Security Specialists Seek to Make Internet Safer
Since the Internet emerged a decade ago as a free and accessible global communications network, there have been countless assaults by malicious computer viruses and numerous attempts by saboteurs to crash the system. The Internet has survived them all. But the future security of the Internet is uncertain.
自从因特网10年以前以一种自由接入的全球通讯网络出现以来，已经遭受了无数次恶意电脑病毒的攻击，无数从事破坏活动的人试图使电脑网络系统崩溃瘫痪。尽管遭到这些攻击，因特网仍然躲过了这些劫难。不过，因特网的未来安全却很不确定。
Most of the hundreds of millions of regular Internet users have become so accustomed to e-mail, quick information and software sharing that they might take for granted the technical wonder of "the Net". But not Jonathan Zittrain. Zittrain is professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University, and co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. He says he is continually impressed by the open-endedness of the Internet.
在经常使用因特网的用户当中，绝大多数人都已经习惯于使用电子邮件，快速的信息交流以及软件共享，他们可能认为这些对于技术奇迹之一的“网络”来说，都是理所应当的事情。但是斯特兰却不是这样认为。斯特兰是牛津大学因特网管理和规则学科的教授，他同时也是哈佛大学法学院伯克曼因特网和社会中心的共同创始人。他说，他一直对因特网的开放印象深刻。
"It is, to me, astounding," he says "to find ourselves with this collective instrumentality where one person or a handful of people, somewhere in the world, maybe for fun or maybe for money, maybe because they want fame, can write some interesting new software that does something new, make it available over the internet, and if it turns out to be popular, before they even know it, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of people could be running the software in a matter of days."
“对我来说，发现我们自己和这种聚合性的手段紧密相连，实在令人惊奇。世界某个地方的一个人或者一些人，也许他们为了好玩，或者为了金钱，或者因为他们想出名，所以他们可以编写一些有意思的新软件程序，这些软件可以通过因特网使用传播，做一些新的事情。如果这些软件受到欢迎，那么也许在这些编写程序的人意识到之前，上千万或者甚至几亿人可能只需几天的功夫就开始使用这种软件了。”
The problem is that the code in which apparently desirable software is written can also contain malicious instructions. These types of code are called viruses. They might be designed, for example, to erase the memory on a personal computer's hard drive, and then to replicate themselves across the Internet and infect thousands or millions of other computers and servers.
问题在于，编写这些明显很受青睐的软件所用的代码当中，可能也会包含一些恶意的指令。这种类型的代码被称为病毒。举例来说，它们可能被设计用于删除一台个人电脑硬盘驱动器上的记忆数据，然后在因特网上复制自己，进而感染其它成千上万或者数以百万计的电脑和服务器。
Most viruses so far have ranged from the slightly annoying to the moderately destructive. But Zittrain says it seems only a matter of time before a determined group of programmers will create a virus capable of bringing down hospitals, businesses, governments and other vital institutions throughout the world, and even bring the Internet itself to a halt.
目前，绝大部份的病毒都还只是稍微令人生厌，至多是具有一般程度的破坏性。但是斯特兰表示，一些有意进行破坏的编程人员企图编写一种可能击溃全世界的医院、商业、政府以及其它关键机构的病毒，这种病毒的出现看来只是一个时间的问题。这种病毒甚至可以让因特网本身中止运行。
In his book The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It, Zittrain warns of a possible "cyber 9/11," referring to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Such an attack, he fears, might prompt governments to curb the accessibility and openness of today's Internet, a move that would undermine, the creativity - what he calls the "generativity" - of the network.
在斯特兰撰写的名为《因特网的未来，如何中断因特网》的书中，他参照2001年9月11日恐怖分子袭击美国的事件，发出了可能发生“网络9/11事件”的警告。他担心，这样一种攻击可能促使各国政府限制今天的因特网所具有的随时接入以及开放的功能。这种举措将破坏他所说的网络创造功能。
"That's why I believe we have to come up with a way to deal with the problem of bad code and bad actors, so as not to put the consumer in the uncomfortable position of having to choose between 'generative but unstable' or 'not generative but reliable.'"
斯特兰说：“这就是为什么我认为我们必须找到一种途径，解决恶意代码以及恶意行为者的问题。不要把消费用户置于一种在‘具备创造功能但是不稳定’或者‘不具创造功能但是可靠’这样一种很不舒服的境地。”
As an alternative, Zittrain recommends that the operational architecture of personal and business computers be divided into "green zones" and "red zones."
