Foreword 前言
Who Said Crime Doesn’t Pay?
谁说过犯罪没有代价？
Ever had that experience that something is going very wrong but you’re not quite sure why? That things are slipping out of control for no discernible reason?
你是否有过这样的经历：感觉某件事情正在出错，但你并不完全清楚原因？事情似乎正在失控，但没有任何明显的理由？
The spread of networked computer systems across industry and business has made life a lot easier, a lot more efficient and a lot more creative. But innovation on this scale has inevitably brought some risk with it. And that risk has to be managed.
计算机网络系统在工业和商业领域的普及使得生活变得更加便捷、高效和富有创造力。但如此规模的创新不可避免地带来了一些风险。而这些风险必须得到管理。
The only computer that is 100% safe is one that is switched off. But those who take their security seriously can drastically reduce the threats to their systems. This, in turn, means a decisive advantage over competitors.
唯一百分之百安全的电脑就是关机的电脑。但那些认真对待安全的人可以大大降低其系统的威胁。这反过来意味着在竞争对手中占据决定性的优势。
Almost every week there’s a news story about a big corporation that’s been caught off-guard by hackers. Often the direct financial damage of a security breach is minimal, but the reputational harm is immense. Household brands instantly become bywords for corporate carelessness. Seemingly impenetrable networks and systems are shown to be worthless, not because the technology doesn’t work, but because the people who use them are careless.
几乎每周都有关于一家大公司被黑客攻击的新闻故事。通常，安全漏洞的直接财务损失很小，但声誉损害却很大。知名品牌瞬间成为企业粗心的代名词。看似坚不可摧的网络和系统被证明毫无价值，不是因为技术不起作用，而是因为使用它们的人粗心大意。
In Whaling for Beginners, a short fictional account of one man’s realization of his vulnerability and that of the company he worked so hard to build, we discover just how dangerous being a top executive can be. A simple mistake leads Jim Baines to fall victim to a carefully targeted cyber-attack. His company isn’t resilient enough to withstand human error: his own. And, it turns out, nor is his biggest client, a giant food multinational that should really have known better.
在《入门鲸鱼捕猎》这部短篇小说中，我们了解到一个人意识到自己和他辛苦建立的公司都处于脆弱状态，发现作为高级管理人员是多么危险。一个简单的错误导致吉姆·贝恩斯成为精心策划的网络攻击的受害者。他的公司无法承受人为错误：他自己的错误。而且，结果证明，他的最大客户，一个应该知道得更好的大型食品跨国公司也无法承受。
This novel emphasizes that leadership at the highest level is needed to protect organizations from ‘whaling’ attacks. Top executives are, quaintly, known as ‘whales’ in the hacking community and it’s surprising how easy it is for hackers to stalk them. Whaling for Beginners also reveals that it’s important to know your enemy: they aren’t just after cash; they’re after intellectual property and commercial secrets too. Most importantly, many of them just want to show the world how clever they are: a fact that makes them even more dangerous and very hard to combat.
这部小说强调，为了保护组织免受“鲸鱼”攻击，需要最高级别的领导。在黑客社区中，高层管理人员被戏称为“鲸鱼”，令人惊讶的是，黑客们追踪他们竟然如此容易。对于初学者来说，了解你的敌人也很重要：他们不仅追求现金，还追求知识产权和商业机密。最重要的是，其中许多人只是想向世界展示他们的聪明才智：这一点使他们更加危险，也更难以应对。
Whaling for Beginners is not only a wake-up call for leading executives everywhere, it is a gripping and fascinating read in its own right.
《鲸鱼捕猎入门》不仅是对全球高层管理人员的警钟，本身也是一部引人入胜、扣人心弦的读物。
Misha Glenny 米沙·格林尼
Investigative journalist, broadcaster and author of
调查记者、广播员，著有
McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld
《麦克马菲亚：穿越全球犯罪地下世界之旅》
Who Said Crime Doesn’t Pay?
