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.
無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)是病毒攻擊的“軟目標”
我們都收到過一些電子郵件，警告我們防范一些討厭的計算機病毒?？赡苣阋呀?jīng)在你的電腦上安裝了殺毒軟件。不過，目前科學家們說，我們的無線網(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)。
隨著更多的人們在家里、學校以及咖啡吧上網(wǎng)，無線路由器的使用越來越普遍了。這些無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)成為機算機病毒非常容易攻擊的目標，這是因為這些計算機經(jīng)常處于開啟狀態(tài)，經(jīng)常和網(wǎng)絡(luò)處于鏈接狀態(tài)，同時又沒有專用的保護軟件。
科學家們在美國的圣弗朗西斯科、芝加哥、紐約以及波士頓幾個城市模擬了真實的無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)受病毒攻擊的情況。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)僅僅少數(shù)的路由器感染計算機病毒后，就會引發(fā)大規(guī)模的病毒爆發(fā)，病毒在一周內(nèi)傳播到成千上萬的路由器，而大多數(shù)路由器在24小時之內(nèi)就被感染。這項研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在《美國國家科學院院刊》上（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）。
無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)由于缺乏安全保護，其中包括沒有更改默認密碼，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，至少你應該選擇一個不易被別人猜中的密碼。比如“Bosco”。
Vocabulary:
Soft target: （軍事術(shù)語）軟目標，指沒有防御的攻擊目標
Vulnerable：易受傷害的
Simulate：模擬
Router：路由器
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.
無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)是病毒攻擊的“軟目標”
我們都收到過一些電子郵件，警告我們防范一些討厭的計算機病毒?？赡苣阋呀?jīng)在你的電腦上安裝了殺毒軟件。不過，目前科學家們說，我們的無線網(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)。
隨著更多的人們在家里、學校以及咖啡吧上網(wǎng)，無線路由器的使用越來越普遍了。這些無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)成為機算機病毒非常容易攻擊的目標，這是因為這些計算機經(jīng)常處于開啟狀態(tài)，經(jīng)常和網(wǎng)絡(luò)處于鏈接狀態(tài)，同時又沒有專用的保護軟件。
科學家們在美國的圣弗朗西斯科、芝加哥、紐約以及波士頓幾個城市模擬了真實的無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)受病毒攻擊的情況。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)僅僅少數(shù)的路由器感染計算機病毒后，就會引發(fā)大規(guī)模的病毒爆發(fā)，病毒在一周內(nèi)傳播到成千上萬的路由器，而大多數(shù)路由器在24小時之內(nèi)就被感染。這項研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在《美國國家科學院院刊》上（Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences）。
無線網(wǎng)絡(luò)由于缺乏安全保護，其中包括沒有更改默認密碼，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，至少你應該選擇一個不易被別人猜中的密碼。比如“Bosco”。
Vocabulary:
Soft target: （軍事術(shù)語）軟目標，指沒有防御的攻擊目標
Vulnerable：易受傷害的
Simulate：模擬
Router：路由器