[ti:Expert: North Korea’s Cyber Abilities Growing] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.00]Some experts believe North Korea's ability [00:03.76]to carry out computer attacks is increasing. [00:08.46]They point to a reported attack [00:11.31]that took place in September of last year as evidence. [00:17.42]Attackers, believed to be North Koreans, [00:21.86]took thousands of military documents including war plans [00:27.50]aimed at destroying North Korea's leadership if war takes place. [00:33.72]The war plans, known as Operation Plan 5015, [00:40.56]were jointly created by the U.S. and South Korean militaries. [00:46.88]Kenneth Geers is a security expert and a researcher [00:52.66]with the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center [00:56.81]of Excellence based in Estonia. [01:00.52]Recently, he spoke to VOA. [01:04.62]Geers said it is "entirely possible" that U.S.-South Korean war plans were taken. [01:13.95]He added that it is possible that North Korea [01:18.96]received help from Russia or China to do so. [01:24.58]All digitized information, Geers said, is very difficult to protect. [01:33.44]He said large computer systems often have many points [01:39.16]that can be attacked and North Korea knows who to target. [01:45.40]He said one possibility is that North Korea may be trying to steal money. [01:53.58]The country has been under increasingly tight sanctions [01:58.96]after two United Nations Security Council resolutions this year targeted its export income. [02:09.01]Another possibility, Geers said, is that North Korea [02:14.42]wants to know if it is about to be attacked. [02:18.50]In order to do that, they would need plans from the U.S., Korea and Japan. [02:27.85]North Korea has been linked to computer attacks [02:32.45]that have caused notable damage in the past. [02:36.23]In 2014, North Korea was blamed [02:41.01]for entering the computer systems of Sony Pictures Entertainment. [02:46.79]The attack caused many computers [02:49.92]belonging to the movie production company to become useless. [02:55.49]It was seen as a reaction to that studio's attempt to release the film, The Interview. [03:04.39]The movie showed an attempt to kill North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. [03:11.71]More recently, reports from 2016 linked the theft of $81 million [03:21.06]from the central bank of Bangladesh to North Korea. [03:26.73]South Korea suspects North Korea has attempted attacks in recent years [03:34.83]on computer systems of its energy system and some of its banks as well as its military. [03:44.28]But Geers does not believe that North Korea could win a cyberwar with the U.S., [03:52.62]South Korea or other Western countries. [03:56.85]He said North Korea's internet system is small and an easy target [04:04.21]for cyberattacks that can limit or shut down its networks. [04:09.96]Geers said cyberwarfare can take many forms. [04:16.60]It can involve secretly getting information and spying on computer systems. [04:24.35]Cyberwarfare methods also can seek to make changes [04:30.49]to computer systems that limit or block advanced weapons from operating correctly. [04:38.90]In the case of missiles, a cyber attack might block important information [04:46.09]that is needed in order to fly a missile in the right direction. [04:51.52]It is even possible to cause a missile to travel in the wrong direction. [04:58.21]"A computers might have no way of knowing that it's the right or wrong target. [05:05.68]Computers don't think that way. [05:07.17]They just respond to commands. [05:09.76]In that way, they can be very smart and very stupid at the same time." [05:13.18]One example of a cyberattack targeted Iran's nuclear program and was identified in 2010. [05:23.13]The Stuxnet virus is said to have caused damage [05:28.75]to computer systems linked to Iran's nuclear weapons program. [05:35.09]I'm Mario Ritter. [05:37.16]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM