VOA慢速英语2019 美国证实游客照片在网络攻击中被盗（在线收听）

US Confirms Traveler Photos Stolen in Cyberattack

Internet hackers have stolen tens of thousands of pictures of travelers and vehicles collected at the United States border.

网络黑客窃取了在美国边境收集到的数万张游客照片和车辆照片。

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, officials confirmed the attack on Monday. The agency said the photographs were stolen from the computer network of a contractor that captures the images for the government. Officials did not name the contractor.

周一，美国海关与边境保护局（简称CBP）官员证实了这一黑客攻击。该机构表示，黑客从一家分包商的计算机网络中窃取了这些照片，该分包商为政府拍摄入境图像。官员并未公布这家分包商的名字。

A CBP spokesman told the Associated Press that the agency believes that the incident involved the photographs of fewer than 100,000 people. Images were taken of travelers in vehicles entering and leaving the United States at a single land border crossing over one-and-a-half months, the spokesman said. The images also included license plates of vehicles crossing the border.

一名海关与边境保护局官员对美联社表示，他们认为被窃取照片涉及近10万人。这名发言人表示，图像涉及乘车出入一个陆地过境口岸的游客，拍摄时间长度超过1个半月。被窃取图像还包括出入该口岸车辆的牌照。

The CBP said in a statement that it learned of the cyberattack on May 31. The agency said the government contractor violated CBP policies by copying the pictures to the company’s computer network. Officials said only the contracting company’s network was hit in the cyberattack. The CBP’s computer systems remained safe.

美国海关与边境保护局表示，他们在5月31日得知发生了网络攻击。该机构说，遭攻击的那家政府分包商违反了美国海关与边境保护局的政策，将照片拷贝到了公司的电脑网络上。官员表示，只有这家分包商的网络遭到了网络攻击。美国海关与边境保护局的计算机系统安然无恙。

The CBP statement said none of the image information had so far been identified as appearing on the internet or the “dark web.” The dark web is a part of the internet that cannot be found through normal search engines. It uses digital tools to hide identifying information and is often used for criminal activity.

美国海关与边境保护局发表声明表示，目前还没有图像信息出现在互联网或“暗网”上。暗网是互联网中无法通过普通搜索引擎访问的部分。暗网用数字工具隐藏识别信息，通常被用来进行犯罪活动。

The CBP said it was working with other law enforcement agencies “to actively investigate” the attack. The agency said it had “removed from service” all equipment related to the incident and was closely watching all CBP work done by the contractor.

美国海关与边境保护局官员表示，他们正在与其他执法机构合作，“积极调查”这起网络攻击。该机构称，他们已经关闭了所有相关设备的服务，同时密切关注所有通过分包商完成的美国海关与边境保护局的相关工作。

“CBP takes its privacy and cybersecurity responsibilities very seriously and demands all contractors to do the same,” the agency statement said.

美国海关与边境保护局在声明中说，“美国海关与边境保护局高度重视需要承担的隐私和网络安全责任，也对所有分包商持同样要求。”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS described its automated vehicle license readers in a 2017 privacy document. The document said the readers are used for identifying, catching “and removing individuals illegally entering the United States at and between ports of entry or otherwise violating U.S. law.”

美国海关与边境保护局隶属于美国国土安全部（简称DHS）。美国国土安全部在2017年公布的一份隐私文件中介绍了其自动车牌识别器。文件中称，自动车牌识别器用于识别、逮捕和“带走在出入境口岸非法进入美国或以其他形式违反美国法律的个人”。

The license plate information is checked against existing records shared among 13 federal agencies, the AP reported.

据美联社报道，车牌信息将与现有记录进行对比，13个联邦机构可调取这一信息。

Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi serves as chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security. Thompson noted that the incident was the “second major privacy breach at DHS this year.”

密西西比州众议员本尼·汤普森是美国众议院国土安全委员会主席。汤普森指出，这起事件“是今年美国国土安全部发生的第二起重大侵犯隐私事件”。

In March, the DHS’s inspector general announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency had wrongly released to a contractor the personal information of 2.3 million U.S. disaster survivors.

今年3月，美国国土安全部总检察长宣布，美国联邦紧急事务管理署误将230万名美国灾难幸存者的个人信息提供给了一家分包商。

Thompson said in a statement that U.S. officials “must ensure we are not expanding the use of biometrics at the expense of the privacy of the American public.”

汤普森在声明中说，美国官员“必须确保我们在扩大生物测定学的应用范围时，没有牺牲美国公民的隐私。”

The British computer security website The Register said the hacker responsible informed the publication in late May of the attack. The Register identified the government contractor as the company Perceptics. The company has not yet publicly discussed the hacking incident.

英国计算机安全网站The Register表示，窃取照片的黑客在5月底将这起网络攻击告知了媒体。The Register认为遭攻击的政府分包商是Perceptics公司。目前该公司还未就这起黑客入侵事件公开表态。

The Tennessee-based company describes itself as the provider of license-plate readers for passenger vehicle inspection “at all land border ports of entry in the United States, Canada and at the most critical lanes in Mexico.”

这家总部位于田纳西州的公司自称是用于客车检查的车牌识别器供应商，“为美国和加拿大的所有陆地入境口岸和墨西哥大多数重要车道提供服务”。

Civil liberties groups have expressed concern at the general lack of rules covering license plate-reading cameras and image collection by government agencies and law enforcement. Critics say the technology carries the risk of abuses when the private information of citizens is widely shared among agencies or stolen in cyberattacks.

多个公民自由组织表达了他们的担心，因为车牌识别摄像头以及政府机构和执法部门收集图像信息的行为普遍缺乏规定。批评者表示，当公民的隐私信息在多家机构间广泛分享或在网络攻击中失窃时，这项技术就有遭到滥用的风险。

Words in This Story

hacker – n. a person who secretly gets control of a computer system to get information or cause damage

network – n. system permitting people to communicate and share information through the internet using a computer or mobile phone

contractor– n. a person or company that signs a contract to provide materials or labor to perform a service or do a job

license plate – n. a metal sign with numbers on it that is attached to the back of front of a vehicle

cyberattack – n. an attempt to illegally enter a computer system with the purpose of causing damage or harm

automated – adj. made to operate by machines or computers, not humans

breach – n. an act of breaking a rule, law, custom or practice

biometrics – n. involving the application of statistical analysis to biological data

at the expense of – phrase. in a way that harms someone or something