alimov_v_v_artemeva_yu_v_obshestvennopoliticheskii_perevod_p / общественно политический перевод

6.What did the 1998 tests by the two countries confirm?

7.Какие два выбора остаются при условии реального распространения ядерного оружия?

8.What would put pressure on all holders of nuclear weapons, including China, to cut their arsenals?

9.Какие другие шаги могли бы придать импульс глобальному ядерному разоружению?

10.What is the chasm ['kaezam] (пропасть) over which the international community must leap?

V.Рекомендуется для последовательного перевода на слух с заметками:

IRAN ADMITS PURSUING NUCLEAR AMBITIONS

From Elaine Monaghan

in Washington and Miranda Eeles in Tehran

The United States yesterday expressed grave concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Branded by the US as a member of the "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea, the Iranians yesterday revealed plans to enrich uranium, ostensibly for its nascent nuclear energy programme.

Iran says that the programme is to provide power for its 65 million peo­ ple, but Washington has accused Tehran and neighbouring Iraq of harbouring secret plans to develop nuclear weapons.

Richard Boucher, the Bush Administration's chief foreign policy spokes­ man, said: "We continue to have very grave concerns that Iran is using its sup­ posedly peaceful nuclear programme, including construction of the reactor at Bushehr, as a pretext for advancing a nuclear weapons programme."

He accused Tehran of laying bare its true intent to make weapons by ad­ mitting that it had mined uranium even though its agreement with Russia, which is building the Bushehr reactor, would have provided it with all the fuel that it needed. "Iran's ambitious and costly pursuit of a complete nuclear fuel cycle only makes sense if it is in support of a nuclear weapons programme," he told a news briefing.

Mr Boucher made clear that Russia had provided assurances to the US about its nuclear construction project in Iran, which Washington opposed. "The agreement as we understood it, as we heard it from others, had been that Russia would provide the fuel and take it back after it was used in the reac­ tor," he said.

He joined calls by the European Union and United Nations for Iran to sign a tough inspection protocol with the International Atomic Energy

Agency, whose chief, Mohamed Elbaradei, is trying to get Iraq to come clean about its alleged weapons but who will visit Tehran on February 25 addressed the nation on television at the weekend, surrounded by officials from the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. He said that Iran had uncov­ ered reserves of uranium and would now strive to become self-sufficient in developing nuclear fuel.

"Iran has discovered reserves and extracted uranium," he said. "We are determined to use nuclear technology for civilian purposes. If we need to pro­ duce electricity from our nuclear power plants, we need to complete the circle from discovering uranium to managing remaining spent fuel."

His comments were confirmed by the head of Iran's atomic energy pro­ gramme. "Preliminary steps have taken place," Gholamreza Aqazadeh said, "but we still have a long way to go before this plant is operational."

Analysts say that Mr Khatami's comments were for an international audi­ ence to pre-empt any action on the part of America. "I think they realise that the US knows everything about their nuclear programme," Sayeed Leylas, a politi­ cal commentator, said. "It was very wise diplomacy ... meant to dissolve ten­ sion in the region."

Diplomats in Tehran say that it was no coincidence that Mr Khatami's an­ nouncement came less than 48 hours after Iran's Foreign Minister had visited to Downing Street and just days after Chris Patten, the EU External Affairs Com­ missioner, had returned from Iran. On both occasions it was made clear to the Iranians that unless the country spoke openly of its nuclear ambitions, the US would soon turn its sights on Tehran.

VI. Рекомендуется для письменного перевода на слух:

подземные ядерные испытания; возобновить испытания; отказаться от ядерного оружия; сделать Южную Азию безъядерной; ядерная бомба; меж­ дународная инспекция; обладать ядерным оружием; создание ракеты; про­ должать испытания; ядерная боеголовка; 100-процентный перехват всех целей; ядерные арсеналы; химические и биологические вещества; зараже­ ние местности; отказаться от ядерных испытаний.

