节目资讯
刊物:生活知识家
日期:2009-02-24
难易度:High
关键字:flaw, syndicate, journalist, unsung, DNS protocol,
(Music).
Hi, friends.
My name is Steve.
And you have joined me here at Studio Classroom Worldwide.
I’m so glad that you did.
We’re on our second day of this month’s Technology article.
Now the title is:
Hackers to the Rescue?
Traditionally, computer hackers were all thought to be bad people.
Not so anymore.
To be sure, there still are many Black... Black Hat hackers out there.
They’re the bad guys.
But we’re finding out there are White Hat hackers too.
They’re the good guys.
We’ve got a few big words to look at before we jump into the lesson.
The first one is flaw as in:
This coffee pot has a major design flaw.
It keeps leaking water on the counter.
The second word is syndicate.
The cartoonist was published by a newspaper syndicate.
Our reading today is found on page forty-two.
Please follow along on line twelve.
Hackers to the Rescue?
A White Hat hacker saves the day.
One well-known White Hat hacker is computer security expert Dan Kaminsky.
Early last year, Kaminsky discovered a major flaw in the DNS protocol.
The DNS protocol turns website names - like StudioClassroom.com - into a string
of numbers that computers can read.
Kaminsky discovered that the entire Internet’s DNS system was broken and had
been for years.
The flaw meant that users might try to visit their bank’s website but would
instead be sent to a fake site where they would innocently type in their
personal information.
Some say that Kaminsky could have sold the details of the flaw to criminal
syndicates for millions of dollars.
Hi, I’m Rachel.
And I’m Chip.
And today we’re continuing our discussion on the article about hackers.
And a hacker is someone who breaks into a computer system usually for bad
reasons.
Right. And yesterday we learned that there are good hackers and bad hackers.
And today we’re going to be talking about a White Hat hacker who save to the
day.
And again, if you’re a White Hat hacker, then you are using your skills to help
a company or an organization.
So who is this well-known hacker that we’re talking about?
Well, his name is Dan Kaminsky.
And he is apparently a very smart man.
Early last year, Kaminsky discovered a major flaw or a major problem in the DNS
protocol.
What is the DNS protocol, Rachel?
Well, I had to look this up.
But DNS stands for domain name system.
And so obviously it’s something that has to do with computers.
Protocol is simply the plan of steps that you would follow in something.
So basically I think what they’re saying is there was a big problem in the way
that this was supposed to work.
And he caught the flaw.
He caught the problem.
That’s right.
And actually our article explains a little bit about what the DNS protocol does.
And it turns website names or website addresses,
for example, like StudioClassroom.com, into a string or a chain of numbers which
computers can read.
It kind of translates the web address into the language that computers use.
Wow.
I just have to say this kind of stuff is very hard for me to understand.
But thankfully, our author’s trying to make it as simple as possible.
However, I do know that this Dan Kaminsky must be a genius,
because somehow he discovered that the entire Internet’s DNS system was broken.
Now I have no idea how he figured this out.
But somehow he did, Chip.
He realized not just in one place, it’s the entire Internet system was broken.
That’s right.
And it was a major flaw.
It was a major mistake or problem which meant that if you typed in a web address
or if you tried to visit, for example, your bank’s website,
and your bank on your bank’s website, you would include a lot of personal
information, very important information,
which involves your money,
then you would be... you could be directed or taken to a different site that’s
not your bank’s website,
and you wouldn’t know it.
Exactly.
It would’ve been a fake site, not the real site.
And this had been a problem for years, we find out.
So again this could have, I guess, even...
If he hadn’t fixed this problem, it would’ve gotten a lot worse.
So a few words we can look at here are innocently.
Sometimes you innocently type in your personal information and you think I’m in
a secure site; there’s no problem; you’re innocent.
But what you don’t realize is somebody on the other end is trying... is waiting
for you and waiting for your information.
That’s right.
If I saw a website that looked like my bank website, I would trust it.
I would innocently type in my information,
not realizing that someone on the other end of that website were trying to steal
my money.
I would too.
And in fact, I tend to be very trusting of... of websites.
But now I’m... I’m learning to be very careful.
I know there are things you can look for.
And I’m thankful that there are good hackers out there who are trying to do
things to make the Internet more secure.
So I think a lot of people are really proud of Kaminsky.
They think that he uh, did a good thing.
But he could have made a totally different choice.
He definitely could have.
Some say that Kaminsky - with the knowledge that he knew - could have sold the
details of this problem with the DNS protocol to criminal syndicates for
millions of dollars.
And I think maybe even more than millions of dollars.
He could have made a lot of money.
For sure.
So he could have sold these details of the flaw or the problem to gangsters or
people who uh, do bad things,
who are involved in criminal activities.
That’s why we use the word syndicates here.
Often we think of it as kind of a group of gangsters in charge of bad things.
And if he had sold this information to them, they would have paid him a lot of
money.
But a lot of other people would have been in big trouble.
That’s right.
And I also want to point out that you can use that word syndicates not only for
gangster or criminal activity, groups of organized criminals,
but you can also use that word syndicate or syndicates for things like a
newspaper syndicate,
which is a group that is organized that sells articles to smaller newspaper
companies for money.
Good point.
So if you see syndicates by itself, it’s probably a harmless group.
But if you see the adjective ”criminal” in front of it, then you know it’s not a
good idea to mess with those kinds of people.
Well, right now we need to take... um, take a break.
First we’re going to watch a skit.
And we’ll be right back.
I have a hacker friend that saved the day.
Does he wear a white hat too?
He sure does.
In fact, he discovered the flaw that saved the day for DNS.
DNS?
Yes.
Website protocol that turns website names into numbers.
Oh.
What kind of flaw?
He found a flaw that could direct Internet users to fake websites.
Oh.
That’s serious.
You’re right.
He could’ve sold this information to criminal syndicates for millions of
dollars.
But he didn’t?
No. Instead, he worked with Internet companies to solve the problem.
Well, then he’s a hero.
Yes. A superhero without leotards.
Ha...
That’s what journalists call him.
You White Hat hackers are the unsung heroes of the Information Age.
Yeah.
And I’m glad.
Before I experimented with the dark side of hacking,
but now I’d rather hack to help.
Besides, I look better in a white hat.
Well, White Hat hacker,
thank you.
Well, you’re welcome.
I know I’ll face challenges, but I’ll keep hacking for all the right reasons.