物物都聯(lián)網(wǎng)，會是人類給自己布下的陷阱嗎？

03 物物都聯(lián)網(wǎng)，會是人類給自己布下的陷阱嗎？

如果攝像頭的安全漏洞就能引發(fā)全美的網(wǎng)絡(luò)癱瘓，那么“智能冰箱”會不會被惡意程序侵入，鬼鬼祟祟地升溫任細菌滋長？自動駕駛汽車會不會帶你秒變自殺式襲擊者？

上月21日，一場始于美國東部的大規(guī)?；ヂ?lián)網(wǎng)癱瘓席卷了全美，而這可能是一場“攝像頭引發(fā)的血案”。據(jù)FT報道：

Chinese electronics manufacturer Xiongmai is recalling some older versions of its webcams sold in the US after they were linked to the “botnet” attack that disrupted internet services from Twitter to the New York Times last month.

中國電子產(chǎn)品制造商雄邁正在召回其在美國銷售的部分老款網(wǎng)絡(luò)攝像頭，這些產(chǎn)品被認為與上個月癱瘓美國互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)——從Twitter到《紐約時報》——的“僵尸網(wǎng)絡(luò)”攻擊有關(guān)聯(lián)。

Hangzhou Xiongmai Technology said it would recall earlier versions of the webcams after cyber security researchers identified them as a contributor to the network that hackers used to flood Dyn, a domain name service provider, with traffic.

杭州雄邁信息技術(shù)有限公司稱，將召回一些早期版本的網(wǎng)絡(luò)攝像頭。此前，網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全研究人員確認，黑客利用了包括這些網(wǎng)絡(luò)攝像頭在內(nèi)的設(shè)備，對域名服務(wù)提供商Dyn進行超大規(guī)模流量訪問。

雖然直至目前為止，此次網(wǎng)絡(luò)襲擊的原因是否真是由攝像頭的安全漏洞引起的仍未得到官方確認，不過該事件還是引起了不少人的思考。

FT作家Robert Shrimsley就不禁懷疑，我們跟著“物聯(lián)網(wǎng)”的大潮涌向的地方，究竟是便捷智能的未來，還是物物皆兵的深淵？

When dumb appliances are the smart choice

傻瓜家電會成為更明智的選擇嗎？

As far as I am aware, we have never had an enemy of the state living in our house.I once had a friend who used to insist he was an anarchist but these days he's doing light-entertainment work for the BBC, so I'm not sure that counts.However, if the reports about the online attack that brought down large sections of the internet last month are to be believed, then we may all soon be hosting enemy combatants in our homes.

據(jù)我所知，在我們的房子里絕對沒有全民公敵。我有個一直宣稱自己是“無政府主義者”的朋友，不過最近他轉(zhuǎn)去BBC做輕娛樂節(jié)目了。我不知道這算不算BBC的姑息養(yǎng)奸。不過，如果上個月關(guān)于網(wǎng)絡(luò)攻擊造成大片互聯(lián)網(wǎng)癱瘓的報道都如實的話，那我們馬上就真的是在家里豢養(yǎng)著軍隊戰(zhàn)士了。

Without diving too deeply into the technical details, the incident saw a huge, co-ordinated attack on one of those largely unknown but crucial pieces of web infrastructure.The attack — called a distributed denial of service or DDOS — works by overloading a site's servers with far too many requests for it to process, causing it to fail.

就算不太深究技術(shù)細節(jié)，這個事件也讓我們知道，那些我們不甚了解、卻至關(guān)重要的網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)施，正遭受著巨大的、聯(lián)合的攻擊。這個名叫“分布式拒絕服務(wù)（又稱DDOS）”的攻擊，通過大量的訪問讓一個網(wǎng)站的服務(wù)器過載，致使其崩潰。

What was unusual about this attack was that it used malware planted in “smart” domestic devices to bolster the scale of the bombardment.In other words, your thermostat or smart fridge took time out from mainstream duties to become an internet saboteur.As the so-called internet of things — the notion of smart connected devices that can talk to each other — grows, this will become more of an issue.Every time you buy a new smart device, another potential recruit joins an army that can be deployed to crash the systems of society.

而這次攻擊的非同尋常之處在于，其使用了植入在本地智能設(shè)備中的惡意軟件，用以實施攻擊。換而言之，你的空調(diào)或者智能冰箱都可能偷偷摸摸地“出軌”，變身網(wǎng)絡(luò)破壞分子。所謂的物聯(lián)網(wǎng)（智能互聯(lián)設(shè)備可以相互交流的概念）蓬勃發(fā)展同時，將更多地帶來一些問題。每當你買了一臺新的智能設(shè)備，就像是增加了一位新的潛在傭兵，準備加入到可以摧毀社會系統(tǒng)的大軍中。

Worse still, if the malware can be subverted in one direction, there is no reason why it could not incite your devices to turn against you.I can already see the movie: Terminator 5: When Fridges Attack.Up until now my main concern about the internet of things was that my devices would spend all their time bitching about me behind my back.Now I see that if they can bring down large corporations, it would be no effort to raise the temperature so food falls prey to listeria.Once we worried about revolutionary armies and terrorist groups; now we have to worry about Hotpoint.We can all see the benefits of smart appliances, but do we really want our microwave taken over by Vladimir Putin?

