![]() The NSA is expanding its fold of hackers, but Mr George said there is a shortage of those skills. |
The National Security Agency has a challenge for hackers who think they're hot stuff: prove it by working on the "hardest problems on Earth." Computer hacker skills are in great demand in the US government to fight the cyber wars that pose a growing national security threat -- and they are in short supply. For that very reason an alphabet soup of federal agencies -- DOD, DHS, NASA, NSA -- are descending on Las Vegas this week for Defcon, an annual hacker convention where the $150 entrance fee is cash only -- no registration, no credit cards, no names taken. Attendance is expected to top 10,000. The National Security Agency is among the keen suitors. The spy agency plays both offense and defense in the cyber wars. It conducts electronic eavesdropping on adversaries and protects US computer networks that hold super secret material -- a prize target for America's enemies. "Today it's cyber warriors that we're looking for, not rocket scientists," said Richard "Dickie" George, technical director of the NSA's Information Assurance Directorate, the agency's cyber-defense side. "That's the race that we're in today. And we need the best and brightest to be ready to take on this cyber warrior status," he told reporters in an interview. The NSA is hiring about 1,500 people in the fiscal year which ends Sept. 30 and another 1,500 next year, most of them cyber experts. With a workforce of just over 30,000, the Fort Meade, Maryland-based NSA dwarfs other intelligence agencies, including the CIA. It also engages in cyber-spying and other offensive operations, something it rarely, if ever, discusses publicly. But at Defcon, the NSA and other "Feds" will be competing with corporations looking for hacking talent too. The NSA needs cyber security experts to harden networks, defend them with updates, do "penetration testing" to find security holes and watch for any signs of cyber attacks. The NSA is expanding its fold of hackers, but George said there is a shortage of those skills. "We are straining to hire the people that we need." (Read by Christine Mallari. Christine Mallari is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
那些覺(jué)得自己是香餑餑的黑客們,現(xiàn)在美國(guó)國(guó)家安全局有一個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)性任務(wù)給你們了。想要證明自己的實(shí)力,就來(lái)攻克這些“地球上最難的難題”吧。 為了打好這場(chǎng)對(duì)國(guó)家安全日益造成威脅的網(wǎng)絡(luò)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng),美國(guó)政府急需大量電腦黑客技術(shù)人才,目前該類人才嚴(yán)重短缺。 因此,多個(gè)美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府機(jī)構(gòu)——國(guó)防部、國(guó)土安全部、美國(guó)宇航局、國(guó)家安全局將參加本周在拉斯維加斯舉辦的名為“防御態(tài)勢(shì)”(Defcon)的年度黑客大會(huì)。入場(chǎng)費(fèi)150美元,只收現(xiàn)金,不收信用卡、不需注冊(cè)、不記名。預(yù)計(jì)將吸引一萬(wàn)人到場(chǎng)。 美國(guó)國(guó)家安全局也在這群求賢若渴的機(jī)構(gòu)之列。這家諜報(bào)機(jī)構(gòu)在網(wǎng)絡(luò)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中扮演防御和進(jìn)攻的雙重角色,對(duì)對(duì)手進(jìn)行電子竊聽(tīng),保護(hù)裝有絕密材料的美國(guó)計(jì)算機(jī)網(wǎng)絡(luò),這可是敵人一直虎視眈眈的目標(biāo)。 國(guó)家安全局負(fù)責(zé)網(wǎng)絡(luò)防御的信息保護(hù)理事會(huì)技術(shù)主管理查德?“迪奇”?喬治說(shuō):“我們現(xiàn)在尋找的是網(wǎng)絡(luò)武士,而非火箭專家。” 他在一次訪談中告訴記者說(shuō):“這就是我們現(xiàn)在所面臨的競(jìng)賽。我們需要把最優(yōu)秀最聰明的人變成隨時(shí)應(yīng)戰(zhàn)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)武士。” 在9月30日截止的財(cái)政年度里,國(guó)家安全局將雇用1500人,明年還要新增1500人,他們中大多是網(wǎng)絡(luò)專家。美國(guó)國(guó)家安全局位于馬里蘭州米德堡,其多達(dá)3萬(wàn)人員規(guī)模讓包括中情局在內(nèi)的其他情報(bào)機(jī)構(gòu)相形見(jiàn)絀。 國(guó)家安全局還從事網(wǎng)絡(luò)間諜和其他的攻擊性活動(dòng),但他們幾乎從不在公開(kāi)場(chǎng)合提及。 而在這次黑客大會(huì)上,國(guó)家安全局和其他聯(lián)邦政府機(jī)構(gòu)將與企業(yè)爭(zhēng)相物色黑客人才。 美國(guó)國(guó)家安全局需要網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全專家來(lái)強(qiáng)化更新網(wǎng)絡(luò)防衛(wèi),進(jìn)行“滲透測(cè)試”來(lái)盤查安全漏洞,密切注意任何網(wǎng)絡(luò)攻擊的跡象。 盡管國(guó)家安全局正大力招兵買馬,但喬治說(shuō)這樣的黑客技術(shù)人才仍然緊缺:“我們正竭力招募我們所需要的人才。” 相關(guān)閱讀 美國(guó)擬推網(wǎng)絡(luò)身份證 網(wǎng)民擔(dān)心遭監(jiān)視 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 實(shí)習(xí)生沈清 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: alphabet soup: language which is extremely difficult to understand, especially because it contains many symbols or abbreviations 代號(hào)語(yǔ)言(因含有許多符號(hào)或縮略語(yǔ)等而難懂) eavesdrop: to listen secretly to what other people are saying 偷聽(tīng),竊聽(tīng)(其他人談話) dwarf: to make something seem small or unimportant compared with something else(使顯得矮小;使相形見(jiàn)絀) strain: 盡力;竭力;使勁 |