报告称伊朗黑客攻击美国官员和核专家

Report: Iran Hackers² Targeted US Officials, Nuclear Experts

Iranian government-supported hackers have reportedly tried to break into the personal emails of American officials and international nuclear experts.

The Associated Press, or AP, reported on the attempted attacks Thursday. The AP’s report was based on information collected during an investigation³ by the internet security company Certfa, which is based in London.

AP said the group, known as Charming Kitten, is believed to have tried to break into the private emails of more than 12 U.S. Treasury⁴ officials. The attempts took place over the past month. Other targets included well-known defenders⁵, opponents and enforcers of an international nuclear deal signed in 2015 with Iran.

In addition, the hackers sought to break into the emails of some Arab nuclear scientists and Iranian civil society members. Employees of major American research groups, known as think tanks, were also targeted.

One target was Frederick Kagan, who works for the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank based in Washington. Kagan has repeatedly written about Iranian cyberespionage efforts.

“Presumably, some of this is about figuring out what is going on with sanctions,” Kagan told the AP. He was speaking about economic sanctions the U.S. has placed on Iran. The latest sanctions, on Iran’s oil and financial industry, were announced last month.

Those restrictions⁶ officially cut off trade ties the U.S. permitted Iran after a nuclear agreement was completed in 2015. The U.S., Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany signed that agreement, along with Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump⁷ announced last May that the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement. Trump said the deal permitted Iran to continue secretly developing nuclear weapons and provided it money to support violence across the Middle East.

Kagan said he was concerned about the latest reported hacking⁸ attempts. “This is a little more worrisome than I would have expected,” he said. He added that the information in Certfa’s report had all the signs of a state-supported operation.

Certfa said its investigation found the hackers used Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, to make it look like they were operating from France and the Netherlands. But the group said it uncovered strong evidence to prove that the hackers were operating from inside Iran.

Certfa researcher Nariman Gharib said it is not clear how many personal emails the hackers were able to successfully break into.

Iran has previously⁹ denied responsibility for hacking operations.

Charming Kitten’s targets suggest that they are of interest to Iran’s government. One was a scientist working on a civilian¹⁰ nuclear project for Pakistan’s Ministry¹¹ of Defense¹². Another worked as an operator at the Research and Training Reactor¹³ in the Jordanian city of Ramtha. A third was a high-ranking researcher at the Atomic Energy Commission of Syria.

The AP said the three targeted individuals suggested a general interest in nuclear technology and administration.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

hacker¹ – n. person who uses technology illegally to get control of a computer to read information or spread a computer virus

think tank – n. an organization that consists of a group of people who think of new ideas on a particular subject or who give advice about what should be done?

cyberespionage – n. the use of computer networks to conduct spying operations against a government or organization

presumably – adv. used to say what you think is the likely situation

sanction – n. measure put in place to cause a country to obey international law, usually by limiting or banning trade

Virtual Private Network – n. private computer network used to connect users in other places to a company’s private, internal network

1 hacker   

n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客

参考例句：

• The computer hacker wrote that he was from Russia.这个计算机黑客自称他来自俄罗斯。
• This site was attacked by a hacker last week.上周这个网站被黑客攻击了。

2 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

9 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

10 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

11 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

12 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。

13 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。