Pentagon still under assault from hackers(2)

　　Along with representatives of the armed services and federal law enforcement authorities, the Pentagon called on cyber vandals(姿意破坏的人) last month to turn their talents to defense.

　　U.S. Assiatant Secretary of Defense Art Money urged hackers at an audience at " DEF CON 8.0" in Las Vegas to join the government or private industry and get on the " defense side."

　　Once an underground event, the 8-year-old DEF CON computer hackers convention drew 5,000 prople.

　　Improved Detection Measures

　　Schaeffer attributed the jump in reported attacks on Defense Department systems between 1998 and 1999 partly to improved intrusion-detection procedures and technology, along with stepped-up awareness and reporting.

　　But the "sophistication" of attacks was also increasing, he said, and the often present "noise floor" from computer hackers "makes it a whole lot easier for (a serious threat) to slip in."

　　He said the Pentagon was highly confident that its classfied systems had never been penetrated by hackers, thanks to very strong access controls, and that only unclassified networks had been pierced.

　　Richare Thieme, a Milwaukee-based consultant on human dimensions of technology who chaired the panel at DEF CON at which the Pentagon made its appeal, said all but 1,000 of last year's reported attacks were attributed to recreational hackers.

　　Schaeffer, in an interview with Reuters, said it was "highly probable" that at least some of the 22,000 attacks last year were mounted by foreigners probing U.S. security gaps.

　　By Jim Wolf

　　英语周报 刊号：CN14-0705/(F)