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第一篇
NEW YORK—
Cybersecurity criminals are more "sophisticated, bold and resilient" than ever, according to a new study by U.S. computer networking company Cisco, which revealed major flaws in businesses’ attempts to thwart and recover from attacks.
Among the shortcomings, Cisco found a 10 percent drop in up-to-date security infrastructure reported by organizations over the course of a year. The company analyzed 115,000 devices; 92 percent were running software with known vulnerabilities.
Cisco Principal Engineer Jason Brvenik told VOA attackers are fairly indiscriminate in determining whom to target, instead leveraging opportunities to increase efficiency and profits.
Cyberattacks
"It doesn't matter if they're attacking a person for a cyber ransom or a business. What they do is they find out what they can leverage and then they use it," Brvenik said.
He said defenders, as they move toward more continuous analytics models, are able to more quickly detect an attack and outsource instant responses.
"Numerically, we see that as an industry, it's a 100- to 200-day estimate for the detection of a breach, but more modern technologies as people deploy them are able to push that number down to a matter of hours," he said.
As of May 2015, Cisco said it reduced the median time to detect threats within its networks to roughly 17 hours.
The fight against cybercrime has opened a largely untapped job market for cybersecurity practitioners, which Forbes reports is expected to grow from $75 billion in 2015 to $170 billion by 2020.
Demand for professionals
Tara Sinclair, chief economist of Indeed, a global job site company based in the U.S., said employers’ security concerns have led to a large increase in demand for trained professionals in the field.
"They're definitely concerned about their businesses," Sinclair said. "They're concerned about having employees that are protective of their property and making sure that they're not going to be attacked."
Globally, Cisco has estimated 1 million unfilled jobs in security.
Symantec, the world’s largest security software vendor, expects this gap to grow to 1.5 million by 2019.
Brvenik said many universities are doing their part to bring qualified talent to the market. Among businesses, he said, 90 percent of those surveyed by Cisco reported having programs in place for cyber awareness and training.
第二篇
The annual Washington Auto Show opened its doors to the general public Tuesday, after a three-day delay caused by a snowstorm that hit the U.S. East Coast. More than 30 world-class auto makers exhibited their latest models, placing special emphasis on connectivity.
Coming on the heels of the larger shows in Los Angeles and Detroit, the Washington Auto Show has carved out a niche as the one that emphasizes new technologies, especially those that cause less damage to the environment.
But with falling oil prices, the promotion of thriftier hybrid or all-electric vehicles was somewhat muted, shifting the auto show's focus to connectivity and automatization.
Automotive engineering professor, Zoran Filipi, says the technology in this Mercedes S-class model shows that we are at the dawn of cars that almost drive themselves.
“It has lane-keeping ability, it has advanced radar-based system to keep the vehicle’s speed also in sync with other vehicles and this can completely alleviate your effort, driving effort, in stop-and-go situations too, and finally the collision avoidance," said Filipi.
Very soon we will see these technologies trickling-down to more affordable models as car makers work to develop fully autonomous-driving cars.
In the meantime, says Filipi, fuel efficiency has improved 20 percent over the last 10 years.
“This has mostly been achieved with advanced engine technologies – direct injection, turbo-charging, coupled to very modern transmissions, eight, nine, ten speeds that keep the engine running in the best possible region," he said.
Almost all new models have built-in display screens that connect the vehicle to the driver’s smartphone and the Internet, helping in navigation, taking voice commands, and sending and receiving messages.
“Therefore you can use all the applications you are used to, everything that is tailored to your needs in your car and it’s very seamless," said Filipi.
Larger manufacturers, such as Toyota, say their all-electric fuel-cell cars are ready for the market and the only obstacle is the lack of charging stations.
Others promote their hybrid gas-electric models, saying that the number of charging stations is constantly rising while the price of home chargers is dropping.
South Korean carmaker Hyundai even offers a lifetime warranty for the battery in its top-of-the-line model, hoping to make the hybrid car more attractive to customers.
第三篇
FILE - Selena Gomez
We’re unveiling the five most popular songs in the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart, for the week ending January 30, 2016.
The new year seems to have awakened the hit list, as we welcome a new title.
Number 5: Selena Gomez "Same Old Love"
It happens in fifth place, where Selena Gomez jumps a slot with “Same Old Love " featuring songwriting by Charli XCX.
Selena and Taylor Swift were spotted last week leaving a Los Angeles gym together. Selena was getting into shape for her January 23 performance on Saturday Night Live, hosted by fighter Ronda Rousey.
Number 4: twenty one pilots "Stressed Out"
Twenty one pilots battle their way to fourth place with their breakout hit “Stressed Out" – the video has been seen more than 60 million times on YTb. Before performing on The Tonight Show, the two members received hoverboards as congratulatory gifts. It didn’t end well: singer Tyler Joseph’s mother broke her wrist riding one, and now they’re not allowed in their house.
Number 3: Justin Bieber "Love Yourself"
Holding in third place is Justin Bieber, who just got slammed by a U.S. TV personality. Television hostess Chelsea Handler recently remarked that Justin was the worst-ever guest on her interview show "Chelsea Lately." She told Variety magazine that Justin tried to flirt with her and made her feel like a “child molester.” The web site Hollywood Life quotes a source as saying that Justin isn’t taking the criticism seriously.
Number 2: Adele "Hello"
Adele continues to rack up serious numbers with her 25 album. She holds down the runner-up slot with her former 10-week singles champ “Hello.” The multi-platinum singer has a busy February in store: on the 15th she’ll be in Los Angeles performing at the Grammy Awards. Nine days later she’ll be in her native U.K. for the Brit Awards, where she leads the field with four nominations.