作为一种替代的办法，斯特兰建议把个人和商业电脑的运行结构分为“绿区”和“红区”。
Green zones would be specially-fortified operating systems and data storage environments that are very difficult to penetrate or change, which would therefore be more stable and secure. That's where a computer's spreadsheets, payroll and medical records and other sensitive data could be safely processed and stored.
绿区将特别加强操作系统以及数据储存环境，让人很难进入或者更改，从而也就更加稳定和安全。这个区域是工资单以及医疗记录和其它敏感数据能够得到安全处理和储存的地方。
"Red zones" would be the riskier computer environments, where Internet browsers and everyday computer programs would be stored. Zittrain says the green and red zones would be insulated from each other.
“红区”则是危险性更大的电脑环境，那里有因特网浏览者以及日新月异的程序。斯特兰表示，绿区和红区将会彼此隔离。
"And the idea would be that nothing that happens in red mode can corrupt what's in the green mode of the machine." He acknowledges that these are novel architectures "but they might offer some path forward."
“在红色模式下发生的一切，没有什么会破坏影响到在绿色模式下运行的电脑。这些是新的结构，但是它们可能会提供一些面向未来解决问题的路径。”
But others, like David Isenberg, a professor at the Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the author of The Rise of the Stupid Network, worry that dividing computers into red and green zones could prevent new software being freely developed, shared and widely tested by the general online community.
但是有些人担心，红区和绿区的想法可能会阻碍网络的创造性， 因为这种创造性依赖于新的软件被整个网上世界自由地开发、分享和测试。在哈佛大学法学院伯克曼因特网和社会中心任教的艾森伯格是《愚蠢网络的兴起》一书的作者。
"The problem is the people in the red zone are very different than the people in the green zone," he says. "The edgy 'internauts' who are out there exploring what might be illegal or dangerous might actually not provide a good market test for Mr. and Mrs. Generic Vanilla internet user."
他说：“问题是红区的人和绿区的人非常不同。所谓的‘网络探索者’，也就是程序开发者们紧张不安，总在研究什么可能是非法的或者是危险的。他们可能不会为普通的因特网用户提供一个良好的市场测试。程序开发者和用户之间可能会完全脱节。”
One very controversial idea for preventing a "cyber 9/11" would be to establish licensing requirements for the computer industry. The people who want to write code and sell software would need to be licensed, just like doctors, lawyers and other professionals, by a federal or state regulatory agency. Private software companies such as Microsoft, Apple and Sun would make operating systems that only run pre-approved software.
防止“网络9/11事件”发生的一个非常具有争议性的想法可能是对电脑行业建立更严格的获得许可的标准和要求。希望编写代码程序、销售软件的人要从联邦或者州有关管理机构获得执照许可，就象医生、律师和其他专业人士那样。诸如微软、苹果和太阳等软件公司的操作系统，只能使用获得批准的软件。
But Isenberg believes the best strategy for preventing future virus attacks and Internet sabotage is not to tighten the screws but to encourage more diversity in the computer world. He points to the fact that computer viruses are designed to attack specific operating systems. More than 90 percent of the world's personal computers use the same, relatively vulnerable operating system, Microsoft's Windows.
但是艾森伯格认为，防止病毒袭击和因特网破坏活动的最佳策略不是上紧螺丝，而是鼓励电脑世界有更丰富的多样性。他指出这样的事实：设计电脑病毒是为了攻击特定的操作系统。世界上90%以上的个人电脑使用的是同样的、相对来说易受攻击的操作系统，即微软视窗系统。
"I have nothing against Microsoft," he explains, "but I would also like to see more Macintosh systems, more Linux systems and maybe two or three other kinds of operating systems as well. That's the strongest, surest defense against having one virus wiping out all the Internet terminals."
艾森伯格说：“我一点也不是要反对微软，但是我也希望看到更多的麦金塔系统，更多的莱纳克斯系统，可能还有两三种其它种类的操作系统。这是防止病毒蔓延到整个因特网终端最有力、最保险的手段。”
However the line between openness and security on the Internet is drawn, one thing is certain. As millions more people around the world discover the power and value of the Internet for commerce, entertainment and the exchange of knowledge, the specter of sabotage and the challenge of security will grow as well.
尽管如此，因特网的开放性和安全之间划下了一道界限，这一点是肯定的。随着世界各地的人们发现了因特网对商业、娱乐以及知识交流的巨大威力和价值，破坏的幽灵越来越可怕， 因特网安全也面临着更大的挑战。
小编建议：英语作文