谁说过犯罪没有代价？
Ever had that experience that something is going very wrong but you’re not quite sure why? That things are slipping out of control for no discernible reason?
你是否有过这样的经历：感觉某件事情正在出错，但你并不完全清楚原因？事情似乎正在失控，但没有任何明显的理由？
The spread of networked computer systems across industry and business has made life a lot easier, a lot more efficient and a lot more creative. But innovation on this scale has inevitably brought some risk with it. And that risk has to be managed.
计算机网络系统在工业和商业领域的普及使得生活变得更加便捷、高效和富有创造力。但如此规模的创新不可避免地带来了一些风险。而这些风险必须得到管理。
The only computer that is 100% safe is one that is switched off. But those who take their security seriously can drastically reduce the threats to their systems. This, in turn, means a decisive advantage over competitors.
唯一百分之百安全的电脑就是关机的电脑。但那些认真对待安全的人可以大大降低其系统的威胁。这反过来意味着在竞争对手中占据决定性的优势。
Almost every week there’s a news story about a big corporation that’s been caught off-guard by hackers. Often the direct financial damage of a security breach is minimal, but the reputational harm is immense. Household brands instantly become bywords for corporate carelessness. Seemingly impenetrable networks and systems are shown to be worthless, not because the technology doesn’t work, but because the people who use them are careless.
几乎每周都有关于一家大公司被黑客攻击的新闻故事。通常，安全漏洞的直接财务损失很小，但声誉损害却很大。知名品牌瞬间成为企业粗心的代名词。看似坚不可摧的网络和系统被证明毫无价值，不是因为技术不起作用，而是因为使用它们的人粗心大意。
In Whaling for Beginners, a short fictional account of one man’s realization of his vulnerability and that of the company he worked so hard to build, we discover just how dangerous being a top executive can be. A simple mistake leads Jim Baines to fall victim to a carefully targeted cyber-attack. His company isn’t resilient enough to withstand human error: his own. And, it turns out, nor is his biggest client, a giant food multinational that should really have known better.
在《入门鲸鱼捕猎》这部短篇小说中，我们了解到一个人意识到自己和他辛苦建立的公司都处于脆弱状态，发现作为高级管理人员是多么危险。一个简单的错误导致吉姆·贝恩斯成为精心策划的网络攻击的受害者。他的公司无法承受人为错误：他自己的错误。而且，结果证明，他的最大客户，一个应该知道得更好的大型食品跨国公司也无法承受。
This novel emphasizes that leadership at the highest level is needed to protect organizations from ‘whaling’ attacks. Top executives are, quaintly, known as ‘whales’ in the hacking community and it’s surprising how easy it is for hackers to stalk them. Whaling for Beginners also reveals that it’s important to know your enemy: they aren’t just after cash; they’re after intellectual property and commercial secrets too. Most importantly, many of them just want to show the world how clever they are: a fact that makes them even more dangerous and very hard to combat.
这部小说强调，为了保护组织免受“鲸鱼”攻击，需要最高级别的领导。在黑客社区中，高层管理人员被戏称为“鲸鱼”，令人惊讶的是，黑客们追踪他们竟然如此容易。对于初学者来说，了解你的敌人也很重要：他们不仅追求现金，还追求知识产权和商业机密。最重要的是，其中许多人只是想向世界展示他们的聪明才智：这一点使他们更加危险，也更难以应对。
Whaling for Beginners is not only a wake-up call for leading executives everywhere, it is a gripping and fascinating read in its own right.
《鲸鱼捕猎入门》不仅是对全球高层管理人员的警钟，本身也是一部引人入胜、扣人心弦的读物。
Misha Glenny 米沙·格林尼
Investigative journalist, broadcaster and author of
调查记者、广播员，著有
McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld
《麦克马菲亚：穿越全球犯罪地下世界之旅》