Number 1: Justin Bieber "Sorry"
Justin Bieber is your Hot 100 ruler for a second straight week with “Sorry.” On February 15, he’ll give his first Grammy performance in five years. Justin has yet to win a Grammy Award, but “Where Are You Now” is up for the Best Dance Recording trophy.
That’s it for this week – join us in seven days to see if the chart has sprung any surprises!
第四篇
BERLIN—
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing mounting political pressure over the number of migrants arriving in her country — with regional authorities demanding that Berlin provide more resources to cope with the crisis.
More than 1.1 million migrants are being resettled across Germany. At a meeting Thursday with Chancellor Merkel, the leaders of Germany’s 16 federal states demanded a doubling of financial aid and support for housing and schools. Hannelore Kraft is president of the North Rhine-Westphalia region.
"I and other regional leaders cannot see any great progress against the mountain of asylum applications, which continues to grow," said Kraft. "German citizens are worried, partly because we don’t really know who is here."
On Thursday, Chancellor Merkel struck a deal with her governing coalition partners that would facilitate deportations and restrict the rights of migrants to bring their families to Germany.
"The government wants those with the prospect of remaining to be integrated, but those who have no prospect of remaining should return," said Merkel.
Germany anticipates the migrant influx could cost the state an extra $3.7 billion in extra social benefits during 2016. It’s hoped German language classes will speed the migrants' entry into the labor market and cut the benefits bill.
It’s uncertain there’ll be enough jobs, says the head of integration for the Berlin regional senate, Andreas Germershausen.
“There is some capacity that can be absorbed," said Germershausen. "There is also a need for specific fields of the labor market. However, on the lower end of the labor market, there is, of course, the danger of competition."
German lawmakers fear a second wave of migrants as family members attempt to join those already in Germany. Figures from the United Nations show a sharp increase in the number of women and children arriving on Europe’s shores in 2016.
第五篇
NAIROBI, KENYA—
A 2011 World Bank survey found that only about one-tenth of Kenya's population earned enough to support a mortgage. However, that situation may be changing, with more affordable apartment units on the outskirts of Nairobi selling out even before the start of construction.
Anthony Wamburu, a 35-year-old technology enthusiast, is in the market for his first property.
Wamburu has been saving for a while now, and has his eye on an apartment — valued at $50,000 — in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. The units are dubbed "starter homes" by Suraya properties, the firm behind the venture.
"They are not very expensive for somebody like me who is looking to start a family quite soon,” he said. “And also I like the way it comes with different benefits. It comes with a gym. It also comes with a swimming pool, so I would not have to get gym membership somewhere else. So a starter home would be quite perfect for me."
Begun four years ago, Suraya Properties has built starter homes in the Kenyan capital and its outskirts with a view toward tapping into the low- and middle-income market. Most of their units range between $10,000 and $80,000.
Unexpected buyers
The company was started to supply affordable homes to first-time home buyers, said CEO Peter Muraya, but a market was uncovered that he had not anticipated.
"Surprisingly, we have found that there's a lot of people heading to retirement who have looked at it differently and they are thinking, 'We [were] going to maybe the countryside retirement home' but they want a place in town where they can be coming and where it's their own," Muraya said.
The new apartment complexes in Thika and Syokimau are still under construction, but already are sold out.
Still, homeownership remains beyond the reach of most Kenyans. The Mortgage Company, a Kenyan real estate firm, estimates that only a fifth of Kenyans can afford a home priced at $10,000.
Part of the problem is the high interest rates charged by Kenyan banks.
"You're talking about borrowing at [rates of] eighteen, nineteen, twenty and even in some cases higher than that,” said economic analyst Aly Khan Satchu. “It's very expensive to borrow money from the bank and until we see significantly lower rates, I think we'll continue to see poor mortgage penetration because it's just too expensive."
Another real estate company, Hass Consult, says only 30,000 Kenyans hold mortgages, a tiny fraction of the country's 42 million people.
第六篇
Tareena Shakil is seen after her arrest, in this undated booking picture courtesy of West Midlands Police.
A British woman who took her child to Syria and joined the Islamic State has been sentenced to sixyears in prison.
A British court ruled Tareena Shakil guilty of membership in the Islamic State terror group. It alsoconvicted her of encouraging acts of terrorism.
In October 2014, she and her 1-year-old son flew to Turkey. She told her family she was going on abeach vacation. She crossed the border into Syria and went to Raqqa, a city that IS controls.
Three months later, she fled the terror group. She turned herself in to the Turkish military. She was returned to Britain and arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport in February 2015.
Shakil denied that she joined the Islamist group. She said she wanted to live under Islamic law anddid not support terrorism.
But prosecutors said photographs on her phone showed her holding weapons. They said thepictures also showed her son wearing a hat with an Islamic State symbol.
Judge Melbourne Inman sentenced Shakil. He told her, “You were well aware that the future, whichyou had subjected your son to was very likely to be indoctrination and thereafter life as a terroristfighter.''
Words in This Story
encouraging – v. to give someone support
prosecutor – n. a lawyer who represents the side in a court case that accuses a person of a crimeand who tries to prove that the person is guilty
symbol – n. an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality
indoctrination – n. the act of teaching someone to fully accept the ideas, opinions, and beliefs of a particular group and to not consider other ideas, opinions, and beliefs