VII. Рекомендуется для зрительно-устного перевода:

Если Россия действительно заинтересована в установлении окон­ чательного запрета на проведение ядерных взрывов, ей не следует сво­ дить политику к угрозе возобновления собственных испытаний. Наряду с этим необходимо вести активную работу по разъяснению опасности планов возобновления испытаний, в том числе создания «миниатюрных» боезарядов. У российских ученых есть необходимые для этого автори­ тет и опыт.

([усматривающей превентивные удары по запасам химического или бакте­ риологического оружия так называемых стран-изгоев.

Дмитрий ЛИТОВКИН

— Нельзя исключать, что США возобновят подземные ядерные ис­ пытания, — заявил «Известиям» главный научный сотрудник ИМЭ-МО РАН — советник ПИР-Центра Владимир Дворкин. — Это может быть свя­ зано с необходимостью отработки новых ядерных зарядов малой мощно­ сти для заглубляющихся высокоточных боеголовок для ракет или авиаци­ онных бомб. В меньшей степени — для подтверждения работоспособно­ сти имеющихся боезарядов.

То, что Америка неминуемо придет к мысли о необходимости возоб­ новления полноценных ядерных испытаний, специалистам стало ясно после объявления Джорджем Бушем о выходе США из Договора по ПРО 1972 года. Идея создания ракеты, способной перехватывать единичную ядерную бое­ головку, с технической точки зрения невыполнима. Российские ученые по­ няли это еще в 1960-1970-х годах, когда работали над собственной ПРО. 100-процентный перехват всех целей дает только встречный ядерный взрыв. На этом принципе до сих пор построена система ПРО Москвы.

— Трудно предположить, что США вернутся к ядерному оснащению противоракет, — считает Владимир Дворкин. — От этого они отказались еще в 1975 году, сняв их с вооружения. Одна из причин — то, что в ответ даже на атаку ракет с неядерным оснащением всегда есть риск устроить ядерный фейерверк над своей территорией.

Ядерные испытания ни в России, ни в США не прекращались. Вели, правда, их на ином технологическом уровне «подкритических» экспери­ ментов. От полноценного ядерного взрыва эти работы отличает использо­ вание микрограммов ядерного вещества, цепная реакция в котором пре­ рывается в момент достижения критического уровня. Подобные работы совершенно безопасны в экологическом плане. Их можно проводить как на самих ядерных полигонах, так и в лабораториях ядерных институтов. Единственный их недостаток в том, что таким способом можно проверять работоспособность и заданные боевые характеристики уже имеющегося ядерного оружия. В отношении новых его систем этот опыт бесполезен. Ведь ни один генерал не примет на вооружение оружие, боевая эффектив­ ность которого доказана лишь формулами, графиками и гипотетическими рассуждениями о его разрушительной мощности.

Ядерные арсеналы России и США времен «холодной войны» созда­ вались в расчете на тотальное уничтожение друг друга Для этого были нужны тысячи «боеголовок мегатонного класса. Сегодня перед США сто­ ит совсем другая задача — точечными ударами ядерных боеголовок малой мощности уничтожать «раковые опухоли» хорошо защищенных объектов

противника. Например, предприятий по производству химического или биологического оружия. Если их разбомбить с помощью обычных авиа­ бомб, разлетевшиеся химические или биологические вещества неминуемо приведут к заражению местности. В случае ядерной бомбардировки «от­ ходов» не будет.

В российском Минатоме уверены, что американцев не остановить. Это объективный процесс эволюции оружия. Но если от моратория на ядерные испытания откажутся США, за ними последуют и другие.

X.Рекомендуется для последовательного перевода:

Глава МАГАТЭ отправился в Иран

Глава МАГАТЭ Мохаммед аль-Барадеи отправился в Иран, чтобы провести переговоры с руководством страны. Их темой станут возникшие в последние недели подозрения, что Иран осуществляет военную ядерную программу. Они основывались на появившихся недавно сообщениях об обнаружении в районе города Исфахан следов высокообогащенного урана.

Накануне официальный представитель МИД Ирана опроверг эту ин­ формацию, назвав ее «необоснованной». Он заявил, что в Иране «нет ни одного ядерного объекта, о котором бы не знало МАГАТЭ». Несмотря на это и подобные заявления, в последнее время в международном сообщест­ ве растет убеждение, что Иран все же нарушает требования МАГАТЭ и должен быть наказан. Господин аль-Барадеи прибудет в Тегеран сегодня утром и уже в среду вернется в Вену.

XI. Подготовьте сообщение «Nuclear Disarmament» и выступите в роли переводчика других сообщений.

2.Algorithm — A prescribed set of well-defined, unambiguous (недву­ смысленный) rules or processes for the solution of a problem in a finite number of steps. Commonly used as integral parts of computer programs.

3.Apple Computer, Inc. — One of the first and certainly the most influential of the microcomputer manufacturers. Founded in 1976 by Steven P. Jobs and Stephen G Wozniak, using the family garage as a base and $100 in capital. Apple made computers that became wildly successful.

4.Central processing unit (CPU) — The major component of a computer system with the circuitry to control the interpretation and execution of in­ structions.

5.Computer — A device capable of solving problems or manipulating data by accepting data, performing prescribed operations (mathematical or logical) on the data, and supplying the results of these operations.

6.Data processing — l.One or more operations performed on data to

achieve a desired objective. 2. All functions of a computer center. 3. Operations performed by data processing equipment. 4. Operations per­ formed on data to provide useful information to users.

7.Digital computer — A computer that operates on discrete data. A device that performs arithmetic, logical, and comparative functions upon infor­ mation represented in digital form and that operates under control of an internal program.

8.Disk—A magnetic device for storing information and programs accessible by a computer. Can be either a rigid platter (HARD DISK) or a sheet of flexible plastic (FLOPPY DISK). Disks have tracks where data is stored.

9.File—A collection of related records treated as a basic unit of storage.

10.Printer—An output device that produces hard-copy output.

11.Program—A series of instructions that will cause a computer to process data.

12.Hardware — Physical equipment, such as electronic, magnetic, and me­ chanical devices. Contrast with SOFT SECTOR.

13.Software — The generic term for any computer program or programs; in­ structions that cause the hardware to do work. Contrast with the "iron" or HARDWARE of a computer system.

II.Переведите письменно на слух:

an external screen; the opening phone answers the call; connection panel; new additions to old features; a delightful invention; the five best gadget ideas of 2005; the external screen identifies the caller; to solve the problems sweetly and simply; the obvious solution; your TV has been built into your cabinetry; the concept was a hit; aspects of new products; for lovers of gadgets.

III. Рекомендуется для зрительно-письменного и зрительно-устного пере­ вода:

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Monday, January 23,2006

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Greatest New Ideas in the World of Gadgets

By David Pogue

For lovers of gadgets, some of the joys in the year just ended were not new products, but aspects of new products. Here and there, you could even find tiny touches of brilliance: clever steps forward and new additions to old features.

Here they are, the five best gadget ideas of 2005.

THE VOICE MAIL VCR — Voice mail is a delightful invention. But trying to remember which keys to press for replay, skip, delete and so on is not so delightful, especially if you have more than one voice mail system to learn. Thanks to Palm, then, for adding VCR-style buttons on the touch screen of its coming Treo 700W cellphone. You just tap Skip, Play, Delete, or what­ ever. The phone remembers which touch tones to play so you don't have to.

THE FRONT-SIDE TV CONNECTOR — The home-theater explosion is all well and good, except for the tangle of cables. Depending on how per­ manently your TV has been built into your cabinetry, getting behind it to plug or unplug something is a pain.

Hewlett-Packard's latest microdisplay (rear projection) TV sets solve the problem sweetly and simply: everything plugs into the front. A broad tunnel ' lets you hand each cable to yourself from the back, an illuminated connection panel makes it easy to see what you're doing at the front, and an attractive door hides the whole ingenious system.

TV A LA CARTE — It's always seemed crazy that TV companies would spend $1 million an episode writing and producing a program that is shown only once. Yet the obvious solution — making past shows available for purchase on the Internet — gave TV executives nightmares of Web pirates run amok.

It took Apple to persuade them to dip a little toe into the Internet wa­ ters. The American television network ABC took the first plunge, offering iPod owners five shows' worth of archives for $2 each — and no commercials. NBC network came next with broader menu of shows. The concept was a hit, and the era of downloadable, reasonably priced, lightly copyprotected TV episodes is finally upon us.

The outer-button flip phone — First came the cellphone with a hinge (the flip phone). Then came the flip phone with an external screen, so you

could see who was calling. Problem was, this arrangement deprived you of the option to dismiss the call or send it to voice mail. If you opened the flip phone to get to the Ignore button, you'd answer the call — unless you'd turned off the "opening phone answers the call" feature, in which case you lost one great convenience of having a flip phone to begin with.

The solution? Add buttons on the outside. When a call comes in to the LG VX8100, for example, its external identifies the caller — and the small buttons just below it are labeled Ignore (let it ring until voice mail picks up) or Dismiss (send it directly and immediately to voice mail). You get the best of all cellular worlds, without opening the phone.

THE FREE DOMAIN NAME — A domain name is what comes before the ".com" in a Web address — like NYTimes.com, verizonwireless.com or Mar- ryMeBritney.com. Getting your own personal dot-com name has its privileges — for example, your e-mail address can be You@YourNameHere. com — but it costs money and requires some expertise. It took Microsoft, of all companies, to make getting your own dot-com name free. Its new Office Live online software suite for small businesses, now in testing, will offer a domain name, Web site and e-mail accounts free.

IV. Подготовьте по 5-7 вопросов к тексту «Greatest New Ideas in the World of Gadgets».

V. Подготовьте реферат-конспект и описательную аннотацию к тексту «Third-generation phones: we're still waiting».

THE TIMES FRIDAY OCTOBER 18 2002

Mobiles

Third-generation phones: we're still waiting

Voice-only mobiles may be superseded by multimedia handsets — but will they really work, asks Dan Sabbagh

IF IT GOES to plaq, this will be the last year of the mobile phone. The industry's hope is that what was once thought of as a telephone will, some time in 2003, also be a camera, a television set, a games machine and a personal stereo. Preferably all at the same time.

Of course, sheer habit and the absence of a catchy alternative might mean that the phone name might just hang on a while longer. Or, worse still from the industry's perspective, the much-hyped new services might flop.

Later this month Vodafone will unleash Live, the biggest mobile product launch this year. Vodafone is not waiting for high-speed, third-generation tech­ nology; it has designed a brand-new, icon-driven interface that will allow users to access the net to play games, send pictures and get information.

Vodafone's decision to press on now, in common with every other operator, is partly because third-generation technology is still unproven. At one time: operators predicted that 3G services would be ready this year, but other than a proprietary, small-scale variant offered in Japan by NTT DoCoMo, nothing is on the market yet.

In Britain, THE new entrant 3 — aka Hutchison 3G — has about 500 phones from NEC on "friends and family" trial. However, 3 is too nervous to demonstrate what it has. The vacuum of information allows rivals such as Peter Erskine, the mm02 boss, to claim, plausibly, that "3G phones are still dropping calls when a user moves from a 3G area into a 2G [second generation] one".

Ask 3 whether Erskine is giving the full story and the answer is far from reassuring. "This is an industry-wide issue," a spokesman for the start-up operator says, declining to elaborate further.

The operator 3 is still promising a "commercial" service and more handsets later this year. The handset bit is realistic — Motorola, another 3 supplier, thinks that it can make "six-figure quantities" this year, but the commercial element simply is not present.

Without a guaranteed and smooth operation between the existing second generation and the promised third generation, no sane consumer will pay a penny.

Fortunately the absence of 3G is not serious for now, although delays that last well into 2003 will unsettle the markets. Vodafone and its competitors see plenty of opportunities with general packet radio service (GPRS), which offers adequate surfing speeds of about 40 kilobits a second, just slightly slower than a dial-up internet connection.

The arrival of GPRS has stimulated a variety of new devices, which have begun to find interesting niches in the market. A handful of handheld phones integrated with computers, such as the XDA, launched by mm02 in June, has begun to appear.

These are aimed at the business market, particularly the mobile worker wanting e-mail on the move.

