首页
登录
职称英语
(1)The Term "CYBERSPACE" was coined by William Gibson, a science-fiction wri
(1)The Term "CYBERSPACE" was coined by William Gibson, a science-fiction wri
游客
2023-12-03
37
管理
问题
(1)The Term "CYBERSPACE" was coined by William Gibson, a science-fiction writer. He first used it in a short story in 1982, and expanded on it a couple of years later in a novel, "Neuromancer" , whose main character, Henry Dorsett Case, is a troubled computer hacker and drug addict. In the book Mr Gibson describes cyberspace as "a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators" and "a graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. "
(2)His literary creation turned out to be remarkably prescient(有先见之明的). Cyberspace has become symbolic of the computing devices, networks, fibre-optic cables, wireless links and other infrastructure that bring the internet to billions of people around the world. The myriad connections forged by these technologies have brought tremendous benefits to everyone who uses the web to tap into humanity’s collective store of knowledge every day.
(3)But there is a darker side to this extraordinary invention. Data breaches are becoming ever bigger and more common. Last year over 800m records were lost, mainly through such attacks. Among the most prominent recent victims has been Target, whose chief executive, Gregg Steinhafel, stood down from his job in May, a few months after the giant American retailer revealed that online intruders had stolen millions of digital records about its customers, including credit- and debit-card details. Other well-known firms such as Adobe, a tech company, and eBay, an online marketplace, have also been hit.
(4)The potential damage, though, extends well beyond such commercial incursions. Wider concerns have been raised by the revelations about the mass surveillance carried out by Western intelligence agencies made by Edward Snowden, a contractor to America’s National Security Agency(NSA), as well as by the growing numbers of cyber-warriors being recruited by countries that see cyberspace as a new domain of warfare. America’s President, Barack Obama, said in a White House press release earlier this year that cyber-threats "pose one of the gravest national-security dangers" the country is facing.
(5)Securing cyberspace is hard because the architecture of the internet was designed to promote connectivity, not security. Its founders focused on getting it to work and did not worry much about threats because the network was affiliated with America’s military. As hackers turned up, layers of security, from antivirus programs to firewalls, were added to try to keep them at bay. Gartner, a research firm, reckons that last year organizations around the globe spent $ 67 billion on information security.
(6)On the whole, these defenses have worked reasonably well. For all the talk about the risk of a "cyber 9/11" , the internet has proved remarkably resilient. Hundreds of millions of people turn on their computers every day and bank online, shop at virtual stores, swap gossip and photos with their friends on social networks and send all kinds of sensitive data over the web without ill effect. Companies and governments are shifting ever more services online.
(7)But the task is becoming harder. Cyber-security, which involves protecting both data and people, is facing multiple threats, notably cybercrime and online industrial espionage, both of which are growing rapidly. A recent estimate by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies(CSIS), puts the annual global cost of digital crime and intellectual-property theft at $ 445 billion—a sum roughly equivalent to the GDP of a smallish rich European country such as Austria.
(8)To add to the worries, there is also the risk of cyber-sabotage. Terrorists or agents of hostile powers could mount attacks on companies and systems that control vital parts of an economy, including power stations, electrical grids and communications networks. Such attacks are hard to pull off, but not impossible. One precedent is the destruction in 2010 of centrifuges(离心机)at a nuclear facility in Iran by a computer program known as Stuxnet.
(9)But such events are rare. The biggest day-to-day threats faced by companies and government agencies come from crooks and spooks hoping to steal financial data and trade secrets. For example, smarter, better-organized hackers are making life tougher for the cyber-defenders, but even so a number of things can be done to keep everyone safer than they are now.
(10)One is to ensure that organizations get the basics of cyber-security right. All too often breaches are caused by simple blunders, such as failing to separate systems containing sensitive data from those that do not need access to them. Companies also need to get better at anticipating where attacks may be coming from and at adapting their defenses swiftly in response to new threats. Technology can help, as can industry initiatives that allow firms to share intelligence about risks with each other.
