Cyber and Cubersecurity

CYBER AND CYBER SECURITY

How was the term “cyber” coined?

First, we start with Cyber definition, i.e. of, relating to, or involving computers or computer networks (such as the Internet)the cyber marketplace.

Cyber” is derived from the Greek roots word “Kubernetes, refers to a pilot or steersman a gift of governance that applies to leadership. Many presume that Cyber is a portmanteau derived from other words but its evolution of usage, and a glimpse. Cyber is more often part of compound words than portmanteaux. Understanding Ciber’s root origin and evolution aid us to gain clarity and appreciation for the term and its intentions as well as to move away from the image of the stereotypical black hat hacker in a dark hoodie, illuminated by the glow of a laptop or the Edward Snowdon archetype.

Cyber is firmly rooted in our vernacular, but some prefer the short and efficient “e-“ prefix as in e-mail and e-commerce. Cyber can be attached to almost anything to make it sound futuristic or technical, but its origins are a word so ancient it’s in Greek translations of the Old Testament of the Bible.

The word “cyber” everywhere including in each hashtag, events names, and even in normal hand sanitizer used widely In COVID 19 pandemic as Cyber clean. However, even with the market booming and the buzzword exploding, still not understanding its meaning. It is just a part of IT training to learn as a part of annual security training or willingly spreading the good word which equates to anything futuristic.

HISTORY

Its history begins from a famous book, Cybernetics, authored by well-known mathematician Mr.Norbert Wiener in the 1040s borrowing the ancient Greek word Cyber. He was engaged in the fields of computer science, engineering, and biology. He observed its interconnection, specifically the relationship between computers and the human nervous system. Wiener pioneered its new hybrid field of anthro-cyber.  He wrote that at the time a pretty futuristic idea — that one day there would be a computer system that ran on feedback having a self-governing system that remained for a long time under the purview of information theorists like Wiener, and early computer programmers. Science fiction author Pat Cadigan, whose novel Mindplayers is a cyberpunk classic, recalled that her first encounter with “cyber” was of a decidedly Wienerish variety.

The term “cyber” has become in the millennial and Gen Z lexicon with willing acceptability. Its developer is heard as an open-source container system designed by  Godesignedogle, that automates application deployment and the idea of government or governing having few of political theories about the science of governance.

Many experts in the fieldwork promote this intersection of humanity and cyber as they educate the public on how humans can control technology when empowered to do so.

COMMON DERIVATIVE OF CYBER

Two of the earliest derivations commonly used from cyber are cyberspace and cyberpunk. The following common words that derived from cyber, their definitions, origins, and use:-

Cyberspace – :

 According to its Oxford English Dictionary (OED) cyberspace is ‘the space of virtual reality,  the notional environment within which electronic communication (esp. via the Internet) occurs.’

The term “cyberspace” first appeared in the visual arts in the late 1960s, when Danish artist Susanne Ussing (1940-1998) and her partner architect Carsten Hoff (b. 1934) constituted themselves as Atelier Cyberspace. Using this name the two made a series of installations and images entitled “sensory spaces” that were based on the principle of open systems adaptable to various influences, such as human movement and the behavior of new materials. Atelier Cyberspace worked at a time when the Internet did not exist and computers were more or less off-limits to artists nd creative engagement. In a 2015-interview with Scandinavian art magazine Kunstkritikk, Carsten Hoff recollects, that although Atelier Cyberspace did try to implement computers, they had no interest in the virtual space as such:

The term "cyberspace"  refers to anything associated with the internet, first appeared in fiction in the 1980s in the work of cyberpunk science fiction author William Gibson, first in his 1982 short story "Burning Chrome" and later in his 1984 novel Neuromancer. Afterward, the word became prominently identified with online computer networks. The portion of Neuromancer cited in this respect is Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts... A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters For common man ‘cyberspace’ was simply about managing spaces. It was not esoteric or not digital, but mere a tool. The space was concrete, physical.

Although the above cyber- formations cropped up, including cyberworld, cyberland, Cyberia (punningly after Siberia), and cybersphere (which is actually attested to earlier a cyberspace), cyberspace remains by far the most popular cyber- term used to refer more broadly to the world of electronic communications, although its popularity peaked in the late 1990s

Cyberpunk – As a subgenre of science fiction, cyberpunk first came out of New Wave sci-fi novels of the late 60s and early 70s.