However, price and complexity have so far held back the mass adoption that is crucial for success. The XDA is not subsidised; it costs £399. The Blackberry, launched in September last year, is a portable e-mailer with a synchronised link to office systems. Yet it requires special software to complete the integration.

Sales of both devices illustrate the point Across mm02's four countries, Britain, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands, about 12,000 XDAs and 10,000 Blackberries have been sold to 500 corporate customers. An mm02 spokesman says that "trial periods are coming to an end and customers will have to decide whether to buy in bulk".

Attention is now turning to the consumer market GPRS phones have been around for about a year, but have lacked the sought-after "killer" application.

Information services have been poorly designed and of limited interest So far, the revenues derived amount to just 1 per cent of overall turnover.

The theory is that camera phones will change all that.

The launch of the Nokia 7650 in August, priced a little above £200, heralded the arrival of the first usable handset with a digital camera built in.

Picturies taken can also be e-mailed or message to another phone capable of handling the new multimedia messaging standart (if you can find one). The initial permessage price is about 40p.

More phones are to come, and prices will fall. Vodafone's Live launch is centred on camera phones from Sharp and Panasonic. mm02 has a simpler phone, also from Sharp, coming soon, at £149.

This activity deflects attention from most of the financial worries that have bedevilled the big mobile phone operators over the past two years. Share prices have stabilised as the market waits to see whether camera phones take off, as they did in Japan, or businesses switch to mobile e-mail.

Admittedly, 3 has everything to prove, launching as it is into a saturated voice market and the parents of Orange and T-Mobile have to resolve their respective debt problems. However, parents apart, it is finally time for the industry to come out and play.

VI. Рекомендуется для письменного перевода на слух:

China Mobile захватил весь Китай

Александра Симоненко

Крупнейший китайский оператор мобильной связи China Mobile объ­ явил о намерении приобрести 10 региональных операторов за $3,65 млрд у государственной компании China Mobile Communication Corp. Эта сделка позволит China Mobile стать первой китайской компанией, пре­ доставляющей услуги сотовой связи по всей стране. Клиентская база компании вырастет на 24,5 млн и составит 166 млн человек. Это уже пятое приобретение China Mobile с 1997 года. Однако завершение фазы приобретений, по словам^ председателя совета директоров China Mobile Вана Сяочу, не означает, что компания перестанет расти. «Каждый раз вдвое повышать нашу прибыль — вот что всегда было нашей главной целью, вне зависимости от того, приобретали мы конкурирующие ком­ пании или нет»,— заявил он.

VII. Рекомендуется для зрительно-устного перевода с подготовкой:

Race Communications создана в 1997 году. Ее основной бизнес — про­ ектирование и строительство корпоративных сетей связи. Оборот ком­ пании составляет около $30 млн в год. Эксплуатацией сети спутниковой

связи будет заниматься дочерняя структура системного интегратора Race Telecom.

В Race Communications не раскрывают стоимости проекта Однако по подсчетам экспертов рынка спутниковой связи, его смета составляет" около $10 млн. Предполагается, что система связи SPIN будет предостав-> лять услуги владельцам VSAT-терминалов — этот стандарт дает возмож­ ность пользоваться услугами телефонной связи и передачи данных на ско­ рости до 2 Мбит/с. На сегодняшний день объем российского рынка спут­ никовой связи, по самым консервативным оценкам, составляет около ^ J T T В ГОД' А н а л и т и к и и операторы считают, что развитие технологии VSAT будет одним из главных стимулов его роста. Появление новых от­ носительно дешевых технологий способствует тому, что у сравнительно небольших по сравнению с традиционными операторами связи компаний появилась возможность строить системы связи всероссийского масштаба.

VIII. Рекомендуется для зрительно-письменного и зрительно-устного пе­ ревода:

Производители мобильников победили дефицит

И рынок вырос сразу на 40 %

Дмитрий Захаров

Объем продаж сотовых телефонов в первом квартале 2004 года вы­ рос на 40 % по сравнению с тем же периодом 2003 года. К такому выводу пришла компания Strategy Analytics, опубликовавшая исследование рынка мобильной связи. Эксперты отмечают, что продажи могли выйти на ны­ нешний уровень еще в конце 2003 года, когда покупатели в массовом по­ рядке стали менять трубки на новые, но тогда популярных моделей на всех не хватило. Только после Нового года производители смогли удовле­ творить отложенный спрос.