更糟糕的是，如果惡意軟件可以朝著特定方向被顛覆，那它也很有可能煽動設(shè)備們背叛你。我仿佛已經(jīng)看到了《終結(jié)者5：冰箱侵襲》。目前為止我對于物聯(lián)網(wǎng)的主要擔(dān)心是，智能家電將把它們的時間用于在我背后對我碎碎念。如今我發(fā)現(xiàn)如果它們可以搞垮大公司，那一定也可以把溫度升高，讓食物滋生李氏桿菌。曾經(jīng)我們擔(dān)心反叛軍和恐怖組織，如今是要提防著Hotpoint冰箱了。我們可以看到智能家電帶來的優(yōu)越，但是你真的想要我們的微波爐被普京控制嗎？

Thankfully, my fridge remains essentially dumb — though I like to think of it as happy.And this, I think, is how it will remain.Yes, I will lose the ability to have my fridge automatically fill my online shopping list with items I need.But on the upside, I will not have to spend my days reminding it not to crash GCHQ's computers.

謝天謝地，我的冰箱還是“傻瓜式”的，這真是個好事。我也認為這樣的想法將會一直延續(xù)下去。的確，我不能享受到冰箱自動地根據(jù)我的需求將線上購物車填滿的便捷了。不過好處是，我不用花整天的時間去提醒它別去入侵英國政府通訊總部的電腦了。

The same goes for voice-activated personal assistants such as Alexa.I can see myself in the kitchen asking the time of a dinner party, only to be told to wait till it finishes dismantling the apparatus of the state.It will also be a real pest making sure the appliances change their passwords every month.I know for a fact that the coffee-maker is still using its birthday and mother's maiden name.

同理的還有那些聲控個人設(shè)備，比如Alexa（亞馬遜家庭語音助理）。我仿佛可以看到自己在廚房里問它，晚餐會何時開始？而它回應(yīng)我：“等著吧，我先干掉國家設(shè)施再說”。更超級討厭的是你還要費盡心思地確保每個月給你的智能設(shè)備換密碼。我知道那臺咖啡機還在用它的生日和它媽媽的娘家姓當密碼呢。

Similar fears are likely to keep me away from self-driving cars.I don't mind if Google is driving, but suppose Julian Assange hacks his way in and drives me to the Ecuadorian embassy.Even worse, some terrorist group takes over every Volkswagen and tries to smash them into the Houses of Parliament.I know I may be exaggerating this risk, but if all that stands between me and suicide-bomber status is the latest version of McAfee anti-virus software, then I prefer to drive myself.

類似的恐懼還讓我對自動駕駛汽車敬而遠之。我不管是不是谷歌在駕駛，不過一想到阿桑奇黑進了自動駕駛路線，把我載向厄瓜多爾大使館……或是更惡劣的，如果一些恐怖分子控制了所有的大眾汽車，試圖讓它們?nèi)繘_向國會大廈……我知道我可能危言聳聽了，但是如果我和人體炸彈之間只隔著一道最新的McAfee殺毒軟件的話，我還是自己開車吧。

All of a sudden dumb, old-fashioned appliances are looking really rather attractive.I may be missing out on some of the newest features and, no doubt, I am making my life altogether less convenient.But we have been taught a hard lesson this month.Just as the interconnectedness of the financial system was responsible for the scale of the financial crisis, so it could be with the internet of things.The network is only as secure as its weakest device — and who the hell expected to need high security on a tumble dryer? These smart appliances are the Northern Rock of the web, the weakest links that sink a system.Last week's attack was only the beginning.

這樣看來，那些傻瓜、老式家電就看起來吸引人多了。我可能會失去那些最新的設(shè)備功能，并且毫無疑問地讓我的生活少了些許便捷，但是我們在10月已經(jīng)遭受到了嚴厲的教訓(xùn)了。正如那些金融設(shè)備的互聯(lián)性應(yīng)當為金融危機負責(zé)，那物聯(lián)網(wǎng)也應(yīng)如此?；ヂ?lián)網(wǎng)的安全性只取決于最脆弱的設(shè)備，而又有誰在意滾筒烘干機的安全等級呢？這些智能家電就像是北巖銀行（英國金融界中第一個美國次貸危機的受害者），最脆弱的一環(huán)拖垮了整個系統(tǒng)。上周的網(wǎng)絡(luò)攻擊事件僅僅是一個開始而已。

When it comes to the internet of things, I'm beginning to wonder if the smart move is just to stay dumb.

于是，我們把相同的憂慮和眼光投向物聯(lián)網(wǎng)時，我不知道，是不是家電保持“傻瓜式”才是更“智能”的選擇。

詞匯總結(jié)

anarchist ['?n?k?st]

n.無政府主義者

adj.無政府主義的

I once had a friend who used to insist he was an anarchist but these days he's doing light-entertainment work for the BBC.

我有個一直宣稱自己是“無政府主義者”的朋友，不過最近他轉(zhuǎn)去BBC做輕娛樂節(jié)目了。

combatant ['k?mb?t(?)nt; 'k?m-]

n.戰(zhàn)士；爭斗者

adj.戰(zhàn)斗的；好斗的

We may all soon be hosting enemy combatants in our homes.

那我們馬上就真的是在家里豢養(yǎng)著軍隊戰(zhàn)士了。

co-ordinate [k?u'?:d?nit]

v.使……協(xié)調(diào)

Without diving too deeply into the technical details, the incident saw a huge, co-ordinated attack on one of those largely unknown but crucial pieces of web infrastructure.

就算不太深究技術(shù)細節(jié)，這個事件也讓我們知道，那些我們不甚了解、卻至關(guān)重要的網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)施，正遭受著巨大的、聯(lián)合的攻擊。