VOA慢速英语2012 TECHNOLOGY REPORT - FTC Takes on Computer Scareware Scammers（在线收听）

TECHNOLOGY REPORT - FTC Takes on Computer Scareware Scammers

科技报道 - 美国联邦贸易委员会剑指电脑恐吓软件骗子

From VOA Learning English, this is the TECHNOLOGY REPORT in Special English.

现在是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

A court in the United States has announced a judgment of more than one hundred sixty million dollars against defendants in a “scareware” operation. The case named Kristy Ross, both individually and as an officer of Innovative Marketing, Inc. Two founders of the company, Sam Jain and Daniel Sundin, were found to be jointly liable for the fine.

美国一家法院裁定恐吓软件（scareware，又译为流氓安全软件等）被告人赔偿超过1.6亿美元。这起案件直指既作为个人又作为Innovative Marketing公司工作人员的克里斯蒂·罗斯，  该公司两位创始人，Sam Jain和Daniel Sundin被判对罚款承担连带责任。

The three are the last of eight defendants named in a case brought by the Federal Trade Commission in two thousand eight. The FTC accused them of using dishonest methods to trick more than one million individuals into buying computer security software programs. This practice is known as “scareware.”

他们是2008年美国联邦贸易委员会提起的一起讼诉列出的8名被告中的最后3人。美国联邦贸易委员会指控他们使用不正当方式，诱骗超过100万人购买电脑安全软件，这种做法被称为“恐吓软件。”

Robert Siciliano is a security expert with McAfee, the American computer security company. We spoke to him by Skype.

罗伯特·西西里亚诺（Robert Siciliano）是美国计算机安全公司McAfee公司的安全专家，我们通过Skype采访了他。

ROBERT SICILIANO: “Scareware is a form of computer virus that ends up on your PC and essentially tries to scare you into coughing up your credit card number to buy software that is supposed to fix your computer.”

西西里亚诺：“恐吓软件是一种最终出现在你电脑上的电脑病毒，本质上是试图吓唬你交出（coughing up）信用卡号码购买理应修复你的电脑的软件。

Robert Siciliano says “scareware” often appears as a pop-up message on a computer.

西西里亚诺表示，恐吓软件通常以弹窗消息的形式出现在电脑上。

ROBERT SICILIANO: “It’ll show a screen saying there is some bad virus on your PC. It shows up like the night in shining armor to protect you from this new virus that you’re computer just got.”

西西里亚诺：“它会显示一个屏幕称你电脑上有一些病毒。它会以保护你的电脑免受刚感染的最新病毒的侵扰的英雄形象出现。”

He also says there are a number of things that make the message appear believable.

他还表示，还有很多东西使得这些消息出现得更令人信服。

ROBERT SICILIANO: “What makes the scam look credible is that it often grabs a screen shot of what your computer looks like, windows that mimic the characteristics of your PC. And that brings some familiarity to you which enhances the quality of the scam.”

西西里亚诺：“它通常会抓取模仿你电脑特性的屏幕截图，使骗局看上去可信。这给了你一些提高骗局质量的熟悉感。”

In some cases, “scareware” operators misrepresent themselves as real companies, like Dell, Microsoft, even McAfee. There is an order form, a place to add credit card information, and yes -- a download. You may even receive a confirmation email thanking you for your purchase.

在某些情况下，恐吓软件经营者伪装成正牌公司，像戴尔、微软、甚至是McAfee。然后有一个订单形式供你输入信用卡信息，确认，然后下载。你甚至可能会收到一封确认邮件感谢你的订购。

But Mr. Siciliano says, in reality, there was nothing to fix in the first place. What you get for your money is often a junk software program. Even more often, he says, it is something more harmful.

但西西里亚诺先生表示，首先在现实中你的电脑没有任何东西被修复。你花钱买到的通常是一个垃圾软件，甚至更多的时候是更有害的程序。

ROBERT SICILIANO: “You now have a virus and anything you do beyond that -- any links that you click, any personal information that you enter -- you’re essentially going deeper down the rabbit hole, making the problem much worse.”

西西里亚诺：“你电脑上现在安装了一个病毒，你做的任何事情，不止是你点的链接，你输入的任何个人信息，本质上你是掉进了更深的坑里，使得问题变得更糟糕。”

The judgment last week bars the defendants from selling computer security software and any other software that interferes with computer use. It also bars them from any form of misleading marketing.

上周的判决禁止被告销售计算机安全软件和其它任何干扰电脑使用的软件，还禁止他们进行任何形式的误导性营销。

Last week, the FTC announced action against six other companies suspected of tricking people to buy unneeded anti-virus software. Many of the companies are said to be based in India.

上周，美国联邦贸易委员会宣布对6家涉嫌诱骗人们购买不必要防病毒软件的公司采取行动。据称这些公司中的大多数总部设在印度。

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report. I'm June Simms.