Cyber attacks rose 14 per cent last year, as online criminals targeted intellectual property-rich industries such as pharmaceuticals, mining and electronics, according to a report by Cisco.
思科(Cisco)一份报告称，网络攻击数量去年上升了14%，制药、矿业和电子工业等知识产权密集的行业成为网络罪犯的目标。
Vulnerabilities in computer systems and the threat from hackers reached the highest level since 2000, when the technology company launched its annual security report.
这家技术公司发布年度安全报告之际，计算机系统漏洞及黑客威胁达到2000年以来的最高水平。
Cisco said there had been “unprecedented growth” in advanced attacks, with every large company it monitored becoming a target for malicious traffic.
思科表示，技术含量较高的攻击出现了“前所未有的增长”。思科监测的每家大型公司都成为恶意流量攻击的目标。
John Stewart, senior vice-president and chief security officer, said the report painted a grim picture of the state of cyber security.
思科副总裁兼首席安全官约翰•斯图尔特(John Stewart)说，这份报告描绘了网络安全现状的一幅悲观图景。
But, he added, there was hope to restore trust by trying to understand hackers. “To truly protect against all of these possible attacks, defenders must understand the attackers, their motivations and their methods – before, during and after an attack.”
但他补充道，通过试图了解黑客，有望恢复信心。“为了真正防御所有这些可能的攻击，防御者必须了解攻击者，掌握他们的动机和手段——在攻击开始前、进行中和结束后。”
Pharmaceuticals, chemicals, agriculture, mining and electronics all saw increases in the malware targeted at them of more than 600 per cent, while attempts to breach security in the energy, oil and gas industries rose more than 400 per cent.
制药、化工、农业、矿业和电子工业受到的恶意软件攻击均增加逾600%。同时，针对能源和油气行业的攻击增加400%以上。
Attempts to hack retailers and wholesalers – in the public eye after Target lost data from more than 70m customers in an attack – rose more than 100 per cent. The attempts may not have led to breaches, depending on the protections in place.
针对零售商和批发商的攻击增加逾100%。美国零售商塔吉特(Target)在一次攻击中丢失7000余万用户数据的消息曝光后，此类攻击引起公众关注。不过，取决于采取的保护措施，有些攻击可能没有突破防线。
Cyber criminals are increasingly looking for intellectual property they can either sell on the black market or use to inform decisions about competing products or plans.
网络罪犯对寻找知识产权越来越感兴趣，这些机密要么可在黑市上出售，要么可用作竞争产品或计划的决策依据。
Levi Gundert, a threat researcher who worked on the Cisco report, said the attacks could be “criminals” or “nation states”.
参与撰写报告的威胁研究员莱维•贡德特(Levi Gundert)说，实施攻击的可能是“罪犯”，也可能是“国家”。
“You almost need to have the Economist or the FT in hand while looking at some of these numbers – they vertically correspond to geopolitical events,” he said.
他说：“你在看报告中的一些数字时，手里几乎需要一份《经济学人》或英国《金融时报》，因为这些数字直接对应着某些地缘政治事件。”