По результатам первого квартала более чем на 50 % выросли про­ дажи почти у всех крупнейших производителей трубок: Samsung LG, SonyEncsson и Motorola. Хуже, чем у остальных, шли дела у Nokia: за от­ четный период ее продажи выросли всего на 19 %. Как указывают экспер­ ты Strategy Analytics, Nokia не успела полностью обновить линейку своих телефонов в 2004 году и не воспользовалась дефицитом, возникшим на рынке в конце 2003 года.

«В прошлом году во всем мире просто бешеной популярностью ста­ ли пользоваться телефоны-„раскладушки" с цветными экранами и встро­ енными фотоаппаратами,— говорит аналитик из Strategy Analytics Нил Мостон.— Nokia не смогла удовлетворить растущий спрос на такие моде­ ли телефонов, а остальные игроки удачно воспользовались конъюнктурой

Science and Technology 173

рынка с выгодой для себя». По данным Strategy Analytics, в прошлом году в мире было продано 84 млн телефонов со встроенными фотокамерами, примерно 70 % из них были «раскладушками». В этом году, по оценкам Strategy Analytics, ожидается удвоение объема продаж телефонов с каме­ рами, а также более чем двукратный рост доли этих телефонов в общем количестве трубок — с 16 до 28 %.

При общем росте продаж в первом квартале 2004 года доля Nokia на рынке уменьшилась на 5,6 %. Почти все потерянные лидером проценты достались другим крупным игрокам: Motorola увеличила свою долю с 14,5 до 16,5 %, Samsung — с 10,1 до 13,1 %. Как отмечают в Strategy Analytics, Nokia стремится исправить положение: во второй четверти 2004 года она выпустит на рынок сразу несколько моделей средней ценовой категории, полностью соответствующих общемировой тенденции: это будут «раскла­ душки» с камерой и цветным экраном.

Высокий спрос на мобильные телефоны, согласно прогнозам Strategy Analytics, сохранится до конца года.

IX. Подготовьте сообщение «Science and technology» и выступите в роли переводчика.

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11.Рекомендуется для зрител ьно-устного перевода:

There are many legends about the ways hackers steal money from bank accounts. According to one of them, several young jobless programmers from an arms factory decided to rob the Central bank of Russia a couple years ago. They rented an apartment not far from bank and, using a very simple method, switched to the super-protected fiber optics communications line that con­ nected the Central Bank and its branches. After that, they intercepted payments made via that line and stole R33 billion ($7 million). Officers of the bank secu­ rity service, of the FSB and the Ministry of the Interior hustled to find the hackers, but got nowhere. The bank was saved by an ordinary police officer who simply proposed crawling along the entire communications line. The hackers' switch was found very soon — in the closest manhole.

III.Рекомендуется для последовательного перевода на слух с заметками:

Electronics donated to Nigeria may be "75 percent junk"

At the Nigerian port of Lagos, the new report says, an estimated quantity of 500 containers of used electronic equipment enter the country each like most developing countries, could only accommodate functioning used equipment.

The environmental group visited Lagos, where it found that despite grow­ ing technology industries, tfte country lacked an infrastructure for electronics recycling. This means that the imported equipment often ends up in landfills, where toxins in the equipment can pollute the ground water and create un­ healthy conditions.

Mr. Puckett said his group was trying to enforce the Basel Convention, a United Nations treaty month, each one carrying about 800 computers, for a total of about 400,000 used computers a month. The majority of the equipment arriving in Lagos, me report says, is unusable and neither economically repairable or resalable.

"Nigerians are telling us they are getting as much as 75 percent junk that is not repairable," Mr. Puckett said. He said that Nigeria, intended to limit the

trade of hazardous waste. The United States is the only developed country that has not ratified the treaty.

Much of the equipment being shipped to Africa and other developing ar­ eas is from recyclers in the United States, who typically get the used equipment free from businesses, government agencies and communities and ship it abroad for repair, sale or to be dismantled by workers who are paid low wages.

