够更好地保护美国人民免受无人机的威胁。”

Part of the problem is that our laws and regulations aren’t designed for this new kind of threat.

造成这一问题的部分原因是，我们的法律法规并不是针对这种新的威胁而制定的。

Current electronic-eavesdropping laws preclude¹⁸ government officials from disabling drones mid-air with electromagnetic signals.

目前的电子窃听法禁止政府官员用电磁信号干扰半空中的无人机。

1 kidnapper   

n.绑架者，拐骗者

参考例句：

• The kidnapper was shot dead then and there by the armed policeman.绑架者被武装警察当时当地击毙。
• The kidnapper strangled the child with a piece of string.绑票的人用一根绳子把这孩子勒死了。

2 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

3 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。

4 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

5 snip   

n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断

参考例句：

• He has now begun to snip away at the piece of paper.现在他已经开始剪这张纸。
• The beautifully made briefcase is a snip at £74.25.这个做工精美的公文包售价才74.25英镑，可谓物美价廉。

6 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

10 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

12 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

13 haphazard   

adj.无计划的，随意的，杂乱无章的

参考例句：

• The town grew in a haphazard way.这城镇无计划地随意发展。
• He regrerted his haphazard remarks.他悔不该随口说出那些评论话。

14 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

15 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

16 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

17 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

18 preclude   

vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍

参考例句：

• We try to preclude any possibility of misunderstanding.我们努力排除任何误解的可能性。
• My present finances preclude the possibility of buying a car.按我目前的财务状况我是不可能买车的。