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> Trusted Access for Cyber program Using "cyber" as a noun there seems language coded for government. DC has a love of "the cyber" but do technologists use the

> Trusted Access for Cyber program Using "cyber" as a noun there seems language coded for government. DC has a love of "the cyber" but do technologists use the term that way when not pointing at government?

jasongill 5mo ago
The finance industry does; I know private equity just calls anything security related "cyber", which irritates me.
- cubefox 5mo ago
  Yeah, cybernetics was unrelated to security, and so was the cyberspace or cyberpunk.
  - xg15 5mo ago
    Same as with "crypto" which doesn't have any more to do with cryptography either... I wonder if that was a side effect of all the William Gibson style scifi gaining a browser audience. Originally, the "cyber" in "cyberspace" was clearly from "kybernetic", focusing on the " virtual worlds", AI, mind uploading ideas, etc. But the actual plot of e.g. Necromancer heavily involves hacking, warfare and all kinds of topics that would be relevant for cybersecurity today. So maybe "normies" learned to associate "cyber" with hacking instead of the kybernetic concepts it came from.
    - cubefox 5mo ago
      My theory is this: Until recently, "cyber x" meant the same as "Internet x" (because Internet ≈ Cyberspace), except that "cyber" sounds a bit cooler, and security organizations wanted to sound especially cool, so they were the ones who used "cyber" most, causing the shift in meaning.
nomel 5mo ago
Merriam-Webster dictionary: Cyber: Of, relating to, or involving computers or computer networks (such as the Internet) This is what I've always understood the word to mean, and how I've always seen it used, for decades.
- Domenic_S 4mo ago
  > Cyber: Of, relating to, or involving computers or computer networks (such as the Internet) You left out the part of speech for that entry, which is "adjective"; as in "the cyber marketplace", not "the cyber".
- xp84 5mo ago
  When I was like 12, I remember my fellow horny youths (or it could have been anyone, I guess!) in AOL chatrooms constantly asking each other "wanna ciber?"
  - fluoridation 5mo ago
    That would be "cyber" as a verb, not "cyber" as a noun. Would anyone have understood what you meant back then if you'd said "I was in a cyber just now" instead of "I was cybering just now"?
  - xg15 5mo ago
    ...right, forgot it had that meaning too...
  - doublerabbit 5mo ago
    a/s/l?
- kevin_thibedeau 5mo ago
  Cybernetics is actually about feedback control systems. The original meaning has been distorted because the general public doesn't have the background to distinguish different kinds of magic. The Sperry autopilot was a cybernetic system, as were electro-mechanical gun computers.
timthorn 5mo ago
It's the same Greek root as Kubernetes

jasongill 5mo ago

The finance industry does; I know private equity just calls anything security related "cyber", which irritates me.

cubefox 5mo ago
Yeah, cybernetics was unrelated to security, and so was the cyberspace or cyberpunk.
- xg15 5mo ago
  Same as with "crypto" which doesn't have any more to do with cryptography either... I wonder if that was a side effect of all the William Gibson style scifi gaining a browser audience. Originally, the "cyber" in "cyberspace" was clearly from "kybernetic", focusing on the " virtual worlds", AI, mind uploading ideas, etc. But the actual plot of e.g. Necromancer heavily involves hacking, warfare and all kinds of topics that would be relevant for cybersecurity today. So maybe "normies" learned to associate "cyber" with hacking instead of the kybernetic concepts it came from.
  - cubefox 5mo ago
    My theory is this: Until recently, "cyber x" meant the same as "Internet x" (because Internet ≈ Cyberspace), except that "cyber" sounds a bit cooler, and security organizations wanted to sound especially cool, so they were the ones who used "cyber" most, causing the shift in meaning.

nomel 5mo ago

Merriam-Webster dictionary: Cyber: Of, relating to, or involving computers or computer networks (such as the Internet) This is what I've always understood the word to mean, and how I've always seen it used, for decades.

Domenic_S 4mo ago
> Cyber: Of, relating to, or involving computers or computer networks (such as the Internet) You left out the part of speech for that entry, which is "adjective"; as in "the cyber marketplace", not "the cyber".
xp84 5mo ago
When I was like 12, I remember my fellow horny youths (or it could have been anyone, I guess!) in AOL chatrooms constantly asking each other "wanna ciber?"
- fluoridation 5mo ago
  That would be "cyber" as a verb, not "cyber" as a noun. Would anyone have understood what you meant back then if you'd said "I was in a cyber just now" instead of "I was cybering just now"?
- xg15 5mo ago
  ...right, forgot it had that meaning too...
- doublerabbit 5mo ago
  a/s/l?
kevin_thibedeau 5mo ago
Cybernetics is actually about feedback control systems. The original meaning has been distorted because the general public doesn't have the background to distinguish different kinds of magic. The Sperry autopilot was a cybernetic system, as were electro-mechanical gun computers.

timthorn 5mo ago

It's the same Greek root as Kubernetes