Cybersecurity – The first use of cybersecurity as a word dates to 1989 (the same year cyberporn came into usage) but only cybersecurity prevailed as an expression.

Cybercrime – There are many forms of cybercrime from financial fraud to cyberstalking, cyberdefamation, theft, forgery, and any criminal mischief involving the internet.

Cyberdefense – Also known as cybersecurity, it’s the detection, prevention, and response to cybercrime. It more often relates to military and government systems.

Cyberops – Short for cyber operations, cyberops is an interdisciplinary area of study that covers cyberspace and operations and ranges from technical to non-technical.

Cyberdelic – Made from cyber and psychedelic, cyberdelic can refer to art, raves, or immersive experiences meshing the internet with psychedelic drugs.

Cyborg – This technique is the marriage of cybernetic and organism, it refers to something composed of both organic and biomechatronic parts.

It was the most lasting word creation of the 1960s, which combining e cyb- of cybernetics with the org- or organism, referred to a man-machine being with the capability of self-adapting to new environments. Even though the term cyborg originated in a scientific publication, the concept quickly became the arena of science fiction; the appearance of cyborg-inspired cybermen on the television show Dr. Who by 1966 and in Martin Caidin’s 1972 novel Cyborg served as the inspiration of the television shows The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman

Cybrarian – A cyber librarian, or cybrarian for short, is a researcher or librarian that relies mostly on the internet for their information.

Cybernauts – A cybernaut is someone who immerses in an online experience using sensory and virtual reality (VR) devices.

 Cyber Monday, -  while neither a portmanteau nor a compound word, is one of the most well-known phrases associated with the word cyber. It follows Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and is an online shopping day that has now expanded to Cyber Week.

Is cybersecurity one or two words?

Some prefer cybersecurity as one word and some as two. Some even like to hyphenate it as cyber-security. Both the Merriam-Webster dictionary and the Associated Press reject the hyphenated and two-word version. The US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) uses it as one word.

Suzanne Kemmer, professor of linguistics at Rice University, describes cybersecurity should be one word because cyber isn’t a “free-standing word” but rather a bound morpheme, a combination of words to form a new word. Kemmer also states, “bio, neo, photo are all parallel examples” adding that it’s bioinformatics. Kemmer believed that in spite of  industry specialists’ efforts and “make their own convention” the “general pattern will win out in the language at large.”  With the above opinion plus the dictionary and AP style convention, it appears one-word usage will eventually become the standard. At Alpine Security, we prefer cybersecurity and use it across the board.

From information security to cybersecurity

Far a while used synonymously, information security and cybersecurity are the same. NIST defines cybersecurity as “the ability to protect or defend the use of cyberspace from cyberattacks.” To differentiate, NIST defines information security as “the protection of information and information systems from unauthorized access… to provide confidentiality, integrity, and availability.”

Still, the industry does not agree about the two terms are defined and relate. The followings are a breakdown of types of security that relate to information systems and electronic data.

Data security – Keeping data safe is the function of data security through all data is information. For instance, a number is a data. If that number represents a date of birth, it’s information.

Information security – Protecting information is the function of information security. Information can be names, addresses, etc. Not all information is data. Not all information is digital.

Cybersecurity – The function of cybersecurity is to protect information, but now cybersecurity means to protect all things accessible in cyberspace.

Similarly in any field, terminology evolves. Given the parameters of data versus information versus cybersecurity, business owners need all of it. Cybersecurity doesn’t relate to the data and information in file cabinets but does encompass everything digital within a business. As transactions and record-keeping evolve to be digital, cybersecurity is compulsory, no matter how you describe it.

Despite the rise of e- formations, e- has not made much of a dent in forming words that relate to the more negative aspects of the Internet. Terms like cyberwar, cyberattack, cyberterrorism, cyber blackmail, and cybercrime are more prominent than ever. This may be due to the clearer distinction offered by the term cyberwar versus a formation like e-war, which does not offer the same clarity.

Cybercrime which was in news like the 2014 hacking of Sony (subsequently connected to North Korea), the recent theft of bycybercrooks $1 billion from 30 different banks worldwide, and cases of bullying and harassment over digital devices and social networks have only heightened the attention paid to these terms.

Cybercrime and cybersecurity will now remain at the forefront. We may see some other variants and their implications on humankind.  

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