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RISING TO A NEW THREAT
無人機成為新威脅
BY W.J. HENNIGAN
文/W.J.亨尼根
LAST FOURTH OF JULY, AS FIREWORKS BURST across the night sky
去年7月4日（美國國慶日），趁著煙花在夜空中綻放之際，
near the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, S.C.,
南卡羅來納州里奇維爾的利伯懲教所附近，
convicted kidnapper Jimmy Causey tucked a lifelike dummy into his bed,
被判綁架罪的吉米·考西往床上塞了一個栩栩如生的假人，
sneaked out of his prison cell and completed a daring escape.
便偷偷溜出牢房，完成了一次大膽的越獄。
It wasn’t until three days later, when Texas Rangers found Causey holed up 1,200 miles away,
直到三天后，德州護林員在1200英里（約1930公里）之外發現了科西的藏身之處，
that authorities offered an explanation for how he had obtained the equipment for the breakout,
當局才對他獲取越獄設備的方式做出解釋，
including a pair of wire cutters used to snip through four fences that encircle the maximum-security prison.
他的設備中有一把鋼絲鉗，可用來剪斷重刑監獄四周的四道圍欄。
“We believe a drone was used to fly in the tools that allowed him to escape,”
南卡羅來納州懲教署署長布萊恩·斯特林在新聞發布會上告訴記者，
Bryan Stirling, director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, told reporters at a news conference.
“我們認為，有人用無人機給他遞那些工具，他才得以逃脫。”
A lengthy investigation confirmed that an accessory role was played by a small, of-the-shelf drone.
漫長的調查也證實，一架無需改裝的小型無人機起到了輔助作用。
And with that, law-enforcement and national-security officials added “prison breaks”
于是，執法部門和國家安全官員將“越獄”納入了
to the potential ill-uses lurking in a technology widely available at retailers including Amazon and Walmart.
亞馬遜和沃爾瑪就能輕松買到的這一科技產品的潛在弊端。
Unlike military drones that can cost more than $15 million and look like small airplanes,
與軍用無人機不同的是，軍用無人機價格高達1500萬美元以上，體型跟小型飛機差不多，
mini quadcopters can be obtained for a few hundred dollars—and their capabilities are exciting the imaginations of bad guys.
而小巧的四軸無人機只需幾百美元，其強大的性能也大大激發了心懷不軌之人的想象力。
Criminals have used drones to drop drugs into prisons.
罪犯用無人機往監獄投遞毒品。
Mexican smugglers have flown them above the border to spy on the movement of patrolling federal officers.
墨西哥的走私犯在邊境上空布置無人機，監視巡邏的聯邦官員的行動。
ISIS used them to drop crude bombs on U.S. and allied forces in Iraq and Syria.
ISIS利用無人機向美國及其在伊拉克和敘利亞的盟軍投擲土炸彈。
It is the widespread availability of commercial drones that poses the largest threat.
最大的威脅來自于商用無人機的獲取門檻已經很低。
Almost everybody who uses a drone in the U.S.—
美國使用無人機的人——
and the Federal Aviation Administration has licensed more than a million operators—flies by the rules.
FAA已經授權了100多萬個使用者——幾乎都有遵循使用規定。
But not everyone, and perhaps the major lesson of 9/11 was to look for threats from unexpected places, especially overhead.
但也不是所有人，或許，“9·11事件”的主要教訓就是留意來自意想不到的地方的威脅，尤其是來自頭頂的威脅。
Yet on drones, the federal response has been largely haphazard and behind the curve.
然而，在無人機問題上，聯邦政府的反應很大程度上都存在隨意、滯后的問題。
The Pentagon is working to develop and deploy technologies to defeat drones
巴德學院無人機研究中心的一項研究顯示，
and intends to spend $401.2 million on counter-drone initiatives this fiscal year,
五角大樓正致力于研發和部署反無人機技術，
according to a study by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College.
計劃在本財年投入4.012億美元開展反無人機行動。
“We know that terrorists are using drones overseas to advance plots and attacks,
國土安全部部長克爾斯蒂恩·尼爾森接受本刊采訪時表示，
and we’ve already seen criminals use them along and within our borders for illicit purposes,”
“我們知道，恐怖分子正在海外操縱無人機大搞陰謀和破壞，
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen tells TIME.
我國的邊境沿線及邊境線以內也出現了將無人機用于非法用途的犯罪分子。”
“We are working with Congress for the authorities needed
他說：“我們正在與國會合作，爭取必要的權力，
to ensure we can better protect the American people against emerging drone threats.”
來確保我們能夠更好地保護美國人民免受無人機的威脅。”
Part of the problem is that our laws and regulations aren’t designed for this new kind of threat.
造成這一問題的部分原因是，我們的法律法規并不是針對這種新的威脅而制定的。
Current electronic-eavesdropping laws preclude government officials from disabling drones mid-air with electromagnetic signals.
目前的電子竊聽法禁止政府官員用電磁信號干擾半空中的無人機。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
