Wireless Networks Are Soft Virus Targets
We’ve all gotten e-mails warning us about nasty computer viruses. Maybe you even have antivirus software installed on your machine. Well, now scientists say that our wireless networks are particularly vulnerable to infection, especially in densely populated urban areas.
The use of Wi-Fi routers has become increasingly commonplace, as more people get online at home, at school, at the coffee shop. And these wireless networks are an excellent target for computer viruses, because they’re always on, always connected to the Internet, and don’t have specific software to protect them.
The scientists simulated the infection of real wireless networks in a handful of U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Boston. They found that the infection of just a small number of routers triggered an outbreak, with the virus spreading to tens of thousands of routers within a week, most within the first 24 hours. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Wireless networks are weakened by a general lack of security, including a failure to change the default password. So if you want to keep your network virus-free, at the very least choose a password that’s hard to guess. Like Bosco.
無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)是病毒攻擊的“軟目標(biāo)”
我們都收到過(guò)一些電子郵件，警告我們防范一些討厭的計(jì)算機(jī)病毒?？赡苣阋呀?jīng)在你的電腦上安裝了殺毒軟件。不過(guò)，目前科學(xué)家們說(shuō)，我們的無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)尤其易受到病毒感染，特別是在人口稠密的城市地區(qū)。
隨著更多的人們?cè)诩依铩W(xué)校以及咖啡吧上網(wǎng)，無(wú)線(xiàn)路由器的使用越來(lái)越普遍了。這些無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)成為機(jī)算機(jī)病毒非常容易攻擊的目標(biāo)，這是因?yàn)檫@些計(jì)算機(jī)經(jīng)常處于開(kāi)啟狀態(tài)，經(jīng)常和網(wǎng)絡(luò)處于鏈接狀態(tài)，同時(shí)又沒(méi)有專(zhuān)用的保護(hù)軟件。
科學(xué)家們?cè)诿绹?guó)的圣弗朗西斯科、芝加哥、紐約以及波士頓幾個(gè)城市模擬了真實(shí)的無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)受病毒攻擊的情況。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)僅僅少數(shù)的路由器感染計(jì)算機(jī)病毒后，就會(huì)引發(fā)大規(guī)模的病毒爆發(fā)，病毒在一周內(nèi)傳播到成千上萬(wàn)的路由器，而大多數(shù)路由器在24小時(shí)之內(nèi)就被感染。這項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在《美國(guó)國(guó)家科學(xué)院院刊》上（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）。
無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)由于缺乏安全保護(hù)，其中包括沒(méi)有更改默認(rèn)密碼，使得其防病毒感染能力降低。所以，如果你想讓你的網(wǎng)絡(luò)免受病毒侵害，至少你應(yīng)該選擇一個(gè)不易被別人猜中的密碼。比如“Bosco”。
Vocabulary:
Soft target: （軍事術(shù)語(yǔ)）軟目標(biāo)，指沒(méi)有防御的攻擊目標(biāo)
Vulnerable：易受傷害的
Simulate：模擬
Router：路由器
We’ve all gotten e-mails warning us about nasty computer viruses. Maybe you even have antivirus software installed on your machine. Well, now scientists say that our wireless networks are particularly vulnerable to infection, especially in densely populated urban areas.
The use of Wi-Fi routers has become increasingly commonplace, as more people get online at home, at school, at the coffee shop. And these wireless networks are an excellent target for computer viruses, because they’re always on, always connected to the Internet, and don’t have specific software to protect them.
The scientists simulated the infection of real wireless networks in a handful of U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Boston. They found that the infection of just a small number of routers triggered an outbreak, with the virus spreading to tens of thousands of routers within a week, most within the first 24 hours. The results are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Wireless networks are weakened by a general lack of security, including a failure to change the default password. So if you want to keep your network virus-free, at the very least choose a password that’s hard to guess. Like Bosco.
無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)是病毒攻擊的“軟目標(biāo)”
我們都收到過(guò)一些電子郵件，警告我們防范一些討厭的計(jì)算機(jī)病毒?？赡苣阋呀?jīng)在你的電腦上安裝了殺毒軟件。不過(guò)，目前科學(xué)家們說(shuō)，我們的無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)尤其易受到病毒感染，特別是在人口稠密的城市地區(qū)。
隨著更多的人們?cè)诩依铩W(xué)校以及咖啡吧上網(wǎng)，無(wú)線(xiàn)路由器的使用越來(lái)越普遍了。這些無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)成為機(jī)算機(jī)病毒非常容易攻擊的目標(biāo)，這是因?yàn)檫@些計(jì)算機(jī)經(jīng)常處于開(kāi)啟狀態(tài)，經(jīng)常和網(wǎng)絡(luò)處于鏈接狀態(tài)，同時(shí)又沒(méi)有專(zhuān)用的保護(hù)軟件。
科學(xué)家們?cè)诿绹?guó)的圣弗朗西斯科、芝加哥、紐約以及波士頓幾個(gè)城市模擬了真實(shí)的無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)受病毒攻擊的情況。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)僅僅少數(shù)的路由器感染計(jì)算機(jī)病毒后，就會(huì)引發(fā)大規(guī)模的病毒爆發(fā)，病毒在一周內(nèi)傳播到成千上萬(wàn)的路由器，而大多數(shù)路由器在24小時(shí)之內(nèi)就被感染。這項(xiàng)研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在《美國(guó)國(guó)家科學(xué)院院刊》上（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）。
無(wú)線(xiàn)網(wǎng)絡(luò)由于缺乏安全保護(hù)，其中包括沒(méi)有更改默認(rèn)密碼，使得其防病毒感染能力降低。所以，如果你想讓你的網(wǎng)絡(luò)免受病毒侵害，至少你應(yīng)該選擇一個(gè)不易被別人猜中的密碼。比如“Bosco”。
Vocabulary:
Soft target: （軍事術(shù)語(yǔ)）軟目標(biāo)，指沒(méi)有防御的攻擊目標(biāo)
Vulnerable：易受傷害的
Simulate：模擬
Router：路由器