"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Enough, please, dear kind souls. And the same for the rest of you lot. Let us all please stop using "cyber" as a prefix to anything and everything computer-related. Mmmmm-kay? Seriously...
Whoever decided that "cyber" meant computers and networks is apparently not very bright. I don't know who to blame, but blame definitely needs to be placed. According to Dictionary.com, cyber is "a combining form meaning “computer,” “computer network,” or “virtual reality,” used in the formation of compound words (cybertalk; cyberart; cyberspace) and by extension meaning “very modern” (cyberfashion)."
However, it then goes on to say that "cyber" is extracted from cybernetics, which it defines as "the study of human control functions and of mechanical and electronic systems designed to replace them, involving the application of statistical mechanics to communication engineering."
So, I'm a little confused. Who exactly decided that cyber should mean computer stuff? Why doesn't cyber mean human bio-tech instead? Yeah, sure, we have bionic ("utilizing electronic devices and mechanical parts to assist humans in performing difficult, dangerous, or intricate tasks, as by supplementing or duplicating parts of the body: The scientist used a bionic arm to examine the radioactive material") that accomplishes that task, too. But, seriously, why "cyber"? It just sounds dumb.
To President Obama, I suggest putting a stake in the ground and forcing a change to different terminology. You really aren't looking for a "Cyber-Security Czar." You're looking for someone to head up Information Assurance and Networked Systems Survivability. Maybe we can come up with a clever acronym for it (IANNS isn't overly catchy, I suppose), but please, please, please - enough with the cyber-this and cyber-that.
For more info on Networked Systems Survivability, check out:
http://www.sei.cmu.edu/programs/nss/
http://www.cert.org/research/97tr013.pdf
http://www.cert.org/archive/pdf/network-analysis.pdf
http://www2.cs.uidaho.edu/~krings/HICSS39.htm
Comments (3)
Are you m/f?
Wanna cyber?
Posted by The Intern | July 8, 2009 4:30 PM
Posted on July 8, 2009 16:30
INCONCEIVABLE. (Nice Princess Bride reference)
I talk about how stupid the word "cyber" is almost everyday at work. One day we located a copy of the "Cybersecurity Operations Handbook". Inconceivably, we discovered that Bill Hancock was the author, a person who we often poke fun of. It's now become an office meme.
I also made the joke that we should rename all of our different security departments to "Cyber Security Division 1, Cyber Security Division 2, etc"... collectively referred to, of course, as "CyberSecs".
Posted by Andre Gironda | July 8, 2009 6:54 PM
Posted on July 8, 2009 18:54
@Intern - bad intern - heel! :)
@Andre -
Thanks, that's awesome! :)
-ben
Posted by Ben | July 8, 2009 7:38 PM
Posted on July 8, 2009 19:38