2006年NPR美国国家公共电台八月-Microsoft Tunes Security on Next Windows

On Mondays we focus on technology. Today an invitation to hackers 3.

A hacker 2 has broken into Vista 4, that's Microsoft's new operating system, but the company did not try to stop the invasion. In fact developers welcome the attack. Microsoft invited computer experts to try to get past the security features built into the latest version of Windows, which is scheduled to be in stores early next year. Blocking invaders 5 has been a top priority and it's one of the main reasons Microsoft has repeatedly delayed the release of Vista. New York Times technology writer David Pogue has hacked 6 his way onto our airwaves this morning, as usual David, but good morning, welcome to the show.
Thank you
Apparently this first hacker cheated a little bit, I mean, what did she do ?

Well it's true. It's not quite as dramatic as it sounds, er this women Joanna R who is a Polish security researcher, she managed to bypass some of the new security procedures in Windows that are designed to prevent nasty software like viruses or spyware from getting in, but as you said she sort of cheated because when she ran her little nasty program, what would happen in Vista is a message would appear on the screen, that says beep , something questionable 7 is happening , do you want to permit it ? and she clicked OK , I mean it's kind of like she cheated because the Windows did try to prevent it ,but she argues that these dialogue boxes are going to be popping up all the time in Vista , and that the average user is just going to get so weary of them , and they blindly click ok .

That makes perfect sense. That's what I do.

It's really a balancing act though , I mean a perfectly 8 secure operating system would be one entombed in cement and dropped to the bottom of the ocean. But you need it to be able to work , so it's a fine balance between alerting the person using the computer ,that something fishy 9 is going on and there is(are) a lot of things like this, like when you download something , are you sure? When you open something that you've downloaded and, you know, unstuff it , are you sure? When you install a new program, are you sure? So do we put up a message to tell you what's going on, so that you can approve it , or do we keep quiet and try not to interrupt you so much .

Yeah , of course now I know I 'm in deep trouble with our IT folks for admitting that I hit the OK button rather casually 10 , or rather desperately 11 , sometimes you just can’t bear to see it again and you don’t know what it's talking about , but you know, I mean, does this demonstration 12 mean that there are others lurking 13 like this ?

Yeah, well, first of all Microsoft has said that they will fix this particular hole, but yeah, it's logical to assume that there 's something else lurking , I mean this is 50,000,000 lines of software code. Windows Vista is an enormous, enormous operating system. But Microsoft has the advantage that as these things come up they can send you patches just as it has been doing electronically over the Internet that will block them. In general these patches do work , for example ,since the big service pack two last year, we haven't had any national episodes of a devastating 14 virus .

Will we ever get an operating system that that's foolproof in this sense, that can't be hacked?

I don't think so , I don't think there will ever be that shining moment when we are completely free , because one of the whole joys of owning a computer is connecting to the Internet and that by definition means opening pipes up to other people , and it's really, ultimately not about technology ; it's about human nature ,and as long as there are these malcontents who get their jollies and their self worth by making our lives miserable 15 , there will keep being spyware and viruses and patches .
David you are always welcome to hack 1 into our show .
Thank you so much.
David Pogue covers technology for the New York.....
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airwaves
the airwaves
informal radio and television broadcasts
on/over the airwaves
a subject that's been debated on the airwaves
spyware
[uncountable]
computer software that secretly records information about which websites you visit. This information is then used by advertising 16 companies, who try to sell you products.
balancing act
[countable usually singular]
when you are trying to please two or more people or groups who all want different things, or who have ideas that are completely different from each other
Gilmore had to perform the difficult balancing act of attracting moderate voters without losing his conservative base.
malcontent
[countable]
formal someone who is likely to cause trouble because they are not happy with the way things are organized - used in order to show disapproval 17
self worth
the feeling that you deserve to be liked and respected
see also self-esteem Work gave me a sense of dignity and self-worth.