(11)There is also a need to provide incentives to improve cyber-security, be they carrots or sticks. One idea is to encourage internet-service providers, or the companies that manage internet connections, to shoulder more responsibility for identifying and helping to clean up computers infected with malicious software. Another is to find ways to ensure that software developers produce code with fewer flaws in it so that hackers have fewer security holes to exploit.
(12)An additional reason for getting tech companies to give a higher priority to security is that cyberspace is about to undergo another massive change. Over the next few years billions of new devices, from cars to household appliances and medical equipment, will be fitted with tiny computers that connect them to the web and make them more useful. Dubbed "the internet of things" , this is already making it possible, for example, to control home appliances using smartphone apps and to monitor medical devices remotely.
(13)But unless these systems have adequate security protection, the internet of things could easily become the internet of new things to be hacked. Plenty of people are eager to take advantage of any weaknesses they may spot. Hacking used to be about geeky college kids tapping away in their bedrooms to annoy their elders. It has grown up with a vengeance. [br] Which of the following statements BEST summarizes the meaning of the first four paragraphs?
选项
A、Cyberspace has more benefits than defects.
B、Cyberspace is like a double-edged sword.
C、Cyberspace symbolizes technological advance.
D、Cyberspace still remains a sci-fi notion.
答案
B
解析
主旨大意题。本题的解答需综合前四段大意。文章首段以一位知名小说家的小说引出话题,将主题锁定为“网络空间”,随后第二段简要介绍了网络空间的构成和它的益处,而从第三段开始转入对其负面影响的阐述,第三段主要涉及商业机密的安全,第四段则引用奥巴马总统的话,将其上升到国家安全的高度。综上所述,作者在前四段分别阐述了网络空间的正面和负面影响,将其喻为双刃剑是恰当的,故[B]为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3242142.html
相关试题推荐
______gotAmericanoutoftheGreatDepression.A、PresidentWilliamMckinleyB、Pr
WilliamWordsworth,aromanticpoet,advocatedallofthefollowingEXCEPT_____
______wasthespokesmanoftheLostGeneration.A、WilliamBurroughsB、AllenGinsb
______isNOTanovelbyWilliamFaulkner.A、AsILayDyingB、TheSoundandtheFu
______isapoembyWilliamCarlosWilliamsthatcenteredinanin-depthlookat
WilliamButlerYeatsisfamousforhismasterpiece______.A、SailingtoByzantium
______isanAmericanpoetinthe19thcentury.A、AnneBradstreetB、WilliamCullen
LordoftheFliesiswrittenby______.A、WilliamGoldingB、GeorgeOrwellC、Virgin
______wontheNobelPrizein2007forhernovelTheGoldenNotebook.A、WilliamBu
EugeneO’Neill’sTheLongDay’sJourneyIntoNight,TennesseeWilliams’______and
随机试题
[originaltext]W:IsMaryreadytogototheairport?M:Ready?Shehasn’tevenfi
C各项重新变形后,底数为5X1,5X11,5X11X11,5X11X11X11,所以下一项应为5X11X11X11X11,即为C。
妊娠3~5个月胚胎期的主要造血器官是()A.肝 B.脾 C.胸腺
下方分别是一个由长方体堆积而成的立体图形和该立体图形的左视图、后视图,那么该立体
迎香穴位于A.鼻孔外缘,旁开0.5寸 B.鼻翼外缘,旁开0.5寸 C.
A.出血性膀胱炎B.肾脏毒性C.心脏毒性D.过敏反应E.乙酰胆碱综合征环磷酰胺
假定风荷载沿高度呈倒三角形分布,地面处为0,屋顶处风荷载设计值q=134.7kN
(2017年5月)()的首要工作是组织好部门员工实施项目任务和协调上下
(2018年真题)假设其他条件不变,我国东北灾害性天气的出现,将对()期货
甲股份公司共有股权1000万股,为了将来有更好的发展,将80%的股权让乙公司收购
最新回复
(
0
)