Cyber-security is now part of all our lives. “Patches” and other security updates arrive for
phones, tablets and PCs. Consultants remind us all not to open unknown files or plug unfamiliar
memory sticks into our computers. The bosses of some Western firms throw away phones and
laptops after they have been to China assuming they have been hacked. And yet, as our special
report this week points out, digital walls keep on being breached.Last year more than 800m
digital records, such as credit- and debit-card details, were pinched or lost, more than three times
as many as in 2012. According to a recent estimate by the Centre for Strategic and International
Studies, a think-tank, the cost to the global economy of cyber-crime and online industrial
espionage stands at $445 billion a year—about as much as the GDP as of Austria.
Now a new phase in this contest is emerging: “the Internet of things”. This involves
embedding miniature computers in objects and connecting them to Internet using wireless
technology. Cisco, a technology company, predicts that 50 billion connected devices will be in
circulation by the end of the decade, up from 11 billion last year. Web-connected cars and
smart appliances in homes are becoming more common, as are medical devices that can be
monitored by doctors many miles from their patients. Tech companies are splurging cash:
witness Google’s punt on driverless cars and the $3.2 billion it has spent buying Nest, a maker
of smart thermostats. (From The Economist July 12th 2014) 【題組】69. What does the word “Patches” in line 1 mean?
(A) Pieces of cloth to fix a computer program
(B) Software to improve a computer program
(C) Hacking devices
(D) Scams for commercial purposes
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