By Danny Yadron and Jennifer Valentino-DeVries
These days, CyberPatriots go to CyberCamps. Washington wonks
ponder a Cyber Red Cross. Last week, the Director of National
Intelligence told Congress a "cyber Armageddon" is unlikely. This
week, CBS Corp. will premiere the latest iteration of its
long-running cops and crime franchise, "CSI: Cyber," whose
protagonist describes herself as cybercop and is based, the network
says, on a real-life cyberpsychologist.
For some, it is cyber-overload.
"Stop using the word," Alex Stamos, the chief information
security officer at Yahoo Inc. told a "Cybersecurity for a New
America" conference in Washington last week.
Earlier, Mr. Stamos quipped on Twitter that he had won
"CyberBingo" at his table after a conference speaker warned of a
"Cyber Pearl Harbor," a term popularized by former Defense
Secretary Leon Panetta in 2012.
Mr. Stamos isn't brushing off computer intrusions in his quest
to hack away at "cyber" usage. As the guy in charge of keeping
prying eyes out of one of the world's most popular websites, you
could say he is obsessed with them.
Rather, he and others argue that cyber is both overused and too
vague as a description of anything--often bad--that involves a
computer.
At last week's conference, Kevin Bankston, a policy director for
the New America Foundation, a think tank, asked how people could
practice better "cyber hygiene," a term used in Washington circles.
Then he paused, smiled, and asked, "What is cyber hygiene?"
The Twitter account @cybercyber posts mentions of cyber or
cyber-compound words culled from references by journalists and
politicians. The purpose: To showcase "all the cyberpanic you can
cyberhandle," according to the account's description.
No one is immune. A cyber-term has appeared in The Wall Street
Journal on average nearly twice daily for the past year.
Conscientious objectors like Mr. Stamos say cyber-buzzwords are
short-circuiting a debate on an important issue, amid recent
large-scale computer breaches at Anthem Inc., Target Corp., Sony
Pictures Entertainment and others.
"It means nothing," says Michael McNerney, a former "cyber
policy adviser" for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Mr. McNerney admits to using the term often in his past life.
Then, in 2013, he moved to Silicon Valley to advise
computer-security startups, and tried to wipe his cyber-vocabulary.
In California, some people took "cyber" to mean robotics, virtual
reality, even cybersex. "I learned to be a little more specific,"
he says.
One reason cyber is overused is the lack of an easy substitute.
Mr. Stamos and his ilk sometimes prefer "information security" or
"infosec."
Scott Stender, a co-founder of computer-security firm iSEC
Partners, jokingly suggests the prefix "computery," as in
"computerywar."
"It does lighten the mood," he said.
Cyber, based on a Greek word for steering or governing, appears
to have started showing up in popular culture after World War II.
In Britain's "Doctor Who" television series, the emotionless,
cyborg Cybermen have been a recurring menace since 1966.
The modern usage took root in the 1980s science fiction of
William Gibson, who coined the term "cyberspace" shortly after
Bruce Bethke, another author, coined "cyberpunk." Following the
birth of the World Wide Web in the 1990s, "cyberspace" became a
synonym for "Internet," or "online."
That didn't please its creator. "Cyberspace is a heritage term
for a heritage concept," Mr. Gibson said in a recent email
exchange. "We drive cybercars, chill our food in cyberfridges,
conduct the majority of our affairs over cyberphones, in,
literally, a cyberworld."
Mr. Bethke, on the other hand, said his only regret is he "can't
monetize the word."
In the 1990s, chatroom-based cybersex led the boy band NSYNC to
pen "Digital Get Down." Then came Cyber Monday, the annual round of
post-Thanksgiving shopping sales. There is also something called
"cybersauce," which pasta-sauce maker Ragu mentioned last year in a
Cyber Monday social media post. The company didn't respond to a
request for comment.
"In my lifetime I've seen 'cyber-' go from 'punk' to 'sex' to
'Monday,'" Peter Biddle, a former manager at Microsoft Corp. and
Intel Corp., recently wrote on Twitter. "I think I liked it better
before."
For others, cyber appears to capture the future. Hollywood
director Michael Mann's hacker thriller, "Blackhat," was originally
called "Cyber."
"The world has changed," says Jerry Bruckheimer, executive
producer of "CSI: Cyber," in a promo video. "There are all kinds of
new crimes out there." CBS declined to comment on the name
choice.
For Tom Lee, a programmer in Washington, D.C., the overuse of
the term is a subject for parody. He created an online quiz at
willusingtheprefixcybermakemelooklikeanidiot.com, according to
Internet registration records. (Hint: Unless you are a
science-fiction writer, the answer is "Yes.")
Mr. Lee confirmed his authorship via cybermail.
He made the website in 2010 partly as a reaction to the
proliferation of cyberspies, cyberwarriors and cyberwonks. In 2001,
Richard Clarke became the White House's first "Cyber Czar," a term
previously used by the military.
In shorthand-obsessed defense-industrial-complex circles, cyber
is often viewed as the next battle space, demanding weapons and
funding to supplement planes (air) and ships (sea). Drone-maker
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s foundation now sponsors the CyberPatriot
National Youth Cyber Education Program run by an Air Force-linked
nonprofit. Bernard Skoch, who runs CyberPatriot, said the program
isn't military-focused.
But as for why its name is cyber-focused? "At the risk of
appearing flippant, I suppose we could have chosen 'Computer
Networks, Operating Systems, and Supporting Infrastructure
Patriot,' but that was too long," Mr. Skoch said.
From Washington, it spread to board rooms. In 2011, federal
regulators told companies they should tell shareholders about
"cybersecurity risks and cyber incidents."
So in 2012, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase
& Co. and Bank of New York Mellon all warned investors of
cyberattacks in their annual securities filings. The prior year,
those banks had referred to "information security" threats, a
"breach of security" or "computer viruses."
Mr. Stamos, the Yahoo executive, acknowledged he has probably
come up short in his cybercrusade (not his word).
Referring to the Defense Department's Cyber Command, Mr. Stamos
said, "If the word is on a patch on somebody's shoulder, we've
probably lost."
Mr. McNerney, who used to work near such patches at the
Pentagon, said he is in talks to join a new technology company, but
declined to elaborate. Asked what the company does, he said,
"cybersecurity."
Write to Danny Yadron at danny.yadron@wsj.com and Jennifer
Valentino-DeVries at Jennifer.Valentino-DeVries@wsj.com
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