The "Cyber" Word

I got the following e-mail from one of my peers.
==================
From: Chris Camejo
Sent: Sunday, October 04, 2009 2:19 PM
To: ---------------------
Subject: Cyberwords
I saw this “Cybersecurity” article on CNN and the ridiculous overuse of cyberwords is good for a chuckle:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/02/dhs.cybersecurity.jobs/index.html
Apparently the government wants a “cyberczar” and more “cyberexperts” to work as “cyberanalysts” to protect “cybernetworks” from “cyberthreats” and engage in “cyberwarfare” so they can be a an effective “cyberorganization”. Yes, all of those words were really used in the article.
It scares me that there are people making decisions in government who write stuff like that.
-Chris
=====================
I could not agree more.

Every time I see an acronym or a government program that starts with “cyber” prefix I get irritated. I quickly associate the misapplication of the “cyber” prefix with ill-thought, wrong- footed, erroneous information security initiatives – cybersecurity, cyberczar, cybercop, cyberspace and the list goes on…Even my MS Word spell check doesn’t like them. This (using cyber prefix) simply takes the meaning of many serious topics that we are working on by diluting the significance, to the point of serious confusion to everyone except the small number of cyber experts : )

It is also very interesting that only state and federal agencies use “cyber”

The word cyber entered English language in 1991 as “of, relating to, or involving computers or computer networks” according to Merriam-Webster.

The reason I cannot associate cyber is that etymologically it is wrong. Cyber prefix is derived from cybernetics. Cybernetics as a concept in society has been around at least since Plato used it to refer to government. Maybe that is why the government today likes to use it. In modern times, the term became widespread because Norbert Wiener wrote a book called "Cybernetics" in 1948. The study is described as the science of communication and control theory that is concerned especially with the comparative study of automatic control systems (as the nervous system and brain and mechanical-electrical communication systems) Cybernetics is an established interdisciplinary science not a sci-fi flick or an internet buzz word (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics) ) The word comes from Greek “kybernetes” pilot, governor (from kybernan to steer, govern) + English –ics.

So what is the relationship between Internet and Cyber? I do not see a real one ..Maybe it is the cyborgs which is a combination of cybernetic + organism.

-yinal