美國政府急需黑客人才 保衛國家安全

The National Security Agency has a challenge for hackers who think they're hot stuff: prove it by working on the "hardest problems on Earth."

那些覺得自己是香餑餑的黑客們，現在美國國家安全局有一個挑戰性任務給你們了。想要證明自己的實力，就來攻克這些“地球上最難的難題”吧。

Computer hacker skills are in great demand in the US government to fight the cyber wars that pose a growing national security threat -- and they are in short supply.

爲了打好這場對國家安全日益造成威脅的網絡戰爭，美國政府急需大量電腦黑客技術人才，目前該類人才嚴重短缺。

For that very reason an alphabet soupof Federal agencies -- DOD, DHS, NASA, NSA -- are descending on Las Vegas this week for Defcon, an annual hacker convention where the $150 entrance fee is cash only -- no registration, no credit cards, no names taken. Attendance is expected to top 10,000.

因此，多個美國聯邦政府機構——國防部、國土安全部、美國宇航局、國家安全局將參加本週在拉斯維加斯舉辦的名爲“防禦態勢”（Defcon）的年度黑客大會。入場費150美元，只收現金，不收信用卡、不需註冊、不記名。預計將吸引一萬人到場。

The National Security Agency is among the keen suitors. The spy agency plays both offense and defense in the cyber wars. It conducts electronic eavesdroppingon adversaries and protects US computer networks that hold super secret material -- a prize target for America's enemies.

美國國家安全局也在這羣求賢若渴的機構之列。這家諜報機構在網絡戰爭中扮演防禦和進攻的雙重角色，對對手進行電子竊聽，保護裝有絕密材料的美國計算機網絡，這可是敵人一直虎視眈眈的目標。"Today it's cyber warriors that we're looking for, not rocket scientists," said Richard "Dickie" George, technical director of the NSA's Information Assurance Directorate, the agency's cyber-defense side.

國家安全局負責網絡防禦的信息保護理事會技術主管理查德 “迪奇” 喬治說：“我們現在尋找的是網絡武士，而非火箭專家。”

"That's the race that we're in today. And we need the best and brightest to be ready to take on this cyber warrior status," he told reporters in an interview.

他在一次訪談中告訴記者說：“這就是我們現在所面臨的競賽。我們需要把最優秀最聰明的人變成隨時應戰的網絡武士。”

The NSA is hiring about 1,500 people in the fiscal year which ends Sept. 30 and another 1,500 next year, most of them cyber experts. With a workforce of just over 30,000, the Fort Meade, Maryland-based NSA dwarfsother intelligence agencies, including the CIA.

在9月30日截止的財政年度裏，國家安全局將僱用1500人，明年還要新增1500人，他們中大多是網絡專家。美國國家安全局位於馬里蘭州米德堡，其多達3萬人員規模讓包括中情局在內的其他情報機構相形見絀。

It also engages in cyber-spying and other offensive operations, something it rarely, if ever, discusses publicly.

國家安全局還從事網絡間諜和其他的攻擊性活動，但他們幾乎從不在公開場合提及。

But at Defcon, the NSA and other "Feds" will be competing with corporations looking for hacking talent too.

而在這次黑客大會上，國家安全局和其他聯邦政府機構將與企業爭相物色黑客人才。

The NSA needs cyber security experts to harden networks, defend them with updates, do "penetration testing" to find security holes and watch for any signs of cyber attacks.

美國國家安全局需要網絡安全專家來強化更新網絡防衛，進行“滲透測試”來盤查安全漏洞，密切注意任何網絡攻擊的跡象。

The NSA is expanding its fold of hackers, but George said there is a shortage of those skills. "We are strainingto hire the people that we need."

儘管國家安全局正大力招兵買馬，但喬治說這樣的黑客技術人才仍然緊缺：“我們正竭力招募我們所需要的人才。”