Mr. Puckett said the group had identified 30 recyclers in the United States who had agreed not to export electronic waste to developing countries. "We are trying to get it to be common practice, that you have to test what you send and label it," he said.

IV. Рекомендуется для зрительно-письменного и зрительно-устного пе­ ревода:

"Russian Hackers vs. Foreign Banks"

The old women who were sitting on a bench by an entrance to a Mos­ cow apartment house were watching, with great curiosity, what was happen­ ing at the next entrance. There one could see tall men in bulletproof vests walking around the yard with walkie-talkies and looking around. There was a foreign-made car with and aerial parked nearby and one could hear the muf­ fled commands coming over the radio: "Second ready? We're beginning."

In the twilight, not far from it, one could distinguish the silhouette of a pa­ trol car. "They must be trying to catch someone." "No, they're spying on someone." The women on the bench were very much mistaken. All those men with walkie-talkies, the driver of the foreign-made car and even the patrol car were guarding a hacker who at that very moment was breaking into a bank's computer system.

Unlike U.S. hackers, their Russian "colleagues", whose number has been increasing fast, are more aggressive and more pragmatic. For many of them, hacking is not just a hobby but a well-paid job. Most often, they break com­ puter systems of banks, withdrawing money from accounts and transferring it to the accounts of their clients. They do it in a much more serious way be­ cause if they fail they can receive not a prison term but a bullet in their head from the client.

Technologically, hacking operation is very complicated and it takes six months to prepare for it. The operation, about which I was told, involved two hackers, two coordinators, three guards, an army radio operator, about a dozen operators of backup computers in various parts of the city, and even two patrol cars which guarded the area around the house. Talks were conducted on police frequencies, which reduced the risk of being traced. The policemen from the patrol cars cost the hacker a total of $400. The precautions were worthwhile: after the first signal from any country that an attempt is being

made in Moscow to break into a computer system, agents of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) immediately being to hunt for hacker.

At Hour "Y" of Day "X" an attack was launched of security system of the main computer of Bank "Z". Nine circuses from nine computers simultaneously dashed to the target. Within minutes they crossed the boarders of four coun­ tries and began the assault on the computer fortress of Bank "Z". The bank's security system heroically rebuffed and destroyed eight attackers, but the ninth one managed to penetrate it and reliably hide there.

On the next morning, the bank was thrown into a panic. Some payments failed to come in, others were made to wrong accounts, and many other strange things happened. The bank's programmers managed to detect and neutralize the virus only a day later. In cases like that a bank's direct losses alone range from $100,000 to several million dollars. In addition, it is a blow to bank's reputation which often costs more than money.

Incidentally, that operation cost the clients $ 24,000. The hacker was paid $5,000 of that. Most Russian hackers steal information from computers of rival companies or rob them of money. Using a simple combination of com­ mands, they withdraw a certain sum of money from accounts of bank, which, having followed an intricate chain, surfaces in an other bank of an­ other country in a quite legal way. I know, for example, that such money of­ ten surfaces at the Russian embassy in one quiet country of the third world.

Hacking is now considered a crime in Russia, too. The President issued a decree to that end. Nonetheless, almost every company or a gang (more often than not meaning the same thing) employs if only and ordinary hacker, illegally of groups, and pays him no less than $1,000 per month.

One cannot say that nothing is being done in Russia to combat hacking. At the Ministry of the Interior, these functions are performed by the Infor­ mation Protection Department. The dimensions of this kind of crime have been somewhat exaggerated; yet the problem is becoming more and more acute from day today. It was even discussed by the national Security Council.

Russian hackers, who are the best in the world, will soon be countered by the world's best specialists who will hunt from them, as well as for best protec­ tion systems. Many professional hackers may lose their jobs, and then the fords of wild hackers will move to the civilized West.

V.Переведите вопросы к тексту и ответьте на них:

1.Что видели две пожилые женщины во дворе?

2.Чем отличаются российские хакеры от своих американских коллег?

3.Что делают хакеры по заказу своих клиентов?

4.Сколько времени и какие участники потребовались для проведения операции?