VOA标准英语2013--Basic Steps Help Protect Personal Information From Hacking

 

Basic Steps Help Protect Personal Information From Hacking¹

U.S. government officials say the surveillance covered only metadata - the patterns of the phone calls and internet messages - not the substance of the communications.

According to reports, a majority of e-mail messages sent during a specific time period was intercepted² and the metadata stored for possible later analysis.

Bill Supernor, the chief technology officer with Internet security firm KoolSpan, said metadata can provide valuable information for intelligence services.

“Metadata is the generic³ term used to describe information that describes information. So the metadata of an email may be who was it sent to, who it was from, the date, what size the message is. Many emails were passed through a number of POPs [Post Office Protocol]. A number of different email relay stations and that kind of information may be regarded to be metadata,” said Supernor.

Supernor said that storing metadata requires considerably⁴ less space than storing the content of those messages, and is much easier to index and catalogue. But its usefulness is limited.

Phone conversations also carry metadata, including which cell tower the phones used, when a call started and ended, and the position of the caller right down to the city block. Those bits of information can help police and intelligence agencies track criminals and terrorists.

Internet messages also can help hackers⁵, however, who may be after financial and other personal data.

“The best thing you can do to defend yourself is pick random⁶ passwords, so nothing that involves your cats or dogs or car, or the names of any of these things - your address, your family, any of the kinds of things that appear in social media. It’s such a weapon in the hand of the bad guys,” said Supernor.

In the case of cell phones, Supernor said never use them to send valuable information such as Social Security or personal identification numbers, or credit card numbers.

”SMS is something I would not use for exchanging secure information. That transport is just not a safe transport to use for that kind of information,” he said.

Bill Supernor said the Internet is not a secure means of communication and strongly advises encryption of messages containing sensitive information. This is especially true for commercial companies and organizations that want to make sure that the private information they share stays behind an impenetrable screen. 

1 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。

2 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

3 generic   

adj.一般的，普通的，共有的

参考例句：

• I usually buy generic clothes instead of name brands.我通常买普通的衣服，不买名牌。
• The generic woman appears to have an extraordinary faculty for swallowing the individual.一般妇女在婚后似乎有特别突出的抑制个性的能力。

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 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